Establishing Your Professional Brand

GUIDELINES: Building the Foundation of Your Professional Brand

GUIDELINES: Presenting Your Professional Brand

TUTORIAL: Building Your Professional Brand with LinkedIn, Twitter, and More

ETHICS NOTE: Writing Honest Job-Application Materials

Understanding Four Major Ways To Look for a Position

GUIDELINES: Using LinkedIn’s Employment Features

Writing Résumés

ELEMENTS OF THE CHRONOLOGICAL RéSUMé

GUIDELINES: Elaborating on Your Education

ELEMENTS OF THE SKILLS RéSUMé

PREPARING A PLAIN-TEXT RéSUMé

GUIDELINES: Formatting a Plain-Text Résumé

DOCUMENT ANALYSIS ACTIVITY: Preparing a Résumé

DOCUMENT ANALYSIS ACTIVITY: Online Portfolio and

Writing Job-Application Letters

Writing Follow-up Letters or Emails After an Interview

WRITER’S CHECKLIST

EXERCISES

CASE 10: Identifying the Best-of-the-Best Job-Search Sites and

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GETTING HIRED has always involved writing. Whether you apply online through a company’s website, reply to a post on LinkedIn, or send a formal letter and résumé through the mail, you will use words to make the case that the organization should offer you a position.

You will probably make that case quite a few times. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (2012), the typical American worker holds more than 11 different jobs while he or she is between the ages of 18 and 40. Obviously, most of those jobs don’t last long. Even when American workers begin a new job between the ages of 40 and 46, a third of those workers will no longer be with that company at the end of one year, and two-thirds will no longer be there in five years.

For most of you, looking for professional work is the first nonacademic test of your technical-communication skills. And it’s an important test. Kyle Wiens, CEO of two tech companies, iFixit and Dozuki, requires all new employees to pass a writing test. His reason? “If it takes someone more than 20 years to notice how to properly use ‘it’s,’ then that’s not a learning curve I’m comfortable with” (Bowers, 2013).