Resume and Application Letter Assignment: How to Complete All Five Steps
A section-by-section breakdown of the job advertisement analysis, chronological vs. functional resume choice, one-page application letter, and the strategy memo — including what the audience analysis section actually requires and where most submissions lose marks.
This project looks manageable on paper — find a job ad, write a resume, write a cover letter, write a memo. But students consistently lose marks because the strategy memo explains what they did instead of why, the resume format choice is never justified, the application letter restates the resume rather than building an argument, or the audience analysis is too thin to satisfy the rubric. This guide walks through every step of the project in sequence — from selecting the job advertisement through formatting each deliverable — and explains what each section actually demands so your first submission does not come back with comments you cannot decipher.
This guide explains how to approach the assignment. It does not complete it for you. Your resume must reflect your actual experience. Your application letter must make a real argument using your own skills and background. Your strategy memo must analyze your actual audience. Using placeholder content or fabricated credentials contradicts the professional communication standards the assignment is specifically designed to develop. Use this guide to understand the structure, the expectations for each deliverable, and the logic behind each decision you need to make and document.
What This Guide Covers
What the Assignment Requires
This project has five sequential steps and produces three final documents: a strategy memo, an application letter, and a resume. All three are submitted together and graded against a 100-point rubric broken evenly across format, content, and correctness for each deliverable. The project accounts for 10% of the course grade, which means errors that look minor — a formatting inconsistency, a memo that describes rather than analyzes, a resume that runs three pages — each carry real grade weight.
The assignment is specifically designed around audience awareness. Every choice you make — which job to apply for, which resume format to use, which examples to put in the letter — must be justified in the memo in terms of what that audience needs to see from you. A memo that says “I chose the chronological format” without explaining why that format serves this particular reader is answering the wrong question.
Step 1: Finding the Right Job Advertisement
The job advertisement is the foundation of every other decision in this project. Choose it poorly and the entire project becomes harder — an unrealistic posting forces you to either stretch your qualifications beyond what’s defensible or write a weak letter with little to argue. Choose it well and every subsequent step becomes more tractable.
The assignment is explicit: find a position for which you could actually apply now, or within a few months if you are close to graduation. It uses a specific example — a junior education major should not apply for a school district superintendent position. The same logic applies across every field. If the job requires five years of experience and a professional license you do not hold, it is the wrong job for this assignment, regardless of how much you want that career eventually. Choosing an unreachable posting does not signal ambition — it makes your audience analysis thin and your letter unconvincing.
Look for positions on Indeed, LinkedIn, Handshake, your institution’s career services board, or industry-specific job boards in your field. Internship postings, entry-level roles, and graduate-school applications all qualify — the assignment explicitly includes those categories. Once you identify a candidate posting, read it in full before copying it. Confirm you can address every listed requirement without fabricating credentials.
Where to Search
Indeed, LinkedIn, Handshake, employer career pages, and discipline-specific job boards. Your institution’s career services office often aggregates relevant postings for your program.
What to Look For
A posting where the listed qualifications match your actual background. Look at required skills, education level, and years of experience. If three of five requirements are out of reach, keep looking.
What to Copy
The full text of the advertisement — job title, company name, all listed responsibilities, and all listed qualifications. Include the URL. This copy goes into your strategy memo.
One practical advantage of choosing a real posting you genuinely want: your application letter will be easier to write because you will have a real reason to want the position, and that motivation tends to produce more specific, more persuasive writing than a posting selected at random.
Step 2: Audience Analysis — What It Really Means
Audience analysis is the intellectual core of this assignment and the section most students treat too superficially. The rubric allocates a full 10 points to it. An analysis that says “my audience is a hiring manager who wants to find a qualified candidate” earns almost none of those points. Audience analysis means developing a detailed, specific understanding of the person or group reviewing your application — their expectations, their priorities, their professional context, and what they are actually looking for when they read your documents.
Three layers of analysis are needed to satisfy the rubric: the industry, the company, and the position. Each layer informs your document decisions differently.
Industry Expectations
Different industries have different norms for how resumes and letters should look. A resume for a corporate finance role looks structurally different from one for a social services position. Research what format, length, and emphasis are standard in your target industry. What do hiring readers in this field expect to see in the first ten seconds of reviewing a resume?
- What qualifications signal competence in this industry?
- Is a functional resume unusual in this field, or common?
- What terminology does the industry use for roles you have held?
- What credentials carry the most weight?
Company Climate
Look at the hiring organization’s website, LinkedIn page, mission statement, and any recent news. Is this a large corporate employer, a nonprofit, a start-up, a government agency? The tone of your letter should fit the culture of the organization you are writing to — a letter that reads as overly formal for a start-up is just as mismatched as a casual letter to a law firm.
- What does the organization say about itself publicly?
- What language does the job posting use — formal or conversational?
- What values does the organization emphasize?
- How large is the company, and what does that imply about hiring volume?
Position-Specific Requirements
Read the job posting line by line and identify what the position actually requires someone to do — not just the listed qualifications, but the day-to-day functions. What skills does someone need to perform those functions successfully? Which listed requirements are eliminators (you must have them) versus preferences (nice to have)?
- What does a person in this role do on a typical day?
- What hard skills are non-negotiable?
- What soft skills are implied by the role’s responsibilities?
- What distinguishes a strong candidate from a minimally qualified one?
Your Strengths and Weaknesses
After analyzing the audience, turn the analysis inward. Which of the listed requirements do you meet clearly? Which are gaps? Where does your background actually align with what this reader needs? Your strategy memo requires you to name both sides specifically — not “I have strong communication skills” but what specific evidence of communication competence you have that this reader would value.
- Which qualifications do you meet directly?
- Where is your experience thin or indirect?
- What is your single most persuasive credential for this role?
- What weakness will the reader likely notice?
Step 3: Choosing Between Chronological and Functional
The assignment requires you to select one of two resume formats — chronological or functional — and to be prepared to explain why you chose it. Both formats are covered in the course textbook. The choice is not arbitrary: one of the two formats genuinely serves your specific background and audience better, and the memo must explain which one and why.
| Format | How It Is Organized | When It Works Best | When It Works Against You |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chronological | Lists work experience in reverse chronological order — most recent position first. Education typically follows. Skills and qualifications are embedded within each position entry. | When your work history is relevant to the target position, shows clear progression, and has no significant gaps. The most widely recognized format — hiring readers know how to scan it quickly. | When your experience is limited, unrelated to the target role, or interrupted by gaps. Draws the reader’s eye to your employment timeline, which is not always your strongest asset as a student. |
| Functional | Groups experience by skill category rather than by employer. A “Leadership” section, a “Communication” section, and a “Research” section each draw from multiple experiences. Employment history appears as a brief list below. | When your relevant skills come from varied or non-traditional experience — coursework, volunteer work, internships, student organizations — rather than a linear employment history in the target field. | When the position expects a clear employment record. Some hiring readers in conservative industries are skeptical of functional resumes because they can obscure the timeline. Know your audience before using this format. |
How to Make the Decision
Ask one question first: does my employment history, read in chronological order, show relevant experience for this position? If yes — especially if your most recent position is directly related — the chronological format puts your strongest material front and center. If your most recent job is a summer warehouse position and the role you are applying for values research skills you developed through coursework and a campus club leadership role, the functional format lets you lead with those skills rather than burying them under unrelated employment entries. The key is that your format choice must serve the argument you are making to this specific reader — not just feel familiar.
The rubric awards points for a resume that is correctly formatted as either a chronological or functional resume, organized appropriately for the chosen format, and follows the textbook guidance on design and element placement. Using a visually impressive template with columns, graphics, and icons does not satisfy this requirement if the underlying organizational logic does not match one of the two formats the assignment specifies. Modify any template you use to conform to the format you are choosing and documenting in your memo.
Resume Sections and Content Decisions
Regardless of which format you choose, your resume needs to include the standard sections covered in the course textbook. The content within each section must be selected and framed with your specific audience in mind. Generic resume content — vague job descriptions, duties-focused bullet points, an objective statement that says nothing specific — fails the content rubric even if the format is technically correct.
Contact Information
Name, phone number, professional email address, and optionally a LinkedIn profile URL or portfolio link if relevant to the position. Your email address must be professional — firstname.lastname@domain format. A street address is optional and increasingly omitted on modern resumes. Do not include a photo unless you are applying in a field or country where it is standard practice.
Summary or Objective (Optional)
A two- to three-line statement at the top that tells the reader who you are and what you bring to the role. This is different from a generic objective statement (“seeking a position where I can apply my skills”). A well-written summary names your field, your level of experience, and your most relevant qualification for this specific posting. If you cannot write a specific, accurate summary for this reader, leave the section out — a weak summary is worse than none.
Education
For students and recent graduates, education typically comes before work experience because it is your most recent and most relevant credential. Include your degree, major, institution, expected or actual graduation date, and GPA if it is 3.0 or above and the industry expects it. Include relevant coursework only if the courses directly relate to the position and your work history does not already demonstrate the skills those courses represent.
Experience (Chronological) or Skills Sections (Functional)
In a chronological resume, each position entry includes the employer name, your title, the dates you held the position, and bullet-point descriptions of your responsibilities and accomplishments. Accomplishment-focused bullets (“Managed scheduling for a team of 12 volunteers during a three-day event with 400 attendees”) are more persuasive than duty-focused ones (“Helped with scheduling”). In a functional resume, this content is reorganized into skill clusters — but the underlying specificity requirement is the same.
Additional Sections
Skills, certifications, honors and awards, relevant student organization leadership, volunteer work, and publications. Include only what is relevant to the target position. A separate “Computer Skills” section listing Microsoft Word as a skill reads as padding for a professional role where basic software competence is assumed. A “Technical Skills” section listing specific software platforms is appropriate for a role where those tools are mentioned in the job posting.
The assignment specifies a one- to two-page resume. For students and early-career candidates, one page is almost always appropriate. A resume that runs to two pages by including every campus job, club, and activity from high school is not demonstrating depth — it is demonstrating poor editorial judgment about what this reader needs to see. Two pages is appropriate when the second page contains genuinely relevant experience that makes the case for your candidacy. If it is padding, cut it. The rubric notes explicitly: “a single line of text extending onto a second page” is a formatting error.
Step 4: Writing the Application Letter
The application letter is not a prose version of your resume. It is a persuasive document with a specific argument: you should hire me for this position, and here is why — supported by specific evidence from my background. The reader already knows you will supply your experience history in the resume. The letter’s job is to interpret that history for them — to tell them what to look for and why it matters for this role.
The assignment requires the letter to be no longer than one page, formatted according to a model from Chapter 15 of the course textbook. Regardless of the specific letter model you follow, the content architecture of the letter needs to accomplish three things: establish context and purpose, make your argument for candidacy, and close with a specific next step.
The One-Page Letter Structure
Opening Paragraph: Context and Purpose
State the position you are applying for, where you found the posting, and — if you have one — a brief orienting statement that names your most relevant qualification or connection to the role. “I am writing to apply for the Marketing Coordinator position posted on LinkedIn” is accurate but weak. “As a communications major with two years of social media management experience for a campus nonprofit, I am writing to apply for the Marketing Coordinator position posted on LinkedIn” is accurate and immediately frames the rest of the letter. The opening paragraph should be two to three sentences, not a paragraph-length apology for your resume.
Body Paragraph(s): Your Argument
One or two paragraphs that select your strongest selling points and connect them explicitly to what the position requires. Do not list everything on your resume. Select the two or three experiences or skills that most directly address what the job posting describes, and explain them with enough specificity that the reader understands what you actually did and why it is relevant. Each body paragraph should focus on one category of evidence — do not mix your leadership experience and your technical skills in the same paragraph without a clear structural reason.
Closing Paragraph: Next Step
A closing paragraph that thanks the reader for their consideration and states specifically what you are requesting — an interview, a phone conversation, a chance to discuss your application. Include your contact information again even though it appears in the header. End the letter professionally. Avoid closing lines that put the responsibility entirely on the reader (“feel free to contact me if interested”) in favor of language that takes modest initiative (“I welcome the opportunity to discuss how my background in X and Y can contribute to your team”).
[Weak] I have strong communication skills and work well in teams. I am a hard worker and always meet deadlines. I think I would be a great fit for your organization.
[Strong] During my internship at a regional nonprofit, I managed the organization’s Instagram and Facebook accounts for eight months, growing combined followers by 34% and increasing average post engagement by 27%. That work required consistent audience research, content scheduling, and performance analysis using Meta Business Suite — tools listed as preferred in your posting. I am confident I can bring that same data-informed approach to your social media strategy.
The strong version names a specific experience, includes measurable results, connects those results explicitly to a tool or requirement from the job posting, and closes with a forward-looking claim. The weak version makes assertions with no evidence. Every body paragraph in your letter should contain the same structure: claim → specific evidence → explicit connection to the reader’s need.
The assignment requires you to format the letter based on one of the models in Chapter 15 of your course textbook. Standard letter format includes your return address (or name and contact information in a letterhead), the date, the recipient’s name, title, company, and address, a formal salutation (avoid “To Whom It May Concern” — research the hiring manager’s name if possible or use “Dear Hiring Manager”), the body paragraphs, a complimentary close, and your signature. One-inch margins, single-spaced paragraphs with a blank line between them, and a professional font are expected. The entire document must fit on one page — if it runs over, cut content, not margins.
Step 5: Writing the Strategy Memo
The strategy memo is the document most students underinvest in, and it is where audience analysis points — worth a full 10 of the 40 points assigned to the memo — are most commonly lost. The memo is addressed to your instructor and serves a specific purpose: to demonstrate that the choices you made in the resume and letter were deliberate, informed by an analysis of your audience, and grounded in the concepts covered in the course. This is not a cover letter to the instructor. It is an analytical document.
The memo format is required: To, From, Date, Re (subject line), and the body organized around the four questions the assignment specifies. It runs one to three pages. A one-page memo that covers all four questions in a paragraph each is almost certainly not deep enough to score well on the audience analysis and content rubric items. Two pages of analytical writing — specific, evidence-linked, and explanatory — is a reasonable target.
What the Memo Must Actually Cover
The assignment lists four specific questions the memo should address. The rubric evaluates whether the explanation is analytical rather than descriptive, and detailed rather than general. Each question requires a different type of thinking — and they build on each other.
The Four Questions — and What “Analytical Rather Than Descriptive” Means for Each
- What makes a good candidate for this type of job? — This is not a restatement of the job description. The question asks you to think beyond the listed requirements to what the role actually demands. A good candidate for a hospital social work position needs emotional regulation, the ability to work with people in crisis, and knowledge of community resources — not just a BSW degree. Your answer should identify personality traits, tacit skills, and contextual knowledge that a top candidate brings, which may not appear verbatim in the posting. The instructor may not know your field — explain it to them.
- What are your strengths and weaknesses as a candidate? — Be specific about both sides. “I have strong research skills” is descriptive. “My academic background in qualitative research methods, demonstrated by a senior capstone project that involved 14 interviews and thematic analysis, directly addresses the data-gathering responsibilities listed in this position” is analytical. The weakness side is equally important — name a genuine gap in your qualifications and explain what you did in your letter or resume to mitigate or honestly address it. Ignoring your weaknesses does not make them disappear from the reader’s evaluation.
- What resume organization did you choose, and why? — Name the format (chronological or functional), explain what it allows the reader to see first, and connect that to your specific situation. The explanation must reference your actual background and your specific audience — not a generic statement that “functional resumes are good for people changing careers.” If you chose chronological because your two most recent positions are directly relevant and show a clear progression, say that. If you chose functional because your relevant skills come from coursework and volunteer work rather than paid employment, say that and explain why that organization serves this particular reader better than a chronological list of jobs.
- What examples from your experience or education did you choose for the letter, and why? — This is the most granular question and the one where the “why” requirement is most important. For each major example in your letter, explain what it demonstrates about you and why you believed that evidence would be persuasive to this specific reader. If you wrote about your leadership role in a student organization, the memo should explain what the reader needs to see about leadership, why this particular example demonstrates it, and what the example is intended to make the reader conclude about your candidacy. Do not just describe what you wrote — explain the rhetorical decision behind it.
Descriptive: “I chose the chronological format. I listed my work experience starting with my most recent job. I then listed my education and skills.” Analytical: “I chose the chronological format because my two most recent positions — a communications internship and a part-time marketing assistant role — are both directly relevant to this entry-level public relations position. Placing these first allows the reader to see relevant experience immediately, without having to read through unrelated summer jobs that would appear mid-page in a reverse-chronological list. A functional format would have required me to abstract those experiences into skill categories, which would reduce the specificity and credibility of the evidence.” The second version explains the logic — why this format for this reader with this background. That is what the rubric is rewarding.
Where Most Submissions Lose Marks
Applying for an Unrealistic Position
Choosing a position you are genuinely not qualified for because it sounds impressive, then writing a letter full of qualifications you do not have. The assignment is explicit that you must be able to actually apply for the role. An unconvincing letter written around a position you cannot honestly claim to qualify for loses points on content and credibility with the reader.
Instead
Choose a posting where most of the listed qualifications match your background. The project does not reward ambition — it rewards an accurate and persuasive presentation of who you actually are to a reader who would actually consider you. A strong letter for a role you genuinely qualify for will always outperform a weak letter for a role you do not.
The Letter Repeats the Resume
“As shown in my resume, I worked at XYZ Company from 2022 to 2024 as a customer service representative, where I assisted customers with inquiries and resolved complaints.” This sentence adds nothing the resume does not already show. The letter that restates the resume is the most common content error — and it is the one that most directly contradicts the assignment’s purpose.
Instead
The letter interprets the resume for the reader. It selects one or two experiences, provides specific evidence the resume’s bullet points cannot fully convey, and connects that evidence explicitly to a requirement from the posting. The resume shows what you did. The letter argues what it means and why it matters for this position.
The Strategy Memo Describes Decisions Instead of Explaining Them
“I chose to write about my internship experience in my letter because it was my most recent job and it is relevant to the position.” This sentence tells the instructor what you did, not why the decision serves the reader. There is no audience reasoning — no explanation of what the reader needs to see, why this evidence addresses that need, or what conclusion the reader is supposed to draw.
Instead
For every decision documented in the memo, complete the sentence: “I made this choice because [specific audience need], and this evidence demonstrates [specific quality] that this reader values because [reasoning grounded in your audience analysis].” If you cannot fill in those blanks, the decision is not yet analyzed — it is just described.
The Resume Does Not Match the Chosen Format
Claiming to use a functional format in the memo but submitting a resume that organizes content by employer and date. Or claiming to use a chronological format but submitting a template with skill columns and no clear chronological employment history. The format of the resume and the format named in the memo must match.
Instead
Decide on your format before building the resume, not after. If you are using a template, verify that its organizational structure matches the format you are claiming. Modify the template until it conforms. The rubric specifically checks that the resume follows the textbook guidance for your chosen format — not just that it looks professional.
Spelling and Grammar Errors Across All Three Documents
The rubric has a dedicated correctness row — 10 points each — for the memo, letter, and resume. That is 30 of 100 points tied directly to proofreading. A résumé with a typo in a job title, a letter with inconsistent verb tense, or a memo with comma splices throughout each lose points that have nothing to do with the quality of your argument.
Instead
Proofread each document separately, in a different sitting from when you wrote it. Read the letter and resume aloud — errors you miss while reading silently often become obvious when spoken. Have someone else read the documents before you submit. The assignment rubric specifically notes that a potential employer would be looking at this as your best possible work — treat it that way.
The Memo Does Not Include the Job Advertisement
Submitting the memo without a copy of or link to the posting. The assignment instructions state clearly that the job advertisement should be included in the memo. The instructor is supposed to evaluate your audience analysis against the actual posting — they cannot do that without seeing it.
Instead
Paste the full text of the job advertisement at the end of the memo, clearly labeled, or include the direct URL. If the URL may expire (common with job board postings), paste the text. Do not summarize the ad — include the original language so the instructor can see exactly what you were analyzing and writing toward.
Submission Checklist and Formatting
All three documents are submitted together. The assignment notes that neatness counts — not as a stylistic preference but because these documents simulate what you would send to an actual employer, and the rubric evaluates them as such. Before submitting, run through each document against the requirements listed in the assignment.
- Formatted as a memo (To, From, Date, Re header block)
- Addressed to the instructor by name
- Length between 1 and 3 pages
- All four required questions addressed with analytical (not descriptive) responses
- Audience analysis is specific to the company, industry, and position — not generic
- Strengths and weaknesses are named with specific evidence
- Resume format choice is justified in terms of audience and your specific background
- Letter content decisions are explained in terms of what the reader is supposed to conclude
- Job advertisement included (full text or URL)
- Proofread: no spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors
- Formatted as a letter per a Chapter 15 model (return address, date, recipient address, salutation, body, close, signature)
- Length is exactly one page — does not run over
- Opening paragraph names the position and where you found it
- Body paragraphs make a specific argument using evidence — not a resume restatement
- At least one specific, measurable example or piece of evidence in the body
- Closing paragraph requests a next step and provides contact information
- Tone is appropriate for the organization’s culture as you analyzed it
- Proofread: no spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors
- No formatting errors (text bleeding to a second page, inconsistent font, misaligned margins)
- Format is clearly either chronological or functional — not a hybrid with no clear logic
- Format matches the format named and justified in the strategy memo
- Length is one to two pages — no single stray line extending to an extra page
- All standard sections present (contact info, education, experience or skills, additional relevant sections)
- Experience bullets are accomplishment-focused, not just duty-listed
- Content is selected for relevance to this specific position and reader
- No padding content (irrelevant high school activities, outdated skills, filler sections)
- Professional email address and accurate contact information
- Proofread: no spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors
- Visually clean — consistent font, aligned text, no crowded margins
Frequently Asked Questions
The Research Foundation: Why Audience Analysis Is Central to Professional Writing
This project is grounded in a well-established framework from professional and technical communication research. Audience analysis is not a preliminary step that you complete before doing the real work — it is the real work. Every major decision in professional writing — what to include, what to omit, how to frame evidence, which format to use, what tone to adopt — is a function of who is reading and what they need to do with your document.
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL), one of the most widely used professional writing resources in U.S. higher education, describes the resume as a document that must be tailored to each application rather than used as a static, one-size-fits-all record of employment — a principle directly aligned with the audience analysis requirement at the center of this project. The strategy memo is the mechanism that makes your tailoring decisions visible and defensible: it forces you to document not just what you did, but the audience-centered reasoning that drove each decision.
Understanding this framework matters for how you approach the memo. Students who treat it as an afterthought — a summary of what they already submitted — miss the analytical point. The memo is where you demonstrate that you can do what professional communicators do: adapt documents systematically and deliberately to specific readers, and explain that adaptation in terms that are grounded in an understanding of what that reader needs. That skill transfers directly to workplace writing of every kind, which is why the rubric rewards it with 40 of the 100 available points.
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