Technical writing

As your syllabus states, the resume / cover letter assignment is worth a large chunk of your course grade (20%). However, the idea here is for this not to just be a classroom assignment. Hopefully, when we are finished with the process, these documents can serve to actually help you for the next time you are applying for a job. With that in mind, I am going to be very strict with the grading on this assignment and I will nitpick the documents with a goal of perfection. It is extremely important that these documents be as effective as possible, which means they are visually pleasing, as well as persuasive. Because I am going to be so strict with grading, you will have the opportunity to revise these documents up to three times, before the final revision due date which will be posted on your Schedule of Readings and Assignments. You will have an original first due date, and then after your feedback is returned, you have time to do your revisions. All original late penalties will still apply to revisions, though, and if you never turn the original assignments in, you cannot submit revisions. The first version that you turn in by the original due date counts for a grade. You want to do the best you can with the documents you turn in by the first due date, so that I can give you good feedback. If you submit something that you already know needs work, there is no point in me telling you that it needs to be fixed. Turn in your best work and we will go from there. If you do a great job on the first submission, you won’t need to do revisions. However, the revision option is there if you need it. Some of you may never have had to write a cover letter before, so that might give you trouble. Use your textbook to help you with this, as well as the samples I will post for you.

For this assignment you need to:

· Find an advertisement for a job. This can be a job you are hoping to apply for soon, or the kind of job you would be applying for once you finish your degree / training. It is easier to choose a job you qualify for now, since your resume information more likely already fits the qualifications. However, it’s fine to do it either way. You will need to send me a link to this ad or a picture of it with your cover letter document submission when it is due. If you do not provide the job ad with the cover letter, the assignment will be considered late until I get it.

· Write a resume, using one of the formats presented in your textbook. Chronological order is the most used style, but if you have had a long break from working or you are switching to a different career field, another layout might work better for you. This is completely your decision. Do not use resume templates in MS Word .

· Write a cover letter that is specific to the job ad you are providing me with. You need to get the name of the person you would apply to, company name, and address for your cover letter. Use the textbook information on writing business letters to help you with the format. Again, there will also be samples posted in the folder for you to use. Sometimes, there is not a specific person that you address the letter to, so you need to investigate. You might use “Hiring Manager” or “Search Committee Members,” depending on what you find. When you do your greeting, it is always best to say “Dear Sir or Madam (or Ma’am):” if you do not have a person’s name or job title specifically.

If you are concerned about putting your real address or contact info on your resume / letter, feel free to make up the details. I understand that you might not want your full address on course assignments.

There will be a separate link for each piece of this assignment when you submit them in the “Assignment Submission” area. There will be a link for the Cover Letter (with job ad) and a separate link for the resume. I will also post revision links separately. Some of you may be happy with the grade on one piece, but want to revise the other, so you can just submit the one piece you want looked at again, and ignore the other link. The revision links will not be posted until you have grades on the original submissions, though. If you score a 90 or above, you are not eligible to revise, as you have already earned an A. If you score below a 90, you may revise up to two times for the highest possible score of 90. I cap it there, so that it will be fair to those who earned a 90 the first time. Revising and resubmitting is completely voluntary. Some of you might choose not to revise due to time constraints or because you are happy with your grades.

You need to spend a lot of time on the formatting of these documents. You want to consider how bolding, using lines, italics, and bullet points help to make your content clear and visually pleasing on the resume. Follow the business letter format for your cover letter. I do NOT recommend using the templates from Word for either of these items. They are often hard to manipulate after you have them created. Additionally, these templates have already been used by tons of potential employees. It’s best to create these documents from scratch yourself.