Course Syllabus
Welcome to PRDV102: Resume Writing
Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.
Course Description
Develop the application materials you need for today's job market by honing your resume writing skills, learning how to create an impressive resume or improve the one you already have, and getting suggestions for writing an effective cover letter.
Course Introduction
If you are entering the job market or pursuing a job or career change, you should create a professional resume to provide potential employers with a brief account of your work, educational, and personal qualifications. You should include a cover letter for most job applications to market your unique strengths for a specific position. Think of your resume as a living document, not something you write once and set aside. Even after you land a job, you should periodically update your resume as you learn new skills and acquire new certifications.
In this course, we explore techniques to help you construct a resume and cover letter to help you stand out among other job candidates. We study several formats you can apply to various situations and learn how to assess your professional skills to be more competitive in today's job market. Finally, we learn how to turn an average resume and cover letter into a polished and effective marketing tool.
This course includes the following units:
- Unit 1: An Introduction to the Resume
- Unit 2: The Key Components of a Resume and Cover Letter
- Unit 3: Marketing Your Professional Self
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- describe the purpose and types of a professional resume;
- identify the key components of resumes and cover letters; and
- describe ways to utilize your resume and cover letters as effective marketing tools.
Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.
Course Materials
This course's primary learning materials are articles, lectures, and videos.
All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course by clicking on Resources in the navigation bar.
Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score
Only the final exam is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. To pass this course, you will need to earn a 70% or higher on the final exam. Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you may take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt. Once you have successfully passed the final exam, you will be awarded a free Course Completion Certificate.
Tips for Success
PRDV102: Resume Writing is a self-paced course, which means that you can decide when you will start and when you will complete the course. There is no instructor or an assigned schedule to follow. We estimate that the "average" student will take 8 hours to complete this course. We recommend that you work through the course at a comfortable pace that allows you to make regular progress. It's also a good idea to schedule your study time in advance and try to stick to that schedule as best as you can.
Learning new material can be challenging, so we've compiled a few study strategies to help you succeed:
- Take notes on the various terms, practices, and theories that you come across. This can help you put each concept into context and will create a refresher that you can use as you study later on.
- As you work through the materials, take some time to test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned is important for your long-term memory and will make you more likely to retain information over time.
Technical Requirements
This course is delivered entirely online. You will be required to have access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and have consistent access to the internet to either view or download the necessary course resources and attempt any auto-graded course assessments and the final exam.
- To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, you will need to be logged into your Saylor Academy account and enrolled in the course. If you do not already have an account, you may create one for free here. Although you can access some of the course without logging in to your account, you should log in to maximize your course experience. For example, you cannot take assessments or track your progress unless you are logged in.
For additional guidance, check out Saylor Academy's FAQ.
Fees
This course is entirely free to enroll in and to access. Everything linked in the course, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, is available for no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and course completion certificate.