Project 1: Getting a Job and Communicating in the Workplace

 

Introduction

 

In Unit 1: Getting a Job and Communicating in the Workplace, you will create a portfolio of job-search documents and experience a mock interview. We will use the revision process (drafting, reviewing, and revising) to improve your deliverables. For those students who engage in this process wholeheartedly, you will generate a portfolio of job-search documents that are ready for use with appropriate tailoring and revision for the specific jobs for which you apply.

 

 

Project Deliverables

 

• An experiential resume
• A skills resume
• A job ad research memo
• A job application letter
• A job application portfolio
• A mock interview reflection memo

 

 

Methods for Creating Your Deliverables

 

At the end of the project, you will create a job application portfolio blog post on our OpenLab website. On it, you will write a brief introduction and embed all of your draft and final deliverables in the page. To embed your files, you will host them on Google Drive, publish them, and embed them based on the link to each file. We will go over how to do this during class. As you are writing your documents, you may create them directly on Google Drive or you may use a word processor (e.g., OpenOffice, LibreOffice, or Microsoft Word) on your computer and then upload your files to Google Drive later. My recommendation would be to use Google Drive so that you can become more familiar with it (if you are not already so), but I will not enforce this as a part of the assignment as long as your files import into Google Drive and embed in your blog post successfully. One of the most important lessons from this unit is to be adaptable and dynamic in your use of composition tools. If your knowledge and experience with these tools is robust, you will be ready to adapt to the tools required of your workplace. Regardless of your process, you should go ahead and signup for a Google Drive account if you do not already have one. If you have a Gmail account, you already have access to Google Drive. If you do not have an account, you can create on by going to drive.google.com.

 

 

Step 1, Find a job ad, research the company, and write a research memo

 

Using a job search engine (e.g., monster.com, dice.com, usajobs.gov, http://www.nytimes.com/pages/jobs/, http://www.labor.ny.gov/jobs/regional.shtm, http://www1.nyc.gov/jobs) or networking/social media site (e.g., LinkedIn.com or Twitter), find a job that you would like to apply for.

 

Begin a new memo with the subject, “Job Application Research, [name of position] at [company].” Organize your memo with these headings: Executive Summary, Job Listing, Company Background, Description of Position, and My Preparedness for This Position.

 

Your Executive Summary should be completed last even though it is at the beginning of your document. It should begin with a one-sentence summary of your memo. After that opening sentence, write two to four sentences describing the organization of your document and your major findings. Think of this part as a road map with summaries. It should be no longer than 150 words.

 

Copy-and-paste (use Word’s plain text paste option or Mac’s “Paste and Match Formatting”) the job listing into the Job Listing section. Also, copy-and-paste a link to where you found the job listing beneath the text of the listing. There is no word count for this section, but you should clean up the text that you paste here to remove unnecessary text, links, and formatting from the original copy online to match the font, size, and color of your document’s style.

 

Using the company’s website, Google, and library database resources (these three are useful: Business & Company ProFile ASAP, Business & Company Resource Center, and Business Source Complete. Find them here: http://library.citytech.cuny.edu/research/annotations/index2.php), write 250 word summary about the company offering the job. In some cases, you might need to interview others to learn more about the company if it is a smaller firm. However, even in cases with larger firms, you should exhaust every available resource—friends, acquaintances, and the company itself with a telephone call—to learn as much as possible about the job and the company. Some questions that you should consider answering in this section include: What does this company do? How large is the company? Is it a local, national, or international company? What is the company’s culture like?

 

In the Description of Position section, you should describe what kind of job you are applying for in approximately 250 words. Do not copy-and-paste the original job ad as you did in the listing section. Instead, put into your own words the kind of job that you are applying for, what expectations the company would have for you based on the job ad and any other research that you have done, and what other types of work might be expected of someone performing this kind of job but might be implied or understood rather than stated in the job ad.

 

Finally, in the “My Preparedness for This Position” section, describe in 250 words how you are prepared to fill this position. What have you learned in college that has prepared you? What have you experienced in the workplace that has prepared you? What have you experienced in life that has prepared you?

 

Step 2, Write two resumes: an experiential resume and a skills resume

 

An experiential or experience-based resume is built around the workplace experiences that you have already had. A skills or skills-based resume is constructed around the specific skills needed for a given job that you have gained through your personal, academic, and professional experiences. Each resume should be no longer than one page except in circumstances where you have extensive, relevant experience and a long work history. Refer to Writing That Works and Anderson’s TC Chapter 2, “How to Write an Effective Resume” for a description of the two types of resumes. You will create one of each kind using your experiences and skills.

 

Step 3, Write a job application letter

 

Your job application letter is an opportunity to craft a persuasive argument why you are the ideal candidate for a job. In most cases, you will not receive a job offer on the basis of your CV and job application letter. Instead, these documents are meant to persuade the employer to give you an opportunity for an interview. In order to be maximally effective, your letter should specifically address the needs of the job ad and make a strong argument based on supporting examples why you are the right candidate for a job. Refer to Anderson’s TC Chapter 2, “A Reader-Centered Approach to Writing Your Job Application Letter” for a description of the job application letter.

 

 

Step 4, Mock interview

 

On this day, come to class prepared to interview and be interviewed. You will each take turns serving as the interviewer and interviewee. This means that you need to review your own job application portfolio and the portfolio of your team members. You will also want to make some notes or print out sample questions (for example, http://career-advice.monster.com/job-interview/interview-questions/100-potential-interview-questions/article.aspx and http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2011/01/24/the-10-most-common-job-interview-questions).

 

After being interviewed, write a 250-word memo describing your experience and making plans for being prepared for future interview situations. Include this memo in your portfolio.

 

 

Step 5, Submit your project deliverables as a blog post on our OpenLab Site

 

On Google Drive, you should organize your files and name them according to this format to help you keep track of each document and its version:

 

lastname-firstname-jobreport

lastname-firstname-jobletter-draft

lastname-firstname-jobletter-final

lastname-firstname-resume-experience-draft

lastname-firstname-resume-experience-final

lastname-firstname-resume-skills-draft

lastname-firstname-resume-skills-final

lastname-firstname-mockinterview-questions

lastname-firstname-mockinterview-reflection

 

Export these documents as PDF files using the naming scheme indicated above.

 

Navigate to our OpenLab site, mouse over the “+” in the menu bar, and click “Post.” This creates a new post to the blog. Your job application portfolio will be a post (as opposed to the comments that you leave on the blog posts that I create for the beginning of each class).

 

Title your blog post in this manner: Job Application Portfolio for [Your first and last name], [Semester and Year]. This identifies your application materials as your own and dates them.

 

Write a one-paragraph, biographical introduction identifies who you are, what your career objective is, and what these files are (i.e., your job application portfolio). Move your cursor to the beginning of that paragraph, click “Add Media,” drag a JPG of your headshot (you can take this with a camera or smartphone beforehand), choose “Left” under “Alignment” on the right side of the screen (you may have to scroll down some), and then click, “Insert into post.” This will add your headshot next to your introductory paragraph.

 

After your paragraph, add each file in your job application portfolio as a linked media file. To do this, click “Add Media” on your blog post composition screen. Drag your first PDF into this window, it will upload, and then click, “Insert Into Post.” Press return to go to the next line of your portfolio and click “Add Media,” and repeat the process.

 

Finally, click “Publish” on the right. Then, confirm that your blog post is visible on our OpenLab site. If not, you can see if a draft is saved in the “Posts” section of the “Dashboard.” If not, you will need to begin your post again.

 

 

Useful Resources

 

City Tech Library Research Databases http://library.citytech.cuny.edu/research/annotations/index2.php

 

City Tech Career Services

http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/students/counseling/careers.shtml

 

Virtual Career Library

http://www.virtualcareerlibrary.com/citytech/network.html

 

 

Updated Class Schedule With Due Dates for Project 1

 

 

	W	2/4	Writing That Works, Ch 14, “Giving Presentations and Conducting Meetings”	Discussion.Introduce Project One.   Signup for LinkedIn account and add professor as a contact.	Beginning of class writing.
3	M	2/9	Writing That Works, Ch 1, “Assessing Audience, Purpose, and Medium: A Case Study.”	Discussion.Talk about the job market and resources for finding jobs.	Beginning of class writing.
	W	2/11	Writing That Works, Ch 16, “Finding the Best Job for You,” Section: Determining the Best Job for You.	Discussion.Find a job ad and begin research.	Beginning of class writing.
4	M	2/16	No Class: Presidents’ Day
	W	2/18	Writing That Works, Ch 16, “Finding the Best Job for You,” Section: Preparing an Effective Resume, and Excerpt from Paul Anderson’s Technical Communication, Ch. 2 (Available on OpenLab).	Discussion.Work on experience-based resume.	Beginning of class writing. Job ad analysis and company research essay due as a comment on the appropriate blog post on OpenLab site.   Bring a list of all prior work experience with dates and duties, certifications, high school degree type, GPA, etc.
5	M	2/23	Writing That Works, Ch 16, “Finding the Best Job for You,” Writing an Effective Letter of Application and Completing a Job or an Internship Application, and Mashable.com, “Looking for a Job? Ditch the Resume Tips and Open a Marketing Book,” http://mashable.com/2015/01/1/career-marketing-yourself/	Discuss job application portfolio and job advertisements.Peer review experience-based resume.   Work on skills-based resume.	Beginning of class writing. Bring four printed copies of experience-based resume for peer review.
	W	2/25	Writing That Works, Ch 16, “Finding the Best Job for You,” Doing Well in the Interview, Sending Follow-up Correspondence, and Sending a Resignation Letter or Memo; and Monster.com, “Interview Questions: 100 Potential Interview Questions,” http://career-advice.monster.com/job-interview/interview-questions/100-potential-interview-questions/article.aspx	Discussion.Peer review skills-based resume.   Work on job application letter.	Beginning of class writing. Bring four printed copies of skills-based resume for peer review.
6	M	3/2	Writing That Works, Ch 2, “Organizing Your Information.”	Discussion.Peer review job application letter.	Beginning of class writing. Bring four printed copies of your job application letter.
	W	3/4	Writing That Works, Ch 3, “Writing the Draft.”	Plan mock interviews.As a team, decide on a selection of questions that you would each person to answer during the 15-minute mock interviews during the next class. Each person then writes a memo listing the questions and rationalizing why each one will be asked—put another way, what insights will you as interviewers gain from asking the interviewee those questions? Post this as a comment to the appropriate blog post on our OpenLab site.	Beginning of class writing.
7	M	3/9	Writing That Works, Ch 4, “Revising the Draft.”	Conduct mock interviews.Write your reflection memo after class and include in your portfolio.
	W	3/11	Writing That Works, Ch 5, “Collaborative Writing.”	Introduce Unit 2 Service-Learning Research Project.	Beginning of class writing. Project 1 Deliverables due as a Blog Post on our OpenLab site.

 

 

 

Holistic Grading

 

I grade your work holistically using the following grading rubric developed by the Georgia Tech Writing and Communication Program. The rubric should not be interpreted as “Basic” equals an F and “Exemplary” equals an A. I take into consideration all of the files that you complete in the project and how well each of those map on the rubric. Your work might be exemplary in some categories and not in others. Use the rubric to think about your work while you are doing it. Ask yourself, is my work on this deliverable meeting the requirements of “Rhetorical Awareness,” “Stance and Support,” etc.?

 

Grading Rubric

 

Scale	Basic	Beginning	Developing	Competent	Mature	Exemplary
Rhetorical Awareness Response to the situation/assignment, considering elements such as purpose, audience, register, and context	Ignores two or more aspects of the situation and thus does not fulfill the task	Ignores at least one aspect of the situation and thus compromises effectiveness	Attempts to respond to all aspects of the situation, but the attempt is insufficient or inappropriate	Addresses the situation in a complete but perfunctory or predictable way	Addresses the situation completely, with unexpected insight	Addresses the situation in a complete, sophisticated manner that could advance professional discourse on the topic
Stance and Support Argument, evidence, and analysis	Involves an unspecified or confusing argument; lacks appropriate evidence	Makes an overly general argument; has weak or contradictory evidence	Lacks a unified argument; lacks significance (“so what?”); lacks sufficient analysis	Offers a unified, significant, and common position with predictable evidence and analysis	Offers a unified, distinct position with compelling evidence and analysis	Offers an inventive, expert-like position with precise and convincing evidence and analysis
Organization Structure and coherence, including elements such as introductions and conclusions as well as logical connections within and among paragraphs (or other meaningful chunks)	Lacks unity in constituent parts (such as paragraphs); fails to create coherence among constituent parts	Uses insufficient unifying statements (e.g., thesis statements, topic sentences, headings, or forecasting statements); uses few effective connections (e.g., transitions, match cuts, and hyperlinks)	Uses some effective unifying claims, but a few are unclear; makes connections weakly or inconsistently, as when claims appear as random lists or when paragraphs’ topics lack explicit ties to the thesis	States unifying claims with supporting points that relate clearly to the overall argument and employs an effective but mechanical scheme	Asserts and sustains a claim that develops progressively and adapts typical organizational schemes for the context, achieving substantive coherence	Asserts a sophisticated claim by incorporating diverse perspectives that are organized to achieve maximum coherence and momentum
Conventions Expectations for grammar, mechanics, style, citation, and genre	Involves errors that risk making the overall message distorted or incomprehensible	Involves a major pattern of errors	Involves some distracting errors	Meets expectations, with minor errors	Exceeds expectations in a virtually flawless manner	Manipulates expectations in ways that advance the argument
Design for Medium Features that use affordances to enhance factors such as comprehensibility and usability	Lacks the features necessary for the genre; neglects significant affordances, such as linking on the web; uses features that conflict with or ignore the argument	Omits some important features; involves distracting inconsistencies in features (e.g., type and headings); uses features that don’t support argument	Uses features that support with argument, but some match imprecisely with content; involves minor omissions or inconsistencies	Supports the argument with features that are generally suited to genre and content	Promotes engagement and supports the argument with features that efficiently use affordances	Persuades with careful, seamless integration of features and content and with innovative use of affordances