Writing Wizard

Purpose Statement: This blog post for the Writing 310 class compares two different resume styles, and explains which one is better for me personally to use.

For this blog post, we were supposed to find two different resume styles and talk about which one is better for our professional goals. I want to be a writer and editor, so I need a resume that looks skilled and professional. The two styles I chose to compare were this style, and this style.

Style #1: A fairly bland looking resume that makes good use of white space, has user-oriented design in easy access to information, and looks well-made.

Style #2: A bright and colorful resume that catches the eye at first, but is clogged with needless information and trades professionality and functionality for initially pleasing aesthetic design.

If I were a graphic design major, an artist, or some other profession that may want rainbow colors popping off their resume, then obviously I would want to pick the second one. However, if I’m looking for a job as a professional writer or editor, then I would want the far more professional resume. It may seem kind of boring, but a good resume doesn’t need to be extremely interesting to look at. It needs to have the necessary information easily accessible. The rainbow resume looks good, but it’s confusing to find the information, and it trades space that could be used to convey why the applicant would be a good fit to catch the eye with bright colors instead. In the long run, it’s better for me to use the bland, professional resume.

Purpose Statement: This blog post is a personal statement about myself and my qualifications for the internship at Simon & Schuster.

Ever since I learned to read when I was 2 1/2 years old, books have been my passion. I spent my childhood reading and rereading my favorite books, and writing my own, and I’ve never stopped. I have had some professional experience with both editing and writing, and I hope to be able to learn more in this internship.

I am a fast and accurate writer, with typing speeds of around 93 WPM. I regularly achieve As in my English classes, and I often write for myself in my spare time. As part of my high school senior project, I began the process of writing a children’s book. Due to time constraints and extenuating circumstances, I never finished, but I was guided through the storyboarding process by a professional mentor. Heidi Schulz, a New York Times bestselling author, who has had three books published so far and many years of experience, taught me some of the processes of planning, storyboarding and writing a children’s book. This experience would be very helpful as a jumping-off point for the internship, having some background knowledge into what it is like to work as an author.

I have always had a passion for editing, including looking over my friends and siblings’ essays and correcting minor mistakes for them. Typos and grammatical errors pop out to me, whether I am reading a book or a text or an internet forum, and I am adept at fixing the issues that I find. My most recent employment was as an “Assistant Writing Fellow” for the LIBA 100 Freshman Writing class, where I got to put my editing skills to good use. I assisted underclassmen in planning, writing and editing their papers, as well as helping the teachers lead writing workshops among the students. This not only heightened my ability in editing, but helped me improve important soft skills such as communication and quick thinking. All editing interactions with students were in an online format, which has given me competency with using Zoom professionally. The formal editing experience I have received, along with my natural proficiency for it, would fit well with the editorial department internship. I would not only be able to use the skills that I already have, but work from there to gain more experience and knowledge into editing professionally.

I have a large amount of relevant experience for this position, and I am a quick learner who is eager to continue learning about editing and publishing as a career. My skills in writing, editing, and communication make me a good fit for this internship, specifically in the editorial department.

Purpose Statement: This blog post for my Writing 310 class lists and discusses some of the job skills that I have acquired.

I have had a variety of different job experiences that have given me a variety of different skills. Before I ever held an official job, I often helped my grandpa with yard work on his property in the country. He would pay me $10 an hour to rake hay or weed his garden, and doing that job for three or four hours a day every high school summer taught me how to maintain a high level of work activity. It was tempting to just sit there and listen to music and only work at half the pace instead of giving it my all, especially when I was tired, but if grandpa could tell that I hadn’t really been working then he wouldn’t give me the full amount of money. He believed strongly in work ethic, so I learned a little bit of that from him.

My first on-campus job was being a Phonathon Caller for the George Fox Advancement Offices, when I began going to college as a freshman. It was a job where students would call alumni, past faculty and student families, and ask for donations. It wasn’t an easy job, but I learned a lot. This job definitely helped me with my communication soft skills, such as meeting new people, taking independent action, and remembering information. I had to go off of a script, but also personalize each conversation to each stranger that I was talking to. In a three-hour shift, I would often hold ten to fifteen minute conversations with anywhere from ten to thirty people. While I’ll never work at a call center again if I can help it, those communication skills will definitely be useful in whatever job I have in the future.

The job I had last summer was a full-time job working at Walmart, eight hours a day, five days a week. That was another difficult job. Being on my feet for almost eight hours straight, constantly talking to customers, moving up and down, carrying heavy boxes, was a lot for me. However, I feel like it gave me a lot more valuable experience. I was able to provide customers with service, telling them which aisles to go to or helping them reach something on a top shelf. I endured long hours of work, and maintained records of item backstock and similar numbers. If I ever need to work in retail again, or even if I don’t, those skills will remain in my arsenal.

Probably the most helpful job I’ve had, in terms of skills I hope to use frequently in the future, was my job as an Assistant Writing Fellow last semester. I helped freshmen in the LIBA 100 Liberal Arts class with writing and editing their essays, and assisted course teachers with writing workshops. I determined and analyzed problems in the students’ writing and gave them advice on how to fix it. These writing and editing and communicating skills are the most similar to one of my prospective dream jobs, which is to work with an editing and publishing company. However, every single one of the jobs I’ve had has given me some skill that will be helpful in the future. A work ethic, thinking fast on the job, and persevering through long hours will be useful in any job.