English 421K, Technical Writing

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.

Project Prompt and Summary

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. The project asks you to do the following:

• Learn about and use various web-based resources for job seekers and ultimately to select one real job to pursue.
• Prepare the all-important cover letter (i.e., "Job Application Letter").
• Prepare a print resume suitable for such a position.
• Assess your experience in a "Project Assessment Document."

In the process of completing the project, 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.

Project Goals

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

• Writing for a range of defined audiences and stakeholders

Project Management

• Understand, develop and deploy various strategies for planning, researching, drafting, revising, and editing documents both individually and collaboratively.
• Select and use appropriate technologies that effectively and ethically address professional situations and audiences.
• Build professional ethos through documentation and accountability.

Document Design
Make rhetorical design decisions about workplace documents, including

• Understanding and adapting to genre conventions and audience expectations
• Understanding and implementing design principles of format and layout
• Drafting, researching, testing, and revising visual designs and information architecture

Teamwork
Learn and apply strategies for successful teamwork and collaboration, such as

• Working online with colleagues
• Providing peer feedback

Research
Understand and use various research methods to produce professional documents, including

• Analyzing professional contexts
• Using online job resource materials

Deliverables

• Job advertisement for a position you will be searching for when you graduate from Purdue.
• Job Skills Spreadsheet and Job Advertisement Analysis
• Resume (draft and final copy)
• Cover Letter (draft and final copy)
• Project Assessment
• Peer Reviews of ALL documents

Grading

The Employment Project is worth 25% of your course grade. The breakdown for each of its components is as follows:

• Job Skills Spreadsheet and Job Advertisement Analysis (20%)
• Job Application Letter (30%)
• Print Resume (30%)
• Project Assessment Document (20%)

Grading Criteria

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.

Revision

You will have opportunities to revise your work during the project via peer and instructor feedback. Accordingly, you should use your class and workshop time wisely during the project to ensure you are receiving appropriate feedback for your work from both your peers and your instructor.