Job application letters are prepared and submitted in place of a rsum.
A positive message is one where a receiver’s basic reaction to the message is neutral.
Many Internet sites are not current or accurate, so it is wise to avoid using the Internet
in the job search process.
The rsum uses short, parallel phrases and sentence fragments whereas the letter uses
complete sentences in well-written paragraphs.
The purpose statement that guides a speaker’s choice of strategy and content should be
the same as the introduction of the talk at the beginning of the presentation.
While sending messages with an attachment, one should avoid the most vital
information in the e-mail.
If an audience is likely to be pleased with research done on a report, one should ideally
present the findings indirectly and provide substantial evidence.
Humor is the only way to set an audience at ease and directing humor at them helps
build a rapport.
Active listening alone can reduce the conflict that arises when two people want
apparently inconsistent things.
People use body language to signal traits such as interest, respect, and agreement.
Andrea Griffins works in a flat organization and thus can directly communicate with the
director or chief executive officer.
A healthy way to resolve conflict is to act like they do not exist and to let time sort them
out.
While writing to international audiences, one should always use first names to appear
friendly and cordial.
While responding positively to complaints, one should give the reason for the original
mistake only if it reflects credit on the company.
If you use a separate heading for a career objective, put it immediately after your
address, before the first major heading.
Making eye contact is a universal nonverbal communication used across all cultures to
convey a sign of paying attention.
If a title of a report does not contain a recommendation, it normally indicates what
problem the report tries to solve.
Using long paragraphs of more than eight lines makes a document more visually
appealing.
A manager’s report about the various economic opportunities that were available during
his trip to Luxembourg is a credit report.
Filler sounds occur when a speaker pauses before saying the next word and can be
avoided through sufficient practice before a presentation.
Abbreviations are inappropriate in e-mail messages even if they are part of the group’s
culture.
Good writers of progress reports spend less space explaining the value of their work for
the organization and more space writing about the details of what they have done so far.
Errors such as sentence fragments and run-on sentences disturb most educated readers
and should be best avoided.
Business communication uses singulars to eliminate sexist generic pronouns.
Maps can be used as visuals to specify and emphasize locations or to compare items in
different locations.
Progress reports consist of the work that needs to be done along with who will be doing
it.
Supporting data which is examined by specialists such as accountants, lawyers, and
engineers must always be placed in the body of a report.
In case you were laid off from your previous job, you need to point out the layoff in
your application materials.
Successful professionals communicate exclusively with managers or superiors.
Though technical jargon should be used as much as possible, a job application letter is
one of the few occasions that one should avoid using them.
In order to create goodwill with content, it is best to avoid showing why information an
audience did not ask for is important.
A subject line helps in retrieving the document and tells readers why they need to read
the document.
Writing a good proposal requires a clear understanding of the problem that one needs to
solve, and the research and action needed to solve it.
Increasing white space helps in improving the look of a message.
Margins which are justified only on the right and have lines ending in one specific place
are called ragged right margins.
A good proposal requires one to avoid anticipating questions that readers might have.
In order to make a piece of writing easier to read, it is best to make long sentences stand
by themselves instead of combining them.
Visuals are highly interchangeable, so writers can choose those they prefer and are most
comfortable designing.
Face-to-face surveys are convenient when you are surveying a large number of people
in different locations.
Even if you have created your own unique visuals for a document, you must cite the
sources of the information used to create them if they were gathered and compiled by
someone else.
Which of the following is a good way to demonstrate active listening when a person is
dealing with problems?
A. Dismissing a problem
B. Scrutinizing an issue
C. Acknowledging a problem
D. Minimizing an issue
E. Giving a quick solution
Check the quality of the data.
To separate yourself from other job candidates just out of college, ______.
A. provide evidence to assure the employer that your claim of having comprehensive
knowledge of the field is true
B. stress the responsibilities that you have had rather than accomplishments of the past
C. dedicate several paragraphs of the letter to developing supporting details
D. mention specific tasks and experiences from previous jobs and coursework that will
contribute to your success on the job
E. exaggerate your strengths and capabilities to show that you transcend others
Which of the following sentences demonstrates the “you-attitude”?
A. Your company has recently purchased two large manufacturing plants in Toulouse.
B. A company of your standing could offer me the training and experience I need to
excel in my career.
C. My experience in sales has taught me that you can never accurately predict customer
demand.
D. I recently closed deals with three major companies and could put my negotiating and
sales skills to work for Hudson Company as Director of Contracts.
E. An inventive and improvising individual like me is a necessity in your business.
Which of the following sentences contain hidden negatives?
A. The products you ordered will reach you ahead of time as you requested.
B. The products you had ordered for were delivered to you as per schedule.
C. The e-mail contains the details of the delivery time and products delivered to you.
D. I think the products you ordered has been delivered to your home address on time.
To make an application letter professional, ______.
A. include personal information
B. use a conservative writing style with no contractions
C. address the letter to the company or department rather than to an individual person
by name
D. mention the names of relatives only if they have worked with you professionally
E. print on a paper different from the one you used for your rsumé
Allie Sanchez, a clothing designer in New York, supplies her designs to major retail
companies in Hawaii, California, London, and Paris. At the end of every financial
quarter, she needs to analyze the demands and sales of her boutiques in these cities.
Which of the following does Sanchez most likely use?
A. Elimination of alternatives
B. Spatial
C. Chronological
D. General to particular
E. Particular to general
Which of the following is the most conservative choice for attire in an interview?
A. Traditional dark business suit
B. A dark grey or black shirt
C. Clean sandals
D. Black socks or patterned hose
E. Open-toed pumps
Which of the following statements is true of formatting the Experience section of your
rsum?
A. Block format shouldn’t be used if your work history has gaps.
B. In block format, items that are logically equivalent begin at the same space.
C. Indented format does not emphasize job titles.
D. Indented format can be used to emphasize when you worked, if you’ve held only
low-level jobs.
E. Block format provides work information in the order of job title, name of
organization, city, state, and dates.
Janice, a marketing executive at a clothing retail firm, is writing a proposal to promote a
new line of clothing for the company. While writing the presentation, she keeps in
mind, the marketing directors of the company who have the power to adopt the plan.
She also notes that her marketing manager will approve or reject the proposal before it
is presented to the directors of the company. On the day of presenting the proposal, she
notices that the promotional manager, advertising manager, and the communications
manager are also present to offer comments on the proposal. Which of the following is
most likely to be a gatekeeper for Janice’s proposal?
A. Promotional Supervisor
B. Communications Manager
C. Marketing Manager
D. Marketing Director
E. Advertising Manager
The process of _____ refers to making changes in content, organization, and tone that
will better satisfy one’s purposes and audience.
A. editing
B. proofreading
C. revising
D. brainstorming
E. planning
In which of the following situations should phone calls be used as a mode of
communication?
A. When one intends to leave a paper trail
B. When the tone of voice is important
C. When one knows a colleague welcomes the visits
D. When one wants to establish a work relationship
E. When one wants visual and aural cues
Which of the following purposes does a proposal serve, if a company knows it needs to
change, but unsure of what they should do?
A. Providing a record of the implementation and evaluation process
B. Assessing whether change is a good idea and analyzing why
C. Developing a plan to decide what course of action should be taken
D. Providing insight on whether change is desirable or not
E. Implementing a suitable plan and increasing measurable outcomes
Jessica George has been a loyal customer of the International Bank of Japan for over
ten years now. Over the years, she has never faced any major problem with the bank.
However, when she applied for a house loan recently, her request got rejected. Which of
the following is most likely to be a psychological reactance by George toward the bank?
A. Recommending the bank’s customer service to a friend
B. Opening a current account there to help grow her money better
C. Closing her current account and switching to another bank
D. Opting for Internet banking to keep track of her expenses
E. Discussing with the loan manager why her application was rejected
Which of the following should be undertaken while devising an interview strategy?
A. Pick ten main points that represent one’s strength for a job and elaborate them
specifically
B. Let strengths stand by themselves instead of trying to justify them with
accomplishments
C. Avoid making key points about one’s strengths for a job at the end of an interview
D. Listen to each question to see if key points of one’s strengths can be a part of the
answer
E. Dodge and try one’s best to avoid questions about one’s weaknesses and failures
Identify the error in the following list of job duties: “Recruited seventeen volunteers,
designing of brochures, and spoke to five community groups.”
A. The list lacks proper emphatic order.
B. The list lacks details.
C. The list lacks parallel structure.
D. The list uses a complete sentence.
Michelle Davis is currently preparing a report on “The Education System in Ghana.”
She understands that she has a lot of content and decides to use a large page size of 841
1189 mm. She also places the page numbers on the bottom right corner because she
feels they are easily noticeable. Which of Charles Kostelnick’s level of design is Davis
most likely using?
A. Supra
B. Intra
C. Extra
D. Inter
E. Outer
Which of the following is true about information overload?
A. It is a secondary purpose of informative and positive messages.
B. It comprises of crucial data such as annual reports which tend to be lengthy.
C. It makes people become selective about the messages they open and read.
D. It is desirable because it keeps people informed about several vital happenings.
E. It is a strategy to make employees in a company more efficient and productive.
The _____ can be defined as a number that occurs most often in a list of observations.
A. median
B. range
C. mode
D. average
E. extension
Hazel Warren works as a communication executive at a fashion publication in Paris.
She has been asked by her editor to prepare a draft on prospective topics for their
upcoming winter edition. Warren searches for ideas from fashion web sites and e-mails
her network of designers to know what the current trends for the winter season are.
Which of the following communication hardware is Warren most likely to be using?
A. iPod
B. Portable Media Player
C. Videoconference
D. Smartphone
E. Telepresence
Which of the following statements is true of face-to-face surveys?
A. They are used for surveying a large number of people in different locations.
B. They can reach anyone who has an address.
C. They are not effective for respondents who don’t read and write well.
D. They deliver questions over the Internet.
E. They may lead to biased results based on the interviewer’s sex, race, etc.
Jean Welch has recently started working as a copywriter at an advertising agency and
has been asked by her manager to write a proposal for a client’s social media campaign.
This is the first time that Welch is going to present a proposal and understands that
though the company’s board of directors will not directly act on it, they will be paying
careful attention to the interaction between her and the client. Which of the following
audiences can the board of directors be categorized under?
A. Primary audience
B. Watchdog audience
C. Secondary audience
D. Auxiliary audience
E. Gatekeeper
When designing a website, it is a good design strategy to:
A. use a constant font size and design throughout the document.
B. ensure that links do not change color when they are visited.
C. use large text blocks and as much animation as possible.
D. use a black, dark grey or dark blue background for visual variety.
E. provide visual variety through bullets and indentations.
Katherine Anderson recently joined as a communications executive at a new travel
company. Over the last few days, she has noticed that the company has an informal
work culture and very different from the one at the previous organization she worked in.
Which of the following are most likely to be a characteristic of Anderson’s new work
culture?
A. Arbitrary structure
B. Rigid rules and regulations
C. Flat organizational structure
D. Strict monitoring of activities
E. Limitation on individual activities
Which of the following should be undertaken while summarizing a message?
A. Start with the main points and then move on to explaining supporting material
B. Use chronological accounts while summarizing data for external people
C. Provide step-by-step account of what one did when it involves an external audience
D. Avoid stating the topic of discussion in an internal conversation since it is already
known
E. Summarize a visit with a client by providing the main point from one’s own point of
view
_____ is a social networking tool where users create a profile, chat, and share interests
with other users.
A. Blog
B. Wikis
C. Facebook
D. Twitter
E. Xing
Images of people should be used carefully in _____ to avoid sexist, racist, or other
exclusionary visual statements.
A. Gantt charts
B. bar charts
C. pie charts
D. truncated graphs
E. histographs
In an unstructured interview, the interviewer:
A. asks questions in a format similar to a questionnaire.
B. uses a detailed list of questions to guide the interview.
C. always asks closed questions to start the interview and set the interviewee at ease.
D. asks a few initial questions and then allows subsequent questions to build on these
answers.
E. remains absolutely silent and allows the interviewee to speak freely.
Stella is presenting a report on “Negative Impacts of Genetic Engineering” at a
conference on Food Security in Manhattan. The audience consists of scientists,
government officials, and members of civil society groups of which some are skeptical
about the subject. Which of the following would best help Stella handle the audience?
A. Present the good ideas at the end of the report
B. Present the main points of the report in the middle of the report
C. Approach the issue of genetic engineering indirectly
D. Make the milestones achieved section clear in the first paragraph
E. Identify one main audience benefit instead of several benefits
Lindsay Crawford, who works for a media house in London, is being relocated to a new
branch of the company in Austria. Colleagues in office tell her that her new work place
has a high-context culture in contrast to her current office. Which of the following
should Crawford do that would be most appropriate in such a culture?
A. Be indirect while communicating with her colleagues and superiors
B. Ensure that most communication is made through emails and written documents
C. Avoid giving importance to interactions and building relationships
D. Understand that oral conversations are unimportant and need not be taken seriously
E. Give importance to details because they matter immensely in such cultures
List the three things that a good purpose statement should clarify.
Illustrate with the help of an example, two primary purposes of a negative message.
How can body language communicate one’s feelings?
List some of the suggestions offered by Nan Robertson to interviewers.
Jennifer recently gave a presentation for a group of college students on “How to choose
the right career path.” The presentation was a huge success and the students in their
feedback form stated that the visual appeal of the presentation was a major factor that
contributed to its popularity. What key guidelines did Jennifer most likely follow which
helped her document be visually appealing?
List three tips for properly designing a line graph as a visual in a document.
How can Internet be used to find information about employers and jobs?
Discuss the trend of globalization and outsourcing.
What is the importance of different quadrants in a document?
What do you need to know to adapt your letter to a specific organization?
Explain how a friendly, positive style of writing helps in contributing toward a good
business document?
What are some guidelines to keep in mind which helps one to organize report data in a
way that is most useful to readers?
Enlist five points one should follow at one’s first full-time job.
Explain the importance of receiving feedback.
What are the three main guidelines to be followed while organizing information to build
goodwill in a message?
How do differed views of time affect business communication?
Melissa Howell works for Footsteps, a child rights organization. She needs to write to a
multinational company to request contribution of funds toward their campaign on
homeless children in Sudan. How can she fulfill the secondary purposes of her message
while writing to the company?
List three tips for properly designing a Gantt chart as a visual in a document.