English 3110 Project–Job Search

Overview
For this assignment you are going to identify a real job with a real company, do some research on the job and the company, and then design a resume and a cover that are appropriate for this specific situation. You may decide whether to actually send them out to the company as a real job search or just to do it as a mock job search. Anyway, I would like you to make it as real as possible.

Step 1: Find a Job Ad
Find a job ad that fits your major and interest, in the newspapers, magazines, the placement office on campus, or on the Internet, and make a copy of the ad. If you hear of an opening through word of mouth, it’s ok, too. Here’re some basic requirements for the job you should be applying for:

• It should be a full-time job.
• It should be generally within your field of study or a field for which you have substantial experience.
• It should require a bachelor’s degree or equivalent education.
• In case it doesn’t fit any of the above three, it should at least require a certain amount of technical expertise in a particular area.
• The type of jobs you should avoid would include those that only require high-school education or less and that don’t involve any technical skills, e.g., cashier at a supermarket, kitchen help at a fast-food restaurant, front desk receptionist…

Step 2: Do Some Research
Know your potential employer before you starting designing your job search package. Do some research into the job and the company as much as you can from sources like the following:

1. The job ad (pay attention to its description of job responsibilities and qualification requirements)
2. The company literature such as the promotional materials produced by the company (look for key words as well as information on the company’s size, location, product or services provided, etc.)
3. Published materials in the library (such as newspaper or magazine articles) or on the internet about the company
4. Friends, acquaintances, family members who know about the company or the position
5. The Internet (the company web site, other web sites that provide information about this company)

Step 3: Design a Resume
First, design a hardcopy resume that fits this specific position. In other words, this resume is intended to be read on paper rather than on screen. Take the following into consideration:

• Does your career objective fit the position and the company?
• Is the most relevant credential placed at the most important position in your resume?
• Did you establish a professional identity that fits the responsibilities of the job?
• Did you provide specific, detailed descriptions of job responsibilities for your work experience?
• Did you try to use the key words in the job ad or company literature?
• Did you create an effective visual hierarchy, using headings, columns, boldfaces, bullets, white space, etc.?
• Did you try to avoid overemphasis or inappropriate emphasis of elements that are not important, like dates?

Step 3: Design a Cover Letter
Write a cover letter specifically tailored for the job. Pay attention to the following

• Does the opening paragraph identify the purpose of the letter, specify the position and source of the ad, and provide an overview of why you’re applying for the job?
• Does your letter emphasize the right qualifications?
• Does each paragraph focus on only one major qualification?
• Is concrete evidence provided to support your claims for your qualifications?
• Is your contact information provided at convenient and prominent places?
• Is your tone appropriate: professional, courteous, enthusiastic?

What to Turn in

1. An electronic version (in Word format) of your hardcopy resume saved as “job(YourLastName)-resume.”
2. An electronic version (in Word format) of your cover letter saved as “job(YourLastName)-letter.“
3. A copy of the job ad, either hardcopy or electronic. If electronic, save it as “job(YourLastName)-ad” (if you don’t have one, describe it on a separate sheet in as much detail as you can.)