Today’s Plan:
- Job Materials Project Deliverables
- Resume Review December 3rd (Canvas: Submit Re-Revised Resume before class)
- Finding a Job Ad
- Cover Letters
Where to Find a Job
- Indeed
- MediaBistro
Cover Letters
The ABO entry for “Application Cover Letters” identifies 3-4 purposes for your cover letter:
- Introduce you as a candidate with the skills that can contribute to the particular organization
- Explain what particular job interests you (or why you are interested in the advertised position
- Illustrate via specific examples qualifications in your resume that match the position
- Signify your desire/availability for an interview (this is a phatic closing gesture)
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend doing things in that order. But you might. It is tricky–you are playing a kind of meta-game with a reader (since the rhetorical purpose of your document is super obvious). The game concerns how skillfully/subtly you can perform within this charged situation. You want to consider tone–how do you come off as someone who is hard-working and professional while also not sounding too formal and/or stiff? (Unless the job advertisement and your online research suggests that they are a formal environment). Essentially, how good are you at reading the room?
Here’s what the cover letter shouldn’t do: it shouldn’t just summarize your resume. It should select one or two skills from the resume and flush them out, providing context and details. Don’t tell me you have experience researching grants, tell me how you partnered with the ARC of Weld County to identify and research, using both the State of Colorado and the Foundation Center databases, 13 specific grants for non-profit organizations focused on children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Or how you worked with a team of designers to produce flyers for both print and digital distribution for 8 upcoming events. Whatever. The cover letter is your opportunity to tell a story about the best work you’ve done. It is an opportunity to show something (the resume is your opportunity to tell something).
The three examples in the ABO book aren’t bad. But I feel like they could be better. They could provide more details about what someone has done (in some places they feel a bit too much like someone is narrating a resume).
But the ABO advice for the final paragraph is fine. Let’s look at those final paragraphs.
Let’s look at a few sample letters.
Today we are going to be setting up linkedin accounts. Many of you already have a gmail account with your professional/pen name. Good!
First, let’s skim two quick articles on linkedin. Then we will set up accounts.
My expectations for your linkedin account:
- Education
- Skills section
- Location
- Summary Statement / Elevator Pitch (40-50 words)
What/Why a Web Presence?
For the final component of our Job Materials project, I want you to develop both an online web presence and a portfolio. What do I mean by web presence? What belongs in a portfolio?
No doubt many of you have encountered job advertisements that request writing samples. Those samples can serve a number of purposes: they can demonstrate your awareness/facility with professional genres, your ability to write concise, engaging, and grammatically correct prose, and/or your ability to design clean and contemporary documents. Between now and the time you graduate, you’ll want to assemble a portfolio of works (both print and multimedia/digital) that speak to the range of your talents.
Let’s comb through some relevant readings and carve out answers:
- How to Create Professional Online Profiles (Good barebones tips for sections/organization)
- How To Create a Killer Writing Portfolio for Freelancers (types of pieces, what to put in your about/bio)
- Clippings.me
- JournoPortfolio.com
- Website Examples / Portfolio examples
My expectations for your web presence project:
- An “About Me” or personal description
- A resume
- A portfolio of at least four works with some level of textual splash/blurb/description and a relevant image
- Contact information, including links to professional social media
Google Sites
Given that we have a short amount of time to assemble your portfolios, I am going to recommend using Google Sites. Google Sites is a free CMS/website development program. It is quite easy to use.
What Do I Mean by Graphic
I don’t want to take all day on this, but I could. Let’s look here.
- A bold image
- High level of contrast
- Balance/consideration of thick hyper-legible type with thin body type
We want an image that is striking, arresting, that captures/focuses attention. Powerful, but not busy.
Due Dates
Submit a rough draft of your cover letter to Canvas by Saturday, November 30th at midnight.
Re-submit a resume revision to Canvas by noon, December 3rd
On Thursday, December 5th, complete all work for the Rock Found. We will share in class.
We will not meet during exam week. I will be in my office Thursday, December 13th from 9:00 until 1:00 to review any job application materials.
I will accept revised cover letters and resumes until Friday December 13th. Submit a shareable link, set to “anyone with the link can edit,” that includes your resume and cover letter, to the Canvas assignment “Final Job Materials”
