Correspondence for the Job Hunt

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Correspondence for the Job Hunt

• Text, Chapter 11

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Résumé and Letter of Application

• Your opportunity to sell yourself to the employer
• to distinguish your application from those of the
  herd
• to show that you have what they are looking for
• What is the employer looking for?

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What do you have?

• What skills do you have that directly relate to
  what the employer seems to need?
• What are your strengths?
• How well have you performed in past jobs? In
  school?
• Have you shown initiative?

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What do you have?

• Have you improved procedures?
• Have you accepted responsibility?
• Have you been promoted or commended?
• Are you a team player?
• Are you qualified for the job?
• How can you present yourself most attractively?

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Adopt the You Attitude

• Determine your readers point of view
• their concerns
• their interests
• their needs
• Include only the content that the readers need
• Organize, write, and format the content so that
  your readers can access it, understand it, and
  use it

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Résumé

• provides a convenient summary of your education
  and experience
• try for one page (two at most)

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Chronological Résumé

• Name and Address (or addresses)
• You dont need the title Résumé it is obvious
  to any reader what the document is.
• Career Objective optional
• If present, it should be appropriate for the
  employer and job in question, and highlight your
  qualifications for the job

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Chronological Résumé

• Education (for students, usually the next
  section)
• Colleges/Universities you have attended (are
  attending), listed in reverse chronological order
  (most recent first)
• Expected degree and year of expected graduation
• Awards, special projects, relevant
  extracurricular activities
• Dont list courses

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Chronological Résumé

• Business Experience
• Use reverse chronological order
• To job title, add details that show what you did
• Use phrases (Responsible for 300,000 budget)
  to avoid repetition of I
• Use bullet lists

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Chronological Résumé

• Personal Data optional
• Use if relevant (extracurricular activities)
• Do not include age, gender, marital status,
  handicaps, ethnic background, etc.

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Chronological Résumé

• References
• List names, addresses, telephone numbers, and
  email addresses of two or three referees, or
• Say References available on request
• Before using anyones name, you must have
  obtained permission
• Date
• Month and year of résumés completion

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Tips

• Dont use Courier font
• Dont go overboard with type variations (multiple
  fonts, styles, etc.)
• Target your document to the reader at hand
• Use bullet lists rather than cursive paragraphs
  for partial sentences
• Be specific

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Tips

• Use white space to enhance your presentation
• Be concise and selective
• Eliminate all errors

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Get Advice

• Me
• Other professors
• Objective friends or relatives
• Career Planning and Placement
• Etc.

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Functional Résumé

• Name Address
• Simplified Education (School, Degree, Year)
• Sections showing categories of knowledge, skill,
  etc.
• Technical
• Professional
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Etc.

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Assignment 1

• Prepare a Résumé to be used in applying for a job
  in the department
• Bring drafts to class Tuesday

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Group Exercise 1 If youve got lemons
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Grammar Assignment 1

• Read Chapter 1 (Pronouns) of Woe is I
• Well have a quiz Tuesday