Overview
Quick Links
Quick Links
A. Overview
InStage lets students submit resumes and cover letters online.
Assignments:
Centralize submissions for coordinators.
Allow students to upload resumes, cover letters, or both.
Send automated reminders to reduce missed deadlines.
Generate summary reports for quick evaluation.
Quick Facts
Submission Types: Resume, Cover Letter, or both.
Assessment: Completion-based or graded externally.
Setup Time: ~5 minutes per assignment.
Notifications: Automatic emails (availability, 24-hour reminder, due date).
B. Steps to Create a Resume Assignment
1. Start from Home
Log in to your InStage account.
From the Home page, click Create Assignment.
You can also use the left-hand sidebar to access Create Assignment directly.
On the Create Assignment screen, select Resume Assist to begin setting up your assignment.
Ref Image 1: Home page Overview: Shows the main dashboard with "Create Assignment" as the primary action.
Ref Image 2: Highlights the left-hand menu with quick access to "Create Assignment," "View Assignments," and "Practice Mode".
2. Configure Resume Assignment
Once you select Resume Assist, you’ll see a multi-step setup flow:
Step 1: Job Position
Choose who selects the job position:
Students choose - each student enters their own target job
You choose the same job for all students
Step 2: Assignment Due Dates
Choose a due date format:
Fixed Due Dates: Set specific availability and due dates
Rolling Due Dates: Dates adjust based on when students are added to the assignment
Ref Image 3: Highlights the initial setup interface for creating a Resume Assignment, starting with Step 1: Job Position and Step 2: Assignment Due Dates.
Step 3: AI-Generated First Drafts
Toggle AI-Generate Student First Drafts:
On: InStage generates initial resume and/or cover letter drafts
Off: Students manually create or upload their documents
Ref Image 4: Highlights the initial setup interface for creating a Resume Assignment, continuing with Step 3: AI-Generate Student First Drafts.
Step 4: Set Availability & Due Dates for Tailored Resume to be completed
Enter:
Available Date (when students can begin)
Due Date (final submission deadline)
EXAMPLE:
Tailored Resume → Available: Feb 9, Due: Feb 16
Step 5: Resume Sections to Include
Select which resume/cover letter sections to include (e.g., Contact, Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, Projects, Extra Curricular).
Ref Image 5: Highlights the initial setup interface for creating a Resume Assignment, continuing with Step 4: Tailored Resume, and Step 5: Resume sections to include.
Step 6: Set Availability & Due Dates for Tailored Cover Letter to be completed
Enter:
Available Date (when students can begin)
Due Date (final submission deadline)
EXAMPLE:
Tailored Cover Letter → Available: Feb 16, Due: Feb 23A
Ref Image 6: Highlights the initial setup interface for creating a Resume Assignment, continuing with Step 6: Tailored Cover Letter.
3. Add Assignment Details
After completing the Dates step, click Next. You’ll then configure the Assignment details.
Step 7: Enter Assignment Name
Enter a clear, descriptive name (e.g., Resume Creation Assignment).
This is a required field.
Step 8: Enter an Assignment Description
Provide a short description that appears in the student’s enrolment email and on their start page.
Example: This resume creation assignment will help students develop their resume writing skills.
This is a required field.
Step 9: Groups (Optional)
Add groups to organize students into sections or cohorts.
If you add 2+ groups, students will be prompted to select their group when joining the assignment.
Enter a group name (e.g., Section A, Cohort 1) → click Add Group.
Ref Image 7: Highlights the assignment details, continuing with Step 7: Assignment Name, Step 8: Description, and Step 9: Groups.
Step 10: Report Content
Choose what information to include in reports:
Include Student Name and Email
Ref Image 8: Highlights the assignment details, continuing with Step 10: Report Content.
Step 11: Student Notifications & Summaries
Choose which automated messages and summaries students receive:
Automatic Notification:
Enrollment notification email (sent by default)
Optional Notifications:
Availability window open notification
24-hour reminder email (This is recommended to be selected)
Due date reminder email
These optional notifications help reduce missed deadlines and keep students informed throughout the assignment window.
Step 12: Admin Report Options
Customize how and when you receive aggregated reports:
Report Frequency:
Send a report 24 hours after each due date (This is recommended to be selected)
Send a report only after the final due date
Do not send email reports
Select additional email items, such as:
Link to admin summary
Include a PDF summary in the email
Ref Image 9: Highlights the assignment details, continuing with Step 11: Student Notifications, and Step 12: Admin Report Options.
Navigation buttons at the bottom allow you to go Back or proceed to the Next step (Review).
Ref Image 10: Highlights the end of the assignment details, with the option to move forward by clicking Next or Back.
4. Review Assignment Details
After completing all setup fields, click Next to reach the Review stage. This is your final checkpoint before launching the assignment.
You’ll see a summary of everything entered:
Dates (availability and due dates)
Assignment Details (name, description, groups)
Report Content (student info included in reports)
Student Notifications & Summaries (emails and reminders)
Admin Report Options (frequency and format of reports)
If you need to make changes, click Back to return to the relevant section.
If everything looks correct, click Deploy to launch the assignment.
⚠️ Important: Once you click Deploy, you will not be able to make any further changes to the assignment. Double‑check all details before finalizing.
5. Share Assignment / Add Students
Once the Assignment has been created, you have two options for including Students in the assignment.
Option 1: Share a direct link for Students to join the assignment.
Option 2: Add Students
Students will automatically receive notifications based on your chosen settings.
Option 1: Share Assignment Link
Option 2: Add Students
Paste student emails manually
Upload a CSV file
Share a unique enrolment link (also available after the assignment has been deployed)
6. Add Additional Faculty Members
7. Reviewing & Managing Resume & Cover Letter Assignments
After deployment, you’ll be able to view student submissions:
See individual submissions for each student
Monitor aggregated summaries
Track both resume and cover letter uploads if enabled together
Considerations:
Use Shared Due Dates if both resume and the cover letter are required to simplify tracking.
Enable Summaries to reduce manual checking.
Leverage Reminder Emails to minimize missed deadlines.
Set up a test assignment to see exactly what students will experience.
D. Important Note and Notice of Data Collection
InStage is a third-party tool, and to access it for use in this course, you need to create an account on their platform. The institution has reviewed the security, data and privacy policies of the platform and has approved the use of InStage for this course. Please understand that by creating an account with InStage, you are consenting to the platform's use of your personal data and agreeing to their Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
Please be aware that the AI functionality of the InStage platform utilizes processing by OpenAI's API to generate interview feedback. If you have any concerns, please review OpenAI's Privacy Policy and Security Policies. InStage has made it clear that user data is not used in the training process of their AI tool. Only the pre-trained models provided by OpenAI are used, and no additional user data is incorporated into training. If you disagree with involvement with any of the platforms above, you may choose to decline account creation. In this case, please contact us immediately and inform us of your decision, and we will get back to you with an alternative assignment option.