Journal of Business and Technical Communication Oct 2006

Self-Published Web Résumés: Their Purposes and Their Genre Systems

John B. Killoran Long Island University

Abstract

A genre's continuing success after migrating to a new medium may be due in part to whether the genre secures a place within a viable genre system. To explore the role of genre systems, this study examined the well-established genre of the résumé in its new position on self-published Web sites. Results from surveying 100 authors of self-published Web résumés revealed that many respondents used their résumés for the previously overlooked purpose of attracting clients for their self-employment. These self-employed respondents rated their résumés as significantly more useful than did those who had not used their résumés for this purpose. The self-employed were more likely to publicize their sites through such business-related genres as business cards and advertising material, and in turn, their sites drew in communication from more socially distant populations. These alternative publicity measures and communication networks suggest that the self employed were able to situate their Web résumés within viable alternative genre systems.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2006-10-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651906290267
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
genre theory
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (7)

  1. Berdanier et al. (2021)
    Characterizing Disciplinarity and Conventions in Engineering Resume Profiles
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Randazzo (2020)
    A Framework for Résumé Decisions: Comparing Applicants’ and Employers’ Reasons
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  3. Fillenwarth et al. (2018)
    Quantification of Engineering Disciplinary Discourse in Résumés: A Novel Genre …
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  4. Selber (2010)
    A Rhetoric of Electronic Instruction Sets
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Killoran (2009)
    Targeting an Audience of Robots: Search Engines and the Marketing of Technical …
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Show all 7 →
  1. Killoran (2009)
    The Rhetorical Situations of Web Résumés
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Killoran (2009)
    The Rhetorical Situations of Web Résumés
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

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CrossRef global citation count: 8 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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