Employment materials are some of the most important, and most challenging, pieces of writing you may undertake. There are a number of contradictions involved in writing employment materials. The résumé is both a simple list of your job history, and a referendum on your qualifications; you must show your passion for the job you are seeking, but not so much passion as to seem over-the-top. Your job application letter—the cover letter that accompanies your résumé—is an evidence-backed statement of your achievements, a clear representation of your personal brand, and the first writing sample a potential employer will see. Add to that one more challenge: your materials must be concise, yet comprehensive. If accomplishing all these goals at once feels daunting, you are not alone.

The aim of this chapter is to ease your mind and demystify the job application process by giving you some core principles to follow. Whether you are applying to be an administrative assistant or an engineer, a web developer or a caregiver, many of the strategies are the same. As you read through this chapter, keep the strategies below in mind.

To tailor your materials to a specific audience is to work smarter, rather than harder. In fact, tailoring is one of the core principles of technical writing—a principle you read about earlier, in the audience analysis chapter of this text. Imagine yourself in the position of a hiring manager. Would you be more likely to hire a candidate whose generic résumé looks like it has been sent to dozens of similar employers, or one who has obviously researched your business and seems to understand what the job entails?