Technical and Professional Writing
Engl 402 Employment Project Peer Review
Three Main Characteristics of Technical Communication
#1 Accessibility
The basic idea - users can “get to it” and “understand” it.
#2 Usability
The basic idea - efficiency – allows readers to perform the task or retrieve information as quickly and
#3 Relevance
The basic idea – audience focus - maintains a focus on the specific audience for whom the information was composed.
Read and review two classmates's cover letters/personal statements and resumes/curriculum vitaes.
The Letter/PS. Rubric Score:
1. Do a quick overview of the letter/personal statement. Does it invite the user to interact with it? Write general comments on your first impression.
2. Understanding the letter may not be complete and may be missing some parts, evaluate the current parts. Are assignment guidelines for the letter/personal statement met (such as required parts and required content)? What does the letter do well?
3. Where specifically could the written content be improved? How might you recommend these improvements be made?
4. Formatting and Organization:
- Does the document adhere to formatting standards for a letter/personal statement? Is there anything missing or out of place?
- Does the document follow a clear organizational pattern, and are you able to locate the main parts quickly?
- Overall, what are the strengths of the formatting and organization? Do you have any recommendations for improving the formatting and organization?
The Resume/Curriculum Vitae. Rubric Score:
1. What is your first reaction to the document?
2. What are the strengths of the document? Why?
3.
Is there anything in the document that confuses you? Why? What could you recommend to revise this/these parts?
4. Evaluate the author's use of Williams' four principles.
Which are used effectively? What can you recommend to improve the author's use of the principles?
5. Consider other design principles, such as white space, queuing, grid space, and typography (see chapter 11). What does the author do well? What could be improved on, and how?
Are there any final suggestions you would like to make which may not have been addressed in earlier questions?
Overall, what did you like the most or find the most effective in the documents you reviewed? Is there anything you can add about your rubric scores that the questions above did not address?
Finally, which "stack" would you place the application in? 1 Interview/Accept, 2 okay but great, 3 trash.