English 365

olatunde

Ch15-Slides.ppt

Home >English homework help >English 365

Chapter 15 Overview:
Writing Job-Application Materials

Understanding the job-application process
Establishing your professional brand
Planning the job search
Understanding four major ways to look for a position
Writing résumés
Writing job-application letters
Preparing for a job interview
Writing follow-up letters or emails after an interview

Study the organizations to which you’re applying.
Determine what type of résumé to prepare, and elaborate on key points from your résumé in your job-application letter.
Revise, edit, and proofread your documents, and ask several people to review them.

The process for preparing job-application materials includes several steps:

Research what others have done.
Tell the truth.
Communicate professionally.
Describe your job skills.
Focus on problem-solving and accomplishments.
Participate actively online.

Follow these six guidelines in developing your professional brand:

Create a strong online presence.
Participate on LinkedIn.
Participate on Facebook.
Participate on Twitter.
Create a business card.
Practice an “elevator pitch” about your credentials.

Follow these six guidelines in presenting your professional brand:

In planning a job search,

carry out these four tasks:

Do a self-inventory.
Learn about potential employers.
Prepare a résumé and (perhaps) a job-application letter.
Put your portfolio items online.

through an organization’s website
through a job board on the Internet
through your network
through a college or university placement office or professional placement bureau

There are four major ways to find a job:

Who has access to your résumé?
How will you know if an employer requests your résumé?
Can your current employer see your résumé?
Can you update your résumé at no cost?

Ask these four questions

before posting to a job board:

Follow these five guidelines when building a LinkedIn profile:

Use the profile section fully.
Include a picture.
Post updates.
Write unique invitation requests.
Write unique invitations to connect.

Excerpt from a professional’s LinkedIn profile:

Regina Tavani (RT) - Next three slides are new

Excerpt from a professional’s LinkedIn profile (cont.):

Source: Reprinted by permission of Joseph Cauteruccio.

You know yourself better than anyone else does.
Employment officers know the style of the local agencies.
If you write your own résumé, you will be more likely to adapt it to different situations.

There are three reasons

to write your own résumé:

A chronological résumé has six elements:

identifying information
summary statement
education
employment history
interests and activities
references

Include these five elements in the education section of a chronological résumé:

your degree
the institution
the location of the institution
the date of graduation
information about other schools you attended

List the institutions in reverse chronological order.

Follow these four guidelines

when elaborating on your education:

List your grade-point average if it is above the median for your graduating class.
Compile a list of courses.
Describe a special accomplishment.
List honors and awards you received.

dates of employment
each organization’s name and city
your position or title
two- or three-line description of each position

List your jobs in reverse chronological order.

Present these details about your employment history in a chronological résumé:

skills
equipment
money

Emphasize accomplishments.

Use strong verbs in the active voice.

Discuss these details about particularly relevant or important jobs:

documents
personnel
clients

participation in community-service organizations
hobbies related to your career
sports, especially those that might be socially useful in your professional career
university-sanctioned activities

Include information about

your interests and activities:

Decide whether and how you want to present references.
Choose your references carefully.
Give the potential reference an opportunity to decline gracefully.

Follow these three suggestions

when preparing references:

Some résumés

contain additional information:

computer skills
military experience
language ability
willingness to relocate

Another type of résumé is a skills résumé:

A skills résumé contains a separate section enumerating job skills and knowledge.
The employment section in a skills résumé contains a brief list of information about your employment history: companies, dates of employment, and positions.

It has no special characters.
It has a line length of 65 or fewer characters.
It uses a non-proportional typeface such as Courier.
Most of the information is left justified.
It uses ALL UPPERCASE or repeated characters for emphasis.

A plain-text résumé has these characteristics:

Job-application letters serve as a space where candidates can

describe how their skills match the position
address issues such as employment gaps and note professional relationships to current employees
demonstrate their writing skills

Most employers still request job-application letters:

Study job interviews.
Study the organization to which you applied.
Think about what you can offer the organization.
Study lists of common interview questions.
Compile a list of questions you wish to ask.
Rehearse the interview.

Follow these six guidelines

when preparing for a job interview:

Consider these seven

questions before a job interview:

When should you arrive for the interview?
What should you wear?
How might interviewers interpret your body language?
What questions are you likely to be asked?

Consider these seven

questions before a job interview (cont.):

How long should your answers be?
How do you know when the interviewer wishes to end the interview?
How can you get the interviewer’s contact information so you can write a follow-up letter?

letter of appreciation after an interview
letter accepting a job offer
letter rejecting a job offer
letter acknowledging a rejection

Write one of these four follow-up

letters or emails after the interview: