Assignment 2: Required Assignment 2—Career Development Plan

The essentials of business writing

· The format for all business writing is introduction, body, and conclusion.

· All papers begin with an introduction of your paper-the problem statement -not a repeat (cut and paste) of the assignment.

· Include a thesis statement- what the paper will discuss (this is the guide for writing your paper).

· Every paragraph has a topic sentence-what the paragraph will be about.

· Paragraphs should contain 3-5 sentences.

· More than one paragraph under a heading or subheading, use transitional words and phrases to connect ideas.

· If you stated that there are three reason for something, use first, second, third.

· Do not use contractions, clichés, abbreviations, or jargon.

· Avoid difficult, long words that sound impressive but may not be understood.

· Less is more, omit all unnecessary words-this includes adverbs, adjectives, and prepositions.

· Sentences longer than 15 words should be restructured as two sentences.

· Use sentence variety-if you find yourself repeating the same sentence beginning more than once in a paper, turn it around.

· Use spell check and proof read your work, have someone critique before submitting.

The essentials of APA format

· You are not credible enough not to have support for your opinions. State your opinion, then support, or state another author’s idea and follow with your opinion. Be sure your support is from a credible website, author, or article. Do not use Wiki!

· Write in third person on most reports but may change to first person for some circumstances. Do not fluctuate between persons.

· You must cite every idea that is not your original idea.

· Three ways to cite-direct quote (use sparingly), paraphrase, summary.

· Direct quotes use quotation marks and include author’s last name, year, page number.

· Paraphrase is another author’s idea written in your words and includes author’s last name and year.

· Summary is similar to paraphrase and is used to discuss a study, a book, any idea that is immense.

· Use of et.al. for more than two authors is permitted after all authors have been cited once.

· A direct quote of 40 words or more is a blocked quote. Blocked quotes do not use quotation marks and are indented .5, single spaced, and author’s name and year is stated first,( Smith (2010) argued) then blocked quote, (p. number).

· All references must be cited within the text or cannot be used as a reference.

· Second line and all subsequent lines of a reference is a hanging indent.

· Refer to APA manual or website for accurate reference for all cited sources, including database, articles, books, websites, blogs, social media, and personal communication.