Exploring Students’ Written Discourse in Resumes: Unveiling Insights for Enhancing Social Intelligence

. Social intelligence empowers individuals not only to comprehend and interpret written discourse but also to respond effectively and appropriately. In the context of job applications, the ability to demonstrate the presence of social intelligence through documents such as resumes can significantly persuade recruiters’ interest. However, many future graduates are not concerned about producing impactful resumes. The way a job advertisement is presented can affect how a resume is crafted. This paper explores how future graduates interpret job advertisements and shape their resumes. One postgraduate student from a technical university in Malaysia participated in this study. This study employed think-aloud protocols to examine the cognitive processes behind the resume composition. The data from the think-aloud and the language used in the advertisements and resumes were analyzed through thematic and discourse analysis, respectively. The results generated from the analysis were mapped against the social intelligence dimensions to determine the presence of social intelligence. The key finding highlights that social intelligence plays an important role in helping future graduates understand and interpret job advertisements to enable them to produce impactful resumes. The study raises the relevance of social intelligence for future professionals.


Introduction
Effective communication is crucial in the workplace to help employees perform tasks and promote employee engagement.In the context of written communication, emails, text messages, and documents play important roles in conveying messages or giving instructions.In ensuring that the intended messages are understood, or instructions are followed, the information needs to be clear and engaging.However, written discourse can lead to misunderstandings, although the actual messages are understood [1,2].The language used and the style of writing can affect the intended meaning or reaction of the recipients [3].This highlights the complexity of written discourses in disseminating intended meanings and connecting with the recipients.Within this context, social intelligence plays an important role.
Social intelligence is an important element in human interactions.In the workplace, communication between employers and employees, as well as among employees, needs to create a harmonious environment to ensure productivity.Social intelligence empowers individuals to comprehend communication across diverse online platforms and respond effectively and appropriately.Social intelligence plays a vital role in maintaining good social dynamics and work engagement in the workplace [4].Employees with low social intelligence lack self-awareness, which may affect their performance [5].
In the context of job advertisements, hiring managers need to prepare the content of the job advertisement to advertise the vacancy.These advertisements need to clearly explain the responsibilities and benefits to avoid any misunderstanding [6].However, it has been found that hiring managers tend to craft overly optimistic depictions of the job to attract a larger pool of applicants, which can mislead and deceive applicants [7].As a result, candidates face difficulties in comprehending the company's expectations outlined in their job advertisements [8].They would also miss out on key information in their resumes when job advertisements are not clear [9].In the context of language use and accuracy, studies have shown that recruiters are indifferent towards language errors and inaccurate word choice [10,11].
Resumes that contain language errors can reduce applicants' chances of being shortlisted for an interview [12,13].However, the importance of language use and accuracy is not highlighted in the job advertisement, causing applicants to take these aspects for granted [14].
This paper is part of a larger research that examines social intelligence in resumes.The aim of this paper is to examine how future graduates interpret and respond to job advertisements.The paper also examines ways in which this interpretation affects the way graduates produce their resumes.

The role of job advertisements
A job advertisement serves as an announcement that conveys the availability of a specific job position to individuals.It enquires about the socio-demographic features, duration of experiences, education level, soft skills, and hard skills that are required for the advertised role [15].These are the criteria that hiring managers use to evaluate every job application [16].
Hiring managers are responsible for promoting job postings that enhance the company's reputation and attract potential candidates to apply for the job vacancies [17].According to the National Council of Social Service [18], a job posting should have a concise overview of the organization, a summary of the position's responsibilities, and the competencies and skills needed for the position.These elements should have clear headings, written in straightforward and unambiguous language, avoiding the use of unfamiliar terminology, acronyms, or jargon [19].The responsibilities and benefits need to be clearly explained to avoid misunderstandings by applicants [6].
However, some companies did not clearly outline their expectations in their job advertisements.This issue was reported by Floris & Renandya [8], who found that candidates experienced difficulty in producing impactful resumes when explicit details of the essential skills and qualifications for the advertised position were not provided in job advertisements.Another type of information absent from many job advertisements is the salary range [6], which can mislead or deceive applicants [7].From the perspective of social intelligence, the insufficient information provided in job advertisements can affect the way applicants craft their resumes, causing the absence of social intelligence in their written discourse.

The requirements in job advertisements
In this era, communication about job vacancies and job applications is commonly performed online with limited human interactions.When writing their resumes, applicants need to customize them according to the position advertised [20].However, there are job advertisements which do not provide explicit information.This can lead to misunderstandings, which can affect the way applicants write their resumes [21].Skills and competencies, for example, can refer to occupation-specific and transversal (crossoccupation) skills and competencies [22].However, if these differences are not explicitly stated in the job advertisements, applicants are not able to write resumes that include the skills and competencies that directly match the job requirements [21].
A clear job description is also vital to ensure that a job advertisement reaches targeted and qualified applicants and attracts a pool of talent [23].This is to ensure that applicants who are responding to a job advertisement are those with matching skills and competencies.However, in some cases, hiring managers include requirements in the job advertisements that may not necessarily be considered during the screening process.For example, including the term inclusion in a job advertisement does not necessarily mean that the workplace has an inclusive environment [24].Apart from that, role expectations of the same job stated in a job advertisement may differ from one company to another depending on the size or company ownership [25,26].This makes it challenging for applicants to interpret a job advertisement and write a resume that addresses the expectations of a company.

Wording in job advertisements
The details included in job advertisements play significant roles in influencing job seekers to apply for the position advertised [27].The language and framing of job advertisements describe what employers look for in potential candidates [28].When browsing job advertisements, job seekers often look for words that can match with their capabilities and their personal needs.Fatfouta [29] investigated the impacts of wording in job advertisements on narcissists' attraction towards the job posted.The researcher reported that words that attract narcissists are related to expanding professional networks, making new business contacts, and impressing others.Nonetheless, in their attempt to attract job seekers into applying for the posted position, the wording included in job advertisements can be misleading or deceiving [7].
In another research, Born and Taris [30] investigated the wording used in advertisements and its impact on students' inclination to apply for the position advertised.The study suggests that the wording used in job advertisements comes with inferred meanings.For example, the word possess suggests that applicants need to ask themselves whether they are the type of person eligible for that position, and the word perform implies that applicants have not only the ability but also the motivation to handle the stress and carry out the tasks.The findings also showed that the wording in job advertisements also affects the inclination to apply in terms of gender.When the wording represents a female profile, the majority of applications will come from female applicants as they may interpret that the hiring managers are looking for female candidates.The findings in Fatfouta [29] and Born and Taris [30] research highlight that the wording in job advertisements can influence the way applicants interpret the expectations of hiring managers stated in the job advertisements.

Social intelligence in interactions
In the workplace context, studies have shown that written communication can cause disagreement and misunderstanding, affecting the productivity and performance of an organization [31,32].In a study conducted by Odine [31], it was found communication in the workplace was often through written messages, which were pushed down from the top management to the employees.This mode of communication indicated a sense of disrespect for the employees, resulting in low employee engagement.In another study, Salvation [32] found that disagreement and misunderstanding in the workplace can arise through misinformation and misinterpretation of messages delivered in written documents.Both studies highlighted the issue of ineffective communication when messages are delivered in a written form.In addition, the study by Odine [27] highlighted the lack of relationship between the sender of a message and the recipients, which has caused the recipients to feel that they are not respected.This suggests that effective communication is not only about exchanging ideas, thoughts, knowledge, and information.It is also about understanding the social environment, the ability to multifaceted social change, and control feelings and emotions [33].This highlights the need for social intelligence to enhance relationships and create a pleasant working environment.The presence of social intelligence could increase the productivity and performance of the members of an organization.
Employee engagement in the workplace has a great impact on company productivity.Sanwal and Sareen [4] conducted a study to investigate the social intelligence constructs that promote employee engagement.The researchers used an engagement scale and social intelligence scale on 200 professionals to measure employee engagement and level of social intelligence.The findings show that communication enhanced by social intelligence improves employee engagement, increasing company productivity.This study highlights the significant role that social intelligence has in enhancing workplace communication.
A study conducted by Mohamed [34] examined the effects of social intelligence on the performance of service providers.The researcher found that employees with a high social intelligence score demonstrate high work performance.Upon further examination, it was found that these employees have a high situational awareness that helps them perceive the emotional state of their colleagues and respond appropriately.This enhances relationships among colleagues and creates a harmonious working environment.This study highlights the importance of communication enhanced by social intelligence in the workplace.
The studies reviewed in this section have demonstrated the significant role social intelligence has in the workplace.It improves relationships between employees and employers and enhances work engagement, which promotes productivity [4].This creates an inclusive and motivated workplace.Socially intelligent companies are able to understand what motivates their staff and thus can maximize their workforce [35].

Data sources
This study is a case study that employs a qualitative approach to data collection.In obtaining the data for this study, one postgraduate student from one technical university was invited to participate.One job advertisement was selected from one job advertisement platform.The position offered was based on the participant's career path.The job advertisement was saved in pdf and displayed on a tablet to be presented to the participant during the data collection.
In examining how the participant read the job advertisement and produced his resume, the Think-Aloud Protocol was employed.The Think Aloud Protocol helps to examine a participant's thought processes when performing a task [36].In the case of this study, this method provided insights into how the participant interpreted the job advertisement and used this information to produce his resume based on the job advertisement.During the Think Aloud session, the participant was given a pdf version of the job advertisement related to the position that he was interested in through a tablet.Then, he was asked to orally express what he understood and thought about the job advertisement.He was also given the option to write notes on the job advertisement when he experienced difficulty in verbalizing his thoughts orally.Based on his understanding of the job advertisement, the participant produced a resume.He was also required to explain how and why he produced his resume in such a way.

Data analysis
The job advertisement obtained from a job advertisement platform and the resume produced by the participant were analyzed through transactional and interactional functions of the language framework.The transactional function of language focuses on the message conveyed to recipients, while the interactional function of language focuses on the way the message is being conveyed, which includes the use of language to establish and maintain social relationships [37].From the transactional view, the emphasis is given on the intended meaning, while from the interactional view, the emphasis is on how the message is conveyed.This includes the language used to negotiate role relationships, such as relationships between a boss and an employee or turn-changing in a conversation [38].The skills to achieve transactional and interactional functions of language proposed by Richards, relevant to written discourse, are used to guide the analysis (see Table 1).This framework is employed to find out the extent to which each job advertisement achieves its purpose and whether or not the advertisements attract the interests of job seekers.This framework helps to examine what information is provided in the job advertisement, how the information is being conveyed, and how the participants interpret and use this information to produce their resumes.This is challenging for a written discourse as it requires linguistic demands that are not accompanied by paralinguistic cues such as gestures, facial expressions, and voice quality like spoken discourse [37].
The data from the think-aloud protocol was analyzed using Braun and Clarke's six-step thematic analysis [39].The six steps include a) familiarizing with the text, b) reading and rereading transcription to generate the codes, c) sorting and rearranging codes to develop themes, d) reviewing the theme, e) analyzing data under each, and f) thematic connections are made, and conclusions are drawn.The findings generated from the analysis of the discourse analysis and think-aloud protocol were then mapped against Karl Albrecht's [5] dimensions of Social Intelligence, which are situational awareness, presence, authenticity, clarity, and empathy.Situational awareness refers to the ability to perceive one's social situations that enables one to perform appropriate actions in an appropriate setting.Presence refers to the attitude that individuals portray to the public and how their personality is consistent with what they portray.Authenticity refers to the degree to which someone is perceived as being honest and ethical.Clarity refers to the competency of delivering clear messages that fit the purpose to avoid misinterpretations.

Findings and discussion
The discussions of the findings are divided into three parts.The first part discusses the analysis of the job advertisements through transactional and interactional functions of language.The findings generated from the analysis of the participant's interpretations of the job advertisement are also discussed in this section to support the analysis of the job advertisement.The second part discusses the findings of how the participant produces his resume based on his interpretations of the job advertisement.His explanation about how and why he produces his resume in such a way is also discussed in this part.The final part maps the findings discussed in the first two parts against the five dimensions of social intelligence.

Interpreting the job advertisements
One job advertisement was selected based on the participant's career paths.The position selected is Lecturer.In this section, the analysis of the job advertisement through transactional and interactional functions of language is first presented.The discussions of the advertisement are divided into several parts so that the analysis can be discussed accordingly.The findings are then supported by the analysis of the Think Aloud Protocol.
In the Malaysian context, English holds a second language status but is commonly used in various contexts.The selected job advertisement is posted in English, and therefore, all applicants are expected to write their resumes in English.Nonetheless, there is no explicit requirement that the resumes need to be language error-free.
The purpose of a job advertisement is to provide information about a job vacancy and is meant to target job seekers who have the qualifications and competencies [15].In the job advertisement selected, the name of the position and the job highlights are shown in Figure 1 below.The advertisement shown in Figure 1 provides information about the lecturer vacancy at a university located in Perak.The job highlights provide information about what the participant will receive if he is the successful candidate.The information, although brief, could be understood by P1 as he did not spend much time reading the information.This indicates that the information has been disseminated effectively, and therefore, the transactional function of language has been achieved.In determining the relevance of the position with his educational background, the participant examined the areas of specialization.This information is shown in Figure 2.

I would consider applying for this position [because it is based on my interest]. However, given the job descriptions, especially for the Faculty of Engineering…Oh! So, I see, there's a couple of departments and faculties involved…
[P1TAP] Although he perceived that the position was suitable, there were some hesitations about the job descriptions when he said However, given the job descriptions.Shortly after, he stated Oh! So, I see, there's a couple of faculties involved… indicating that he noticed the different specializations for different departments and faculties after some time.
This position is relevant to a certain extent.But I believe that most of the key components [areas of specialization] here, there are certain subject areas here that I have fundamental level knowledge.Should I be required to teach this subject, I might need to explore more. [P1TAP] The statement Should I be required to teach this subject indicates that the participant is uncertain about the expectations of the hiring institution.
…right now, in my field of study, mainly focus on the design of thermos fluid system…it stated here under specialization related to mechanical engineering. [PTAP] The wording is very brief, which makes it challenging for an applicant to relate.There was no explanation about whether applicants need to have all the stated specializations within a particular department or whether having only one area of specialization qualifies an applicant to apply for this position.
However, the focus on hydrogen…so it's not my field of study… In addition, the phrase Any specialization related to is also vague, which may raise questions about what is considered as related.In this instance, the intended message has not been effectively conveyed, and therefore, the transactional function of language is not achieved.The uncertainty demonstrated by the participant can also affect the interactional function of language, where job seekers may not be inclined to respond to this job advertisement.This requires further examination.The key accountabilities section reflects clear expectations of the hiring organization.Words such as supervise undergraduate students (Supervision), publishing articles in Q1/Q2 (publications) and submitting and securing research grants (research grants) are the keywords that P1 can relate to.

Regarding supervision…right now I'm involved in supervising undergraduate students…I help my supervisor in applying for research grants…for publication, something that I'm really used to.
[P1TAP] When reading this section, P1 seemed enthusiastic and was able to relate the description given in the job advertisement to his own experience.He demonstrated that he was responding to the hiring manager through his interaction with the job advertisement.In this instance, it can be concluded that not only the transactional function of language was achieved but also the interactional function of language.
Born and Taris [30] have argued that the wording in job advertisements comes with inferred meaning.The words contribute is being repeated which can imply that applicants need to be fully motivated and focused in performing the tasks.These are the implied traits that applicants need to demonstrate in their resumes.Words such as provide guidance, utilize assessment design and achieve superior learning environment imply that vast experience is required.In addition, the key accountabilities section is meant to provide information on what applicants are expected to do.However, this can also be interpreted as the experience required of the applicants.This is not represented in the information about career level section where the job is only at entry level (see Figure 4).The information can be misleading because applicants are expected to have experience, but the salary offered may not complement the experience that applicants have.

Responding to the job advertisements
This section discusses how the participant produces his resume based on his interpretations of the job advertisements.In responding to the job advertisements, the participant was given the option to either write a new resume or amend his existing resume to customize the content according to the job advertisement.The resume is presented in sections to enable the researchers to discuss the findings.Figure 5 shows the career objective that the participant has written.In the first sentence (labeled as [a]), the participant has included his area of specialization.He believes that all his areas of specialization are indicated in the job advertisement and relevant for the position.Fluid Dynamics is related to Thermo Fluid and is stated in the job advertisement while Aerodynamics and engineering analysis may be considered as Any specialization related to.For the next sentence (labeled as [b]), the participant has included assisting supervisors with undergraduate supervision, crafting research proposals, and publishing two papers in Q1.These keywords can be found in the job advertisement and are perceived as crucial words to be highlighted in his resume.In the next sentence (labeled as [c]), P1 has included his experiences, which center around mechanical engineering and teaching.

Fig. 6. P1's experiences
In Figure 6, the participant further elaborates on his experiences, which center around mechanical engineering.He anticipated the importance of providing experiences related to mechanical engineering.In addition, these experiences responded to the requirement stated under supervision advising final year projects and Capstone projects (see Figure 3).In this section (Figure 7), the participant included his transferable skills of communication and leadership.He highlighted that these skills were developed through "my networking during my study".The words networking and collaborating can be found in the advertisement under consultation and services in Figure 3. Based on the wording in the advertisement, the participant was able to profile that communication and leadership skills are required, although these skills were not specifically stated.On the other hand, there may be applicants who are not able to perceive these inferred skills.This raises the need for hiring managers to state their requirements clearly so that equal opportunities are given to all qualified job seekers.

Mapping the findings against the social intelligence model
Social intelligence refers to the ability to read people's feelings and respond to those feelings with empathy [40].It requires enhanced social skills that guide people to get along and build relationships with each other [5] while making use of social cues to act according to their surroundings [41].Albrecht [5] presents the five-dimension model, which entails situational awareness, presence, authenticity, clarity, and empathy.
This section maps the findings in the previous section against five dimensions.The descriptions of the dimensions are presented in Table 2.
Table 2. Descriptions of the five dimensions by Albrecht [5].

Situational awareness
The ability to perceive situations and the way people behave in those situations that enables them to perform appropriate actions.

Presence
The attitude that individuals portray to the public and how the personality is consistent with the way they portray.

Authenticity
The degree to which someone is perceived as being honest and ethical.

Clarity
The ability to clearly convey messages or views to avoid misunderstanding.

Empathy
The ability to build meaningful connections with them.

Social intelligence in the job advertisements
Based on the examination of the advertisement, it could be seen that the earlier part is brief and lacks details that make him question the responsibilities related to the areas of specialization and if he is expected to teach all the areas for one department.The wording also raises questions about whether there is more than one position offered for each department.In terms of the subject matter, the intended message is vague, and therefore, the transactional function of language is not achieved.When mapped against the social intelligence model, it can be concluded that the first part of the job advertisement lacks clarity as the message has not been conveyed clearly, which can cause misunderstandings and confusion.Within this context, the hiring manager who is responsible for crafting the job advertisement lacks situational awareness as he/she has not anticipated that the lack of clarity of the job advertisement can create confusion.The later part of the job advertisement that contains the key accountabilities has provided sufficient elaboration about the responsibilities expected of the successful candidate.The participant was able to relate to words such as supervision and research and provide his experiences related to these words.This means that the hiring manager has managed to craft this part of the job advertisement that establishes connections with the participant.Within this context, the interactional function of language has been addressed.In terms of social intelligence, this part of the advertisement demonstrates clarity, and the hiring manager can establish a meaningful connection with the participant (empathy).
Nonetheless, the job advertisement does not explicitly state the skills that are required for the position.Among the skills deducted by the participant are communication and leadership skills, which can be inferred from words such as networking and collaborating.In the context of social intelligence, it can be said that this job advertisement lacks clarity.

Social intelligence in the resumes
In his career objective, the participant included words that could be found in the job advertisement, such as supervision and Q1 journals.This indicates that he understood the intended meaning and anticipated that the hiring manager expects to find these keywords in the resume.This indicated that the advertisement had addressed the transactional (conveying the intended meaning) and interactional (engaging and triggering the participant to respond accordingly) functions of language.However, the transactional and interactional functions of language are achieved based on the key accountabilities section.In terms of social intelligence, it can be concluded that the participant has demonstrated situational awareness in his resume.In addition, the resume also contains clarity as the participant has provided information using wording that can help the hiring manager look for information that he/she expects to find in the resume.
The participant was able to understand that he needed to highlight his communication skills and leadership skills based on the words extracted from the job advertisement.This reflects that he has situational awareness about having to highlight the skills related to the job descriptions given.With the information about the skills, it can also be concluded that clarity is present in the resume.Providing information that is expected but not clearly stated can promote a good impression and, thus, address empathy.However, this inference may not be picked up by other applicants, which can be unfair.This highlights the importance of possessing social intelligence, in this case, situational awareness, so that inferences can be picked up.

Conclusion
Social intelligence is vital in the workplace and, therefore, is the skill that employers seek in the future workforce.Though challenging, future graduates need to demonstrate social intelligence in their written discourses, particularly in their job application documents such as resumes.
This study has raised the need for demonstrating social intelligence in written communication, in this case, resumes.The presence of social intelligence establishes connections between the writer of the written discourse and the reader.In the context of job advertisements, the writers are the hiring managers who are responsible for crafting job advertisements, while the readers are the job seekers.Apart from that, the presence of clarity and empathy helps job seekers understand the expectations of the hiring organization.
The findings of this study have highlighted some key considerations in teaching and learning.First, the findings have highlighted that identifying the keywords and understanding the expectations of the hiring organization is important.The participant has identified words such as supervision and research and can understand the expectations of the hiring organization.Understanding the expectations of the hiring organization is crucial, as this will determine the content of the resume.Thus, educators need to be aware of these words so that they can guide their students in identifying these keywords.Second, the findings have also highlighted that understanding the expectations associated with the keywords is crucial.By identifying the inferred meaning, students would be able to include important information in their resumes, although these expected details are not explicitly stated in the job advertisement.Examples of these words are networking and collaborating, which can mean that applicants need to have good communication and leadership skills.Within this context, educators need to guide their students in making inferences and extracting expectations that need to be inferred or not explicitly stated in the job advertisement.
The findings of this study are based on only one job advertisement and one participant's thought processes.Further investigation is required to obtain deeper insights into how graduates develop their resumes and how social intelligence plays a role in written discourses such as job advertisements and resumes.

Fig. 1 .
Fig. 1.The position advertised and job highlights in the advertisement.

Fig. 2 .
Fig. 2. The areas of specialization required for the position in the advertisement.The areas of specialization presented are according to faculties and departments.Based on Figure 2, there are two faculties involved, which are the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Science and Information Technology.There are three departments for the Faculty of Engineering and two departments for the Faculty of Science and Information Technology.

Fig. 3 .
Fig. 3.The key accountabilities for the position in the advertisement.

Fig. 4 .
Fig. 4. Additional information about the position

Table 1 .
Skills to Achieve Transactional and Interactional Functions Relevant for Written Discourses.