Instructor's Notes
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For another sample letter, see section F in the Quick Formatting Guide.
Use the job advertisement you located for the activity Planning a Job Application or find one that interests you for immediate or future employment. Write your letter of application for this job, following the advice in this chapter.
For another sample résumé, see section F in the Quick Formatting Guide.
Prepare a current résumé, designed as your standard print version or tailored to a specific job. Follow the advice and format explained in this chapter.
Prepare your own example of a workplace document introduced in this chapter. After you have drafted, revised, and edited it, print a second copy. In its margins add notes to point out features of its format and content. Revise your document and the notes if you wish.
Source Assignment. Working individually or collaboratively with a small group, investigate the job-hunting or career advice available on campus or in your local community. Identify what you or users might want to learn about these resources (such as how to access or use them). Prepare a brief report on your findings for fellow students interested in using such resources productively.
For more about conducting an interview, see Ch. 6.
Source Assignment. Interview a personnel manager or another person who hires people in your field of interest. Prepare by developing a brief set of questions about issues of interest to you—what kinds of jobs are typically available, how the selection process works, what background is typically required or desired, how students might prepare for employment, what tips the person would give job-seekers, or similar matters. After the interview, write an essay reporting what you have learned to other interested students. Also write a brief business letter thanking the person you interviewed.
Visual Assignment. Select two or three workplace Web sites for close examination. Analyze how—and how well—each represents its corporate, small business, professional, or other workplace to visitors. Adapt the guidelines for workplace writing located in Guidelines for Writing in the Workplace, and use them as criteria to evaluate the site’s purpose, audience, tone, and presentation.