ENG 333 Communication for Science and Research

Jamie Larsen, Instructor

Assignment 2 - Career Management Portfolio

The Communication Situation: Select a specific job opening for which you are qualified and would like to be considered. The job should be related to your eventual career plans. Your application should be based on factual knowledge that you gained from completing Assignment 1. Your readers should be real people in real organizations.

Write as yourself. Include only factual information and valid personal preferences, objectives, and goals. You may project yourself six months or so into the future if you will be graduating soon. Otherwise, apply for related part-time or summer work for your chosen career path.

The application letter and resume have specific audiences. An immediate and secondary audience will be a personnel employee. However, the primary audience will be a manager or supervisor who has authority to hire. Your communication purpose is to obtain an interview. Do not assume that the interview will be conducted at the College Placement Office. Interviews scheduled at the placement office replace the job letter as the device by which companies screen applicants for interview visits. If all your initial job contacts are through the Placement Office, and you therefore are not planning to write job letters to get your first job, then consider this assignment as a trial-run for the job letter you will have to write to obtain your second job. Statistics show that you are likely to change jobs within four or five years.

The Assignment: Prepare a one or two page resume summarizing and displaying in coherent visual "chunks" the factual record that the potential employer will want to know about you. Include your educational and employment history, abilities, skills, honors, publications, interests and personal data as appropriate for the kind of position you are seeking.

Write a one page letter of application for the position you have selected. Your letter should accomplish what your resume cannot do. The letter should emphasize, explain, and elaborate why you would be a good choice for the open position. In your letter, you must both "stand out" and "fit in" - stand out from the crowd of other applicants and fit in with the needs and customs of the company to which you are applying.

Requirements: Submit for evaluation: 1) one copy of the application letter, and 2) one copy of the resume.

Evaluation Criteria for Assignment 2

1. OPENING - The application letter's opening paragraph should clearly identify you and your purpose. Specifically indicate the job for which you are applying. Summarize your qualifications and reasons for writing the letter. Provide a good transition to the rest of the letter.
2. BODY - The body of your letter should organize the information about your major qualifications. Provide sufficient information about your education and experience. Be sure to focus on the benefits to the employer, and not just to you. Relate your qualifications to the specific requirements of the job. Here is where your additional research pays off! Be sure to persuade the reader that you know about the reader's company and demonstrate how your knowledge is related to the specific job that you want. Draw selectively from the information on your resume. A redundant application letter is aimless and potentially useless.
3. CLOSING - The closing paragraph should state your purpose in writing the letter and make your request for an interview convenient for the reader. The tone of this paragraph is very important. Don't be too aggressive or too subservient.
4. GENERAL - The letter should follow a standard formal letter format including an appropriate salutation and closing. Use standard grammar, punctuation and spelling. Avoid awkward, wordy, or imprecise phrasing. Convey enthusiasm and sincere interest. Finally, think creatively - stand out but fit in!
5. RESUME - Organize information in order of importance to the job. Identify prior employers, education and references completely. Present information concisely yet with enough detail to be useful. Provide adequate visual separation of sections. Use neat margins and alignments and identify a second page or any attachments. Remember, this is a resume that should be useful in the interview so be ready to expand upon and talk about everything that you include.