Appraisal of online tutorial materials/Evaluation Report for Creating an Effective Resume

Material evaluated
Lynda online course entitled "Creating an Effective Resume"

Structured Evaluation

 * Was this video tutorial appropriate for a complete beginner using Microsoft Word 2013 for the first time?

It covered all the subjects with the involvement of putting together an effective resume; the facilitator was well spoken and clear with the tasks you needed to be complete.


 * Was the production quality of the material good, average or poor?

The production material was good; the video and audio was synced in well with each other.


 * Rate the duration of the introductory chapter

3 out of 5. It was too quick and it covered a lot of information and I was left feeling a little overwhelmed.

Searching for equivalent, freely accessible alternatives to the Lynda resource
The search process


 * Note the time it takes to watch some of the videos or read the resources you find in those searches to get an idea of whether or not it will be useful, is the same sort of level as Lynda resource, or covers the same sort of material.

Using Google search engine and entering 'Creating an Effective Resume' I came up with a results straight away. The internet instruction paper for creating an effective resume took about 15 minutes to read through and if I was actually putting together a resume, it probably would have taken longer to read through the paper had I actually been preparing a resume. But it would have taken quite a while just so I can read and reread over the resume again to get the best possible result.

Search result number 1


 * Was the material appropriate for a beginner user of Microsoft Office?

Yes it was appropriate for beginners because it went through every step and every task and explained each in great detail.


 * Was the production quality of the material good, average or poor?

It was average quality, 3 out of 5.


 * Does the website provide you with links to other materials that might give you more information or detail on how to use the software/platform? E.g. related videos, links to other websites.

It was a PDF with no other links on the document.

Bucknell University - Creating an Effective Résumé

Search result number 2


 * Was the material appropriate to my level (beginner user of Microsoft Office, completely new to LinkedIn platform, undergraduate student applying for first job, etc)? Why would you say it was appropriate/inappropriate?

I think the clip was essential for a person who was putting together their first Resume because the quality of the video, the better the quality of the Resume.


 * Was the production quality of the material good, average or poor?

The material for the video was average - 3 out of 5. The Lynda.com material was far superior in quality.


 * Rate the duration of the video or the time spent reading the webpage

4 out of 5. The video clip went only went for 2 minutes 50 seconds; it was only the introduction to the tutorial but it seem like the correct amount of time. Given that it was only an introduction, it explained on the first steps on creating a resume.


 * Does the website provide you with links to other materials that might give you more information or detail on how to use the software/platform? E.g. related videos, links to other websites.

No, there wasn’t any further links to the community college site.

The material could have been better presented. There should have been examples of resumes that I could model my own resume on.
 * Other comments about about the alternative material

How to Make an Easy Resume in Microsoft Word 2010

How to Make an Easy Resume in Microsoft Word 2010


 * Note down how many times you have to revise your search terms

I had to revise search words twice; I watched six video clips before I came across Dave’s Writing Tips.


 * Was the material appropriate beginner level?

The material good for someone creating their first resume because the tutor was very slow with the examples he was providing. He might have been a little too slow.


 * Was the production quality of the material good, average or poor?

The quality was video and the audio was really good - 4 out of 5.


 * Rate the duration of the video or the time spent reading the webpage – did you feel it took too long to explain everything? Was it too quick? Was there too much text to read?

3 out of 5, the clip was a too long (12 minutes 40 seconds); the tutor took too long giving his instructions.

Summary
It's very difficult to know which the better training platform is for creating a resume, although Lynda’s quality of the video is really good. I wouldn’t use their service to create a resume because I don’t believe this is the right approach. And this is because I personally believe that you need that extra help to put together a professional resume; there were quite a few tutorials and instruction papers to choose within search engines but I would seek the services of a professional.