During the Employment Project, you will learn strategies for seeking and securing employment or an internship, with particular attention to the documents people normally use to represent themselves and their prospects to potential employers. This project asks you to work individually, but there will also be chances for you to work with your peers to exchange ideas and feedback in your blogs.
Locate a real and specific job or internship for which you are qualified and prepare the application materials for it. If you already have a good job, find one that would be an advance for you, then prepare application materials for that position. Step 1 of the project asks you to learn about and use various web-based resources for job seekers and ultimately to select one real job to pursue. Step 2 asks you to prepare the all-important cover letter (i.e., "Job Application Letter"). Step 3 asks you to prepare a print resume suitable for such a position. In Step 4, you will assess your experience in a "Project Assessment Document." In the process of completing each step, you will work closely with your peers and your instructor to shape your writing so that it represents you and your experience fully and effectively.
This project emphasizes several important goals that all professional writers should bear in mind and that are consistent with those of the Professional Writing Program at Purdue. In the Employment Project, you will learn to shape your writing for very specific situations and purposes:
Writing in Context
Project Management
Document Design
Make rhetorical design decisions about workplace documents, including
Teamwork
Learn and apply strategies for successful teamwork and collaboration, such as
Research
Understand and use various research methods to produce professional documents, including
Step 1: Skills Inventory, Job Description and Job Ad Analysis . Start this step by completing the Job Search Activity 12-1 (p. 221) in The Thomson Handbook. In a blog post, respond to each of the questions with a few sentences, or a list. Then, using the resources listed on page 222 of The Thomson Handbook ("Using Print, Campus and Internet Resources"), find two job ads, produce an exact copy of each, then select one that you would apply for. Put the ads in a blog post. Then do some analysis and reflection, In a separate blog entry respond to the Job Ad Analysis form. Your skills inventory, job announcement, job ad analysis response, and cover note should all be posted by the dates listed on the course calendar.
Step 2: Print-Based Resume. Your printable resume (one or more pages in length, depending upon the type of job and the depth of your experience) should adapt features drawn from the samples discussed in class or available for review at the Online Writing Lab. It's critical that you shape your resume to the specific job or internship you have chosen to apply for (that it's suited to the context), so be sure to include only the relevant aspects of your professional experience. As in the Job Application Letter, your writing needs to be error-free, concise, and presented in an easily readable format. Draft due for peer review by 11:59 PM on Wednesday 6/18/08. Your resume draft should be posted to your blog as a PDF attachment to a blog message that explains the nature of the attachment and invites peer feedback. Read these directions for converting your documents to PDF format if you have any questions about the process. You should also review the principles, guidelines, and resume samples in The Thomson Handbook (Chapter 12, pages 226-232). Pay special attention to the Project Checklist "Evaluating Your Resume's Content" and "Evaluating Your Resume's Design" on pages 228-229. Ask yourself these questions as you prepare your final draft.
Step 3: Job Application Letter. The job application letter is critical to your efforts to secure a job, perhaps as critical as your resume itself. For Project 1, your letter should be no longer than one or two pages (one is preferable in most cases), following the suggestions and models discussed during class. You should submit the draft of your application letter to your blog for peer review by 11:59 PM on Monday 6/23/08. Your letter should be attached to a blog post that includes a cover note that follows guidelines for Eliciting Good Response and the PDF version of the letter. (Read these directions for converting your documents to PDF format if you have any questions about the process.) Use the tag "Job Application letter." See the Calendar for Week 3 for additional details. Review the sample in The Thomson Handbook, p 225. Your letter should be context-specific and should contain the required five parts (heading, greeting, opening, persuasion, closing) in the format shown.
Step 4: Project Assessment Document: As you near the end of your work on the Employment Project (and no later than Thursday 6/26/08 at 11:59 PM, prepare a 500-word
overview and analysis of your deliverables and the process you used to
complete them. Your Project Assessment Document should answer most of
the following questions, each of which is tied to the major goals of
the assignment:
Writing in Context
How did the particular job you applied for affect how you wrote your
letter? Did it change or affect how you presented yourself? How did
applying for this position help you understand aspects of your
experience you might need to develop more?
Project Management
What was the most challenging document to produce and why? Briefly
describe and explain one of the significant revisions you made to this
document after your initial draft.
How well did you plan your work on this project? What might you have done differently?
Research
Which research resource proved to be the most beneficial for you? The
least? Explain. What did you learn about the particular job field
before composing your application letter?
Teamwork
What was one way that peer feedback helped you improve your work? How
did responding to the work of others help you improve your own work?
Document Design
What is the most effective aspect of your deliverables in terms of
presentation or design? Have you deliberately adapted a standard form
in an unusual or creative way? If so, why?
Your Project Assessment Document is due when you turn in your completed Employment Project on Friday, September 28 by midnight.
Completing Your Project: By 11:59 PM Thursday 6/26/08, post to your blog a cover note for your final drafts of your cover letter and resume. Your cover note should include links to your Step 1 and Step 4 documents as well. Read these directions for converting your documents to PDF format if you have any questions about the process.
When grading your project, your instructor will pay particular attention to see whether you have effectively adapted your documents to the job for which you have applied. Your writing will need to be precise, accurate, and well-suited to the context (the job/field) and to the rhetorical occasion (in terms of tone, style, and content). In this case, a generic, catch-all resume and cover letter will not satisfy the requirements of the project.
You will have opportunities to revise your work throughout the process and will be permitted to revise once again after receiving your grade on the project, subject to these restrictions: 1) Your revision should be substantial (a few fixes alone are not enough to raise a grade); 2) you turn in your completed revision within one week of the date it was returned to you with a grade; 3) you include submission notes that specify precisely what you did to improve your work, including whether or not you made use of the OWL's online or on-site tutoring.
Before you decide on a job ad, make sure that it provides you with sufficient information about the ideal candidate for the company or organization. A primary objective of this assignment is to tailor your employment documents to the specific needs of the employer. If your ad does not give you sufficient information about your potential employer’s needs, the objective of the project is defeated before you have even begun. If you are uncertain whether or not your job ad is appropriate, do not hesitate to ask.
For this assignment, you must have a keen awareness of what your potential employer needs in an applicant, and you must create a professional identity that proves you can fulfill and exceed these expectations.
Some answers require a paragraph of 4-6 sentences while others require a short answer or a list. The short answer will be a sentence or two. The list will be a list of keywords or terms. See parentheses after each question to know if you should respond with a paragraph, short answer, or list. Ultimately, these paragraphs will make it easier to draft and complete your job application letter, as well as your resume.
Reflection
1. Why did you choose this job ad? Do you feel that you are qualified for the position? (paragraph)
2. How long has the ad been posted? If it has been posted for a long period of time, are you sure that the position is still available? How? (short answer)
3. Where is the company located? Are you willing to move if it is out of state or in a foreign country? (short answer)
4. Why is living in the area that the company is located appealing to you? (paragraph)
Job Ad Analysis
1. What skills is your prospective employer seeking, from most important to least important? (list)
2. What exceptional skills do you have that prove you to be
invaluable to this company or organization? Remember that your resume is not a record of what you’ve done, but a persuasive document that proves indisputably that you are the best person for the job. (list)
3. As an exercise, list the skills, professional experience, personality traits, etc., the job ad is asking for in the left column, and in the right, write paragraphs that elaborate on and illustrate your skills, experience, etc.
| Your prospective employer (list) | You (paragraphs) |
History of the Company / Organization
1. Did you know anything about the company before you saw the job ad? (short answer)
2. Does the company have a website? What is the URL? (short answer)
3. What is the mission statement of the company? (paragraph)
4. What are keywords on the website that you can use in your cover letter and interview? (list)
5. Write a few sentences about the history of the company. Remember that it is essential for you to learn as much about the company as possible; you can use such knowledge for your cover letter and interview. (paragraph)
6. Based on your research, what is your personal sense about the company? What do you feel the company values? (paragraph)
7. Does Purdue’s Center for Career Opportunities have a networking system with this company? (short answer)
8. Do you have any personal connections to this company? Do you know anyone who works there? Does anyone in your family or friends of your family work there? (short answer)
In composing your response, you might find it easier to first just to go through and address all the questions on a sheet of paper or in a document file. Your tone should be informal but professional and not overly casual. A friendly voice in feedback is good; many writer's are more comfortable at accepting cricitism of their work when it come from a good-natured, sympathetic responder.
Also, when talking about specific areas of the author's text, be sure to include specific quotation within your feedback. Take advantage of the fact that you can easily copy and paste to point directly to what you are referring to from the draft. (Try using Firefox or Safari's "tabbed browsing" to keep multiple windows easily available during this type of peer review.).
In composing your response, you might find it easier to first just to go through and address all the questions on a sheet of paper or in a document file. Your tone should be informal but professional and not overly casual. A friendly voice in feedback is good; many writer's are more comfortable at accepting cricitism of their work when it come from a good-natured, sympathetic responder.
Also, when talking about specific areas of the author's text, be sure to include specific quotation within your feedback. Take advantage of the fact that you can easily copy and paste to point directly to what you are referring to from the draft. (Try using Firefox or Safari's "tabbed browsing" to keep multiple windows easily available during this type of peer review.).
The Corporate Communication Project asks students to examine and respond to a real world corporate crisis—the grounding of several JetBlue airplanes due to ice storms in February 2007. After analyzing the situation through several texts, students will write a press release and business letter from the company that addresses the crisis.
Students will read articles about JetBlue's crisis and visit the page of The JetBlue Customer Bill of Rights, JetBlue's official response. After reading and analyzing this material, students will write a press release to the general public and a letter to JetBlue customers. After completing these documents, students will analyze the official JetBlue communication in comparison to their own rhetorical strategies.
Step 1: Press Release. Following the models provided, students will write a press release from JetBlue to the general public addressing the crisis. Students must decide the tone, content, vocabularly and rhetorical strategy that will be both commercially and ethically effective. The press release should be between 250-500 words and follow the standards of clarity, conciseness, correctness, audience awareness, and professionalism discussed in the course. The rough draft for peer editing is due Monday, June 30.
Step 2: Business Letter. Based on the principles outlined in the Thomson Handbook, students will write a business letter from JetBlue to the customers affected by the crisis. As with the press release, students must decide the tone, content, vocabularly and rhetorical strategy that will be both commercially and ethically effective. The letter will be a single page and follow the conventions of the genre as well as the standards of clarity, conciseness, correctness, audience awareness, and professionalism discussed in the course. The rough draft for peer editing is due Thursday, July 3.
Step 3: JetBlue Text Analysis: After completing their
own documents, students will analyze JetBlue's official letter to
customers (attached below) to determine how its rhetorical strategy
compares with their own. Students should first contrast the difference
between the two documents and then discuss the different effects that
each will have on an audience. Finally, students should determine which
documents would be more effective and how they would revise their own
work after seeing this document. The Analysis is due along with the
final project on Wednesday, July 9.
Instructors'
Note: Obviously, because press releases and business letters are
provided, the temptation exists to borrow heavily from these documents
while writing your own. However, the project requires you to produce an
original document as a learning experience, so the instructors will be
watching for blatant similarities between the official and student
versions of these texts.
The Corporate Communication Project is worth 20% (200 points) of your course grade. The breakdown for each of its components is as follows:
The Corporate Communication Project will be graded based on its rhetorical effectiveness, professionalism, and ethical consideration. The instructor will grade based on the following criteria:
You will have opportunities to revise your work throughout the process and will be permitted to revise once again after receiving your grade on the project, subject to these restrictions: 1) Your revision should be substantial (a few fixes alone are not enough to raise a grade); 2) you turn in your completed revision within one week of the date it was returned to you with a grade; 3) you include submission notes that specify precisely what you did to improve your work.
During the Service Learning Project, students will learn how to work collaboratively to produce a professional project for a real world client. Groups of 3-5 students will produce specific documents for a local non-profit organization, Lafayette Crisis Center. While producing these documents, students will demonstrate their understanding of audience awareness, research, documentation, ethos, professionalism, conciseness, and document design.
For this project, your group will be helping a local nonprofit organization with their largest fundraiser of the year. This is the real deal and the client will be choosing one of the projects to actually use in their marketing campaign (this makes great resume fodder) this December. So, there is a lot riding on your choices and not just in terms of your grade. The client has expressed a desire to revise their previous materials in order to give more emphasis to the importance of this event. Previously, the focus was on having a fun evening, but they want the new focus to be on the importance of bidding on the items in the auction. The Crisis Center must raise 1/2 of their own budget each year, and this event, on its own, needs to create most of that.
Some project specifics:
Step 1: Group Gantt Chart. In a thoroughly executed Gantt chart, students should lay out group goals, a time table for the completion of each goal, and the individual responsibilities of each member. Each Gantt chart must include all duties and deliverables necessary for project completion as well as color coding and a key that specifies which group member will complete each duty. There are many resources online to help you produce your chart, including instructions for using Microsoft Excel to make it. Just Google "gantt chart" for more information, and use the samples provided on Week 5 of the calendar. Due Friday, July 11.
Step 2: Group Activity Reports. Groups are also responsible for weekly activity reports (250 words) in order to keep the instructor informed of the progress that the group has made over the week. Activity reports (submitted as professional emails) are due by 11:59 PM, each Sunday, starting with week five (week five's report is due Sunday, July 13, and so on) and concluding in week eight. Please always give this email the subject "Group # Activity Report" (fill in your group # obviously).
Step 3: Weekly Individual Work Blogs. Because the course and the professional world stress the value of documenting work, individual students are required to keep weekly work blogs of the tasks they have completed. These blogs (200 words each) should briefly and professionally describe work completed by the author and how this work contributed to the goals of the group. Work blogs (posted to the "Work Blog" category) are due by 11:59 PM, each Friday, starting with week five (week five’s activity report is due Friday, July 11th, week six's is due Friday, July 18th, and so on) and concluding in week eight. Please label all work blogs "LASTNAME Work Blog Week #."
Step 4: Group Document Drafts: Because these documents are for a professional client, several drafts are required to ensure quality. Groups will turn in a draft of the project in weeks six and seven, July 16th and 22nd. Each draft should demonstrate significant progress towards completion of the project.
Step 5: Group Peer Review: Each group will have their project peer reviewed by members of the other section. Your instructor will partner your group with a group in the other section. Each group member should post a 200 word review comment to that project by 11:59 PM Wednesday, July 23rd. For peer review to run smoothly, it is vital that each group posts its draft by 11:59 PM Tuesday, July 22nd.
Step 6: Group Final Draft: A final draft of the project is due at the end of the course. The final draft should meet all of the standards specified by the client and be ready for professional use. Final drafts are due Wednesday, July 30th.
Step 7: Individual Assessment: At the end of the project, each student will fill out the Project Assessment Form evaluating the final project and each group member's participation. Project Assessment Forms are due Friday, August 1st.
The Service Learning Project is worth 25% (250 points) of your course grade. The group portion of the project is worth 80% of project grade, and the individual portion is worth 20%. The breakdown for each of its components is as follows:
For the service learning project, the client will contribute to the final grading process. The client will select one project for professional use, and that project will be the only project that receives an A. Other projects will receive an A- or less based on the following criteria:
The final course project cannot be revised because of time constraints. However, multiple drafts will ensure that groups get plenty of feedback to improve their projects.
