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Understanding the Job-Application Process

Establishing Your Professional Brand

UNDERSTANDING WHAT EMPLOYERS WANT

• GUIDELINES: Building the Foundation of Your Professional Brand

CRAFTING 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

Planning the Job Search

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 : Blane C. Holden’s Online Portfolio and

Writing Job-Application Letters

Preparing for a Job Interview

• GUIDELINES: Preparing for a Job Interview

Writing Follow-up Letters or Emails After an Interview

WRITER’S CHECKLIST

EXERCISES

CASE 15: Identifying the Best-of-the-Best Job-Search Sites and

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).