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13: Building Careers and Writing Résumés
13-13
OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES STUDENTS OFTEN FACE
Although the majority of your students may have been employed at some time, many in the class
may not yet have work experience. Help students build a list of traits that employers are looking
for. As you conduct this discussion, solicit examples of ways that students can illustrate each of
the traits in their résumés, letters, and interviews.
By now, students are probably automatically applying the three-step writing process; however,
this time, the analysis step must include an analysis of themselves: their strengths and
Stress the importance of researching a company before applying for a job. Today’s students will
typically turn to the Internet to find information about a company. But because the Internet may
offer limited information on smaller companies, help students identify other ways to find
information: school career services office, newspapers, published company materials, and so
forth.
Some class members may not have visited the school’s career services office. Provide an
overview of the services the office provides students, and tell them what they need to do to
register. Since some class members will already have visited the office and obtained booklets
and various help sheets, be prepared to answer questions about any differences between that
information and the information provided during class or in the textbook.
Students often have trouble preparing résumé content. Emphasize using short, crisp phrases
(instead of whole sentences), starting phrases with action verbs, avoiding personal pronouns
(such as I and my), and preparing a forceful yet accurate résumé. Review all the typical sections
of the résumé: contact information, career objective, education, work experience, and other
13: Building Careers and Writing Résumés
13-14
things out, embellishing facts inappropriately, and so forth.
This class may be some students’ first exposure to preparing scannable résumés. Compare and
contrast traditional and scannable résumés. Help students identify keywords that would be
appropriate for their personal résumés.
SUGGESTED CLASSROOM EXERCISES
1. Gathering Opinions of Human Resource Managers. Invite two or three human resource
managers to address the class and share information about what they look for in job
2. Conducting a Self-Assessment. Have students complete a self-assessment exercise. Ask
students to prepare a list of personal strengths and weaknesses as a starting point for
3. Determining What Support the Career Services Office Provides. Invite the director of the
school’s career services office to address the class. Ask the speaker to inform the students of
4. Identifying Helpful Tips on Résumé Design. Assign students to work in teams to conduct
research on the Internet to identify sites that provide helpful information about résumé
5. Critiquing Résumés and Application Letters. Assign students to analyze the ineffective
employment documents in the Practice Your Skills activities at the end of the chapter. From
13: Building Careers and Writing Résumés
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Activities
13-11. This exercise is a valuable way to help students understand the need to connect their
skills and qualifications with the needs and requirements of specific industries and
13-12. Students are likely to find this exercise challenging, since they are accustomed to using
13-13. Here is a revised version of the document:
SYLVIA MANCHESTER
765 Belle Fleur Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70113, (504) 312-9504
smanchester@rcnmail.com
OBJECTIVE
A position in marketing or sales, with the opportunity to work in the field of biochemical
research
WORK EXPERIENCE
2017–present: Fisher Scientific Instruments, Field Sales Representative
• Call on directors of medical labs and of government and university research labs
in a three-state territory (Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas)
• Increased territory’s sales 150 percent in 3 years. Help define needs for electronic
2013–2016: Fisher Scientific Instruments, Customer Service Representative
• Answered customer calls about delivery, quality, and operation of electronic
instruments
2010–2013: Medical Electronics, Inc., Administrative Assistant to Vice President of
Marketing
2007–2010: New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, Part-Time Tour Guide
13: Building Careers and Writing Résumés
13-18
Sharpen Your Career Skills Online: This exercise calls upon students to use Bovée and Thill’s
Business Communication Web Search to research information about creating online résumés.
Students will summarize the content of this source in an email to the instructor, or as a post for
the class blog. In either case, the conventions for communicating in the particular medium should
be observed, and the summary should clearly and effectively convey the information that was
learned. (LO 13.1; AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
CASE SOLUTIONS
Here are solutions and guidelines for this chapter’s cases.
13-18. Career Planning: Researching Career Opportunities
Note: This exercise gives students the opportunity to utilize a variety of different research tools.
Their end product should include fundamental keywords that would satisfy both computers and
human readers alike. Student responses will vary; sample is shown below.
Subject: Researching PointBridge and the technology consulting market
Dear Ms. Ritter,
The on-the-job training for this position is geared toward improving proficiency in:
• Using ASP.NET, Visual C#, and related technologies
• Creating or customizing SharePoint 2010 solutions
It is a challenging job that helps candidates learn and adopt new technologies, as well as improve
their teamwork skills.
13: Building Careers and Writing Résumés
13-19
In the field of consulting, it is essential to maintain a global perspective. As a result, one of the
important issues faced by consultants is following an international code of ethics. Keeping this in
mind, I am already acquainting myself with the latest developments in global ethics and
13.19. Career Management: Researching Career Opportunities
This case gives students the opportunity to think ahead to a dream job they aspire to at some
point in their careers. In essence, it is the opposite of the typical résumé writing process, that is,
13-20. Planning a Résumé
Note: This case invites students to form teams to evaluate each other’s employment histories with
the aim of determining the best way to present work information in a résumé. Students’ work
experiences will vary greatly, thereby necessitating different ways of presenting work experience
in résumés.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:
• Symetra Life Insurance Company, Bellevue, WA, 2015 to present, corporate marketing
intern.
o Coordinated corporate marketing initiatives and supported all marketing functions
as needed, including PR and channel marketing.
13: Building Careers and Writing Résumés
13-20
o Monitored and reported on marketing expenditures.
• Rainbow Communications, Seattle, WA, Summer 2014, marketing intern.
o Participated as an intern with the consumer-goods research unit for herbal health
products.
o Developed a Master’s project on using social networking and other Internet
platforms to market a range of new herbal health drinks.
• School of Management, City University of Seattle, 2013 to 2014, marketing intern.
(LO 13.2; AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
13-21. Writing a Résumé
Note: This case invites students to conduct informal interviews in pairs, and then use the
13-22. Message Strategies: Completing a Résumé
13-23. Message Strategies: Completing a Résumé
Note: This case invites students to consider how to create a video that is a compelling
13-24. Message Strategies: Building a LinkedIn Profile
A LinkedIn profile is a great opportunity to showcase projects, awards, and multimedia elements.
It should include all the information from a conventional résumé, plus additional features like a
13: Building Careers and Writing Résumés
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IMPROVE YOUR GRAMMAR, MECHANICS, AND USAGE
Level 1: Self-Assessment—Numbers
13-25. We need to hire one 1 office manager, four 4 bookkeepers, and twelve 12 programmer-
analysts. (AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
13-26. The market for this product is nearly six 6 million people in our region alone. (AACSB
Tag: Written and oral communication)
13-27. Make sure that all 1,835 pages are on my desk no later than nine o’clock 9:00 a.m. (or
nine o’clock in the morning) (AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
13-28. In 2014, was the year that José Guiterez sold more than $50,000 thousand dollars worth
of stock. (AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
13: Building Careers and Writing Résumés
13-22
Level 2: Workplace Applications
13-40. Speaking at a recent software conference, Alan Nichols, CEO of Tekco Systems, said the
13-41. Selling stocks short is the latest rage on Wall Street, where recently things have just gone
from bad to worse. (AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
13-43. We notify not only the customer but also our salespeople that the product has been
13-44. When deciding among these suppliers, we found that each of them offers [Or offered]
both advantages and disadvantages. (AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
13-46. United Agra Products, a distributor of chemicals, fertilizers, and seeds, faced the
13-47. The answers you receive are influenced by the types of questions you ask, the way you
13-48. The creation of hazardous by-products, such as silver in film processing, requires us to
13-49. When obtaining ingredients for our products, we try to establish relationships with small
13-50. An entrepreneur should never be in any organization that gets so big that it loses
intimacy. (AACSB Tag: Written and oral communication)
13-51. Racecar driver Eddie Cheever is also founder of Aleanza Marketing Group, a seven-
13-52. Over the last six years, Business Cluster Development has started 13 technology-related
Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Inc.
13-53. In an interview, Gary Hoover said, “When I dreamed up Bookstop, we asked people, ‘If
there was a bookstore that carried a huge selection of books and had them all at discount
prices, would you go there?’ and we got a lot of yawns.” (AACSB Tag: Written and oral
13-54. The chief attraction of vending machines is their convenience: they are open 24 hours a
day. On the other hand, vending machine prices are no bargain. (AACSB Tag: Written
and oral communication)
Level 3: Document Critique—Well-Written Solution
THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
(EXCERPT)
Purpose of the Proposal
This document will acquaint the reader with three principal topics by:
• Describing the San Diego State University (SDSU) Suntrakker project;
• Showing that engineering students at SDSU can build and race a solar-powered vehicle in
the World Solar Challenge Race in Australia;
• Explaining how this business team will generate the necessary support, funds, and
materials from students, alumni, community, and local businesses.
Project Profile
The Suntrakker Solar Car project was conceived by a small group of San Diego State University
engineering students, motivated by the successes of the General Motors Sunrayce, and who
committed themselves to designing and building a superior solar-powered vehicle to compete in
the World Solar Challenge.
