A framework for résumé decisions: Comparing applicants’ and employers’ reasons
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2020
Department/School
English Language and Literature
Publication Title
Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
Abstract
© 2020 by the Association for Business Communication. What reasons do applicants use to write résumés, and what reasons do employers use to evaluate them? This article advocates for teaching reasons as a way to empower writers to make more nuanced, adaptive résumé decisions. Drawing from a study of 63 students, 20 advisors, and 24 employers, the article touches on résumé format, sections, and items; then it moves beyond formal features to compare eight reasons that participants used as a framework in their decision making: relevance, recency, value, personality, fluff, unprofessionalism, discrimination, and applicant fit. It ends with pedagogical suggestions for teaching this framework alongside résumé formal features.
Link to Published Version
Recommended Citation
Randazzo, C. (2020). A framework for résumé decisions: Comparing applicants’ and employers’ reasons. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 83(4), 409–433. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329490620963133