Student Struggle with Career-oriented Assignments: An Analysis of Résumés and Cover Letters

Abstract

Résumé and cover letter formats have altered with the many digital platforms available (e.g., LinkedIn). However, constructing one’s identity as an ideal candidate is still the main goal for career-oriented documents and should be the focus of related lessons. The classroom activity system mediates the résumés and cover letters students create in business and technical communication courses. Students write these assignments for teachers, who are outside of professional activity systems. Because students are not immersed in the professional contexts for which they write these career-oriented assignments, they have difficulty constructing effective identities for being ideal candidates for assumed positions. Although résumés and cover letters are ubiquitous assignments for professional communication courses, little research has looked at how students struggle with composing a professional identity. Most résumé research analyzes materials submitted to employers after applicants leave school. The author reviews student texts in this genre and argues that career-oriented assignments are actually a classroom-specific genre with little connection to the assumed professional contexts to which students aspire. The author concludes that students should focus on more immediate attainable goals rather than future career goals many years away.