Formal Assignment #2: Résumé & Job Application Letter (90 points)
Assignment Overview
Your task is to research potential jobs in newspapers, online job boards (see Angel), or company websites and find a job announcement for a position in your field for which you might be qualified. Write a résumé and a job application letter in response to the announcement; turn in a copy of the announcement you plan to respond to, Monday, Sept. 24 or before. You will be evaluated not only on the content and appearance of your job application materials, but also on how well you have targeted them to your audience and the job announcement you selected.
Step One: Researching Potential Jobs
Your task is to research solicited job announcements. Check Angel (under Lessons Tab, FA#2 folder) for links to several job search engines that you should explore. In addition to browsing online job announcements, you may search newspapers, company websites, or trade journals to find potential jobs. Print two copies (one for yourself and one to turn in Monday, Sept. 24 for coursework credit) of your job announcement. If your job announcement appears in a newspaper, photocopy two copies of the announcement.
Step Two: Writing Your Résumé
A résumé is a collection of key educational experience, work experience, and skills/abilities you have to offer an employer. Your task is to persuade a potential employer to interview you based on your résumé. Research has shown that employers may only spend a minute or less scanning your résumé, so you have to make it grammatically flawless, and aesthetically appealing. I strongly suggest writing a résumé for a job or internship you would be eligible for today based on your education and work experience. There are two basic types of résumés: the chronological résumé and the skills résumé. A chronological resume is organized by time and used by people who don’t have extensive work experience. This is the style most English 102 students choose. A skills resume is a good choice if you have a lot of professional work experience. Skills résumés emphasize skills, knowledge and abilities and are typically somewhat field specific. For sample resumes, please see the stack that was handed out in class. Audience of Résumé: Your audience for your resume will be someone in a hiring position for a company that interests you. A few assumptions you can make are that your reader is busy, is looking to see if you are a “good fit” for the position, and will be looking at the care with which you present your resume. Your audience will also be looking to see if you display knowledge of document design and the 4 principles of design we discussed in class. Length of Résumé: Your resume should be 1-2 pages in length and should follow the resume conventions and components discussed in class. Your resume should not exceed 2 pages in length. Value of Résumé: The resume is worth up to 40 points (35 points for the resume, and 5 points conference attendance and participation).
Resume Grading Criteria: Aesthetic Appeal: appropriate use of white space, 1 inch margins, a scannable design, good use of headings etc. Consistent Format: a consistent format is key to document scanability. If you use bullets, then switch to dashes, your document will look unprofessional. Flawless Grammar: your resume should be grammatically correct and typo free. Revise several times. Your individual conferences will be worth up to 10 points of your overall FA#2 score, so it is important to attend these. In most cases, conferences cannot be rescheduled. Fragments: fragments are desirable within the body of your resume. For resumes, you want to use short fragments with active “power” verbs. Place a period after sentence fragments. (Example: Volunteered at Crisis Nursery.) If you include an objective statement, you don’t need a period at the end of your statement. Persuasion: you must demonstrate that you know how to persuade a prospective employer to give you an interview through selective content and well-formatted design.
Step Three: Writing Your Job Application Letter
Your task is to write a solicited job application letter (a.k.a. a cover letter) in response to the job announcement you choose. The job application letter is an argumentative sales document. It gives you the opportunity to emphasize your specific accomplishments, describe any achievements, and express enthusiasm and interest in an opportunity. Like a resume, or any professional writing for that matter, a cover letter should be free from error since you want to leave a positive impression on your potential employer. Try to focus your letter on what you can do for the employer rather than what the job will do for you. Also, show that you are knowledgeable of the company or business. Prove that you’ve done your homework. A resume should quantify your experiences, whereas a job application letter should qualify them in detail. Avoid “listing mode” in your letters. We will look at sample cover letters in class. Audience of Job Application Letter: A job announcement will typically give you the name and address of the audience for your job-application letter, usually a specific person or department. When in doubt, call the company or business to get a specific contact name and address. Length of Job Application Letter: Your job application letter should be written in standard block letter format (everything left justified… or you may create a centered or right justified heading with your name…then left justify the body and the closing of the letter). Letters should be single-spaced with double-spacing between each paragraph. It should 1 page in length, no longer for this assignment. See samples posted on Angel for more information. Value of Job Application Letter: Your job application letter is worth up to 40 points (35 for the letter, and 5 for conference attendance and participation).
Job Application Letter Formatting Components: Address Info: You must include the name and address information of the employer/job in which you are contacting. Be sure to use appropriate courtesy titles, Mr. Mrs. Ms. or Dr. as each applies. If the job announcement lists no address or contact info, it is up to you to call the organization and see who is in charge of collecting resumes or who is the contact person (most companies will have a Human Resources department which can help you with this type of inquiry). First Paragraph: be certain to state the specific job you are seeking, make this entirely clear to the reader. Also, include some sort of attention getter in your introduction. Middle Paragraphs: be sure to state your background and any relevant experiences or skills, highlighting specific experiences that align with the job position. This is the time and place to brag. You may want to include projects, reports, research, or work you’ve done that relates to the job announcement. Make sure that the experiences you discuss are as specific and detailed as possible. Also, support your claims. For example, don’t just say you have excellent communication skills—back the claim up with a specific example. For example, you might say: “I have excellent communication skills which allowed me to land a youth leadership position with Westview, a middle-school in Champaign, IL. At Westview, I’m responsible for successfully leading small group discussions of 10 to 15 students every Monday and Wednesday evening.” This is a specific example, not a general statement. Conclusion: reiterate your interest in the position. You may want to mention that you will contact the company by phone to arrange an interview, or you may want to leave the choice up to the employer. It’s also necessary to build goodwill when possible, by thanking them for their time and consideration.
Step Four: Noting the Due Dates
One copy of printed or photocopied job announcement Rough draft of resume and job application letter (1 copy to hand in) Final draft of resume and job application letter
Monday, Sept. 24
Friday, Sept. 28 (end of class)
Friday, Oct. 5