Business Communication Chapter 18 Building Careers And Writing Rsums Part Writing Employment Messages And Interviewing For

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Part 7: Writing Employment Messages and Interviewing for Jobs

This final part of the text is perhaps the most personally important to students: putting their

communication skills to work in pursuit of fulfilling jobs and successful careers. Chapter 18 addresses the

steps involved in planning a job search and developing a résumé, then Chapter 19 takes over with the

steps for applying for job openings, interviewing, and following up after the interview. If you didn’t have

students read the career-planning Prologue at the beginning of the course, now is a good time to do so.

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Chapter 18: Building Careers and Writing Résumés

This chapter is the first of two on employment- and career-related communication. It offers a variety of

creative tips on finding opportunities in today’s job market, followed by comprehensive advice for

crafting an effective résumé for specific job openings.

CHAPTER OUTLINE

Finding the Ideal Opportunity in Today’s Job Market

Writing the Story of You

Learning to Think Like an Employer

Researching Industries and Companies of Interest

Translating Your General Potential into a Specific Solution for Each Employer

Taking the Initiative to Find Opportunities

Building Your Network

Seeking Career Counseling

Avoiding Mistakes

Planning a Résumé

Analyzing Your Purpose and Audience

Gathering Pertinent Information

Selecting the Best Media and Channels

Organizing Your Résumé Around Your Strengths

The Chronological Résumé

The Functional Résumé

The Combination Résumé

Addressing Areas of Concern

Writing a Résumé

Keeping Your Résumé Honest

Adapting Your Résumé to Your Audience

Composing Your Résumé

Name and Contact Information

Introductory Statement

Education

Work Experience, Skills, and Accomplishments

Activities and Achievements

Personal Data and References

Completing a Résumé

Revising Your Résumé

Producing Your Résumé

Choosing a Design Strategy for Your Résumé

Considering Photos, Videos, Presentations, and Infographics

Producing a Traditional Printed Résumé

Printing a Scannable Résumé

Creating a Plain-Text File of Your Résumé

Creating a Word File of Your Résumé

Creating a PDF Version of Your Résumé

Creating an Online or Social Media Résumé

Proofreading Your Résumé

Distributing Your Résumé

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Learning Catalytics is a “bring your own device” student engagement, assessment, and classroom

intelligence system. It allows instructors to engage students in class with real-time diagnostics. Students

can use any modern, web-enabled device (smartphone, tablet, or laptop) to access it. For more

information on using Learning Catalytics in your course, contact your Pearson Representative.

LECTURE NOTES

Section 1: Finding the Ideal Opportunity in Today’s Job Market

Learning Objective 1: List eight key steps to finding the ideal opportunity in today’s job market.

Successful companies place a high priority on finding the right employees and the investments they are

willing to make in both personnel and technology to attract and keep valuable talent. Identifying and

landing the ideal job can be a long and difficult process, particularly in tough employment markets.

Writing the Story of You

Take the time you have now to explore the possibilities, to find your passion, and to identify

appealing career paths. These steps will help you start down the path:

• Identify the nature of the work you’d like to do, if not a specific profession.

Writing your story is a valuable planning exercise that helps you think about where you want to go

and how to present yourself to target employers.

Learning to Think Like an Employer

With every hiring decision, companies take great risks and need to prevent the following:

Many companies judge the success of their recruiting efforts by the quality of hire, a measure of how

closely new employees meet the company’s needs. Candidates are judged by:

• Perceived ability to perform the job

• Ability to handle responsibilities

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Class discussion question: How might employers and applicants view the recruiting process in different

ways? Why is it important to think like an employer when you are applying for jobs?

Researching Industries and Companies of Interest

Learning more about professions, industries, and individual companies is easy to do with the library

and online resources.

Companies are more likely to be impressed by creative research, such as interviewing their customers

to learn more about how the firm does business.

Seek out advice for online job searches as well as links to hundreds of specialized websites that post

openings in specific industries and professions.

Translating Your General Potential into a Specific Solution for Each Employer

Customizing your résumé to each job opening helps show employers that you will be a good fit for

the position.

From your initial contact through the interviewing process, you’ll have opportunities to impress

recruiters by explaining how your general potential translates to the specific needs of the position.

Taking the Initiative to Find Opportunities

When it comes to finding opportunities, the easiest ways are not always the most productive ones.

Major job boards and classified services such as Craigslist have thousands of openings—but many

thousands of job seekers are looking at and applying for these same openings.

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Building Your Network

Networking is the process of making informal connections with mutually beneficial business contacts.

Networking takes place wherever and whenever people communicate:

• Industry functions

• Social gatherings

• Alumni reunions

• All over the Internet

Networking is more essential than ever, because the vast majority of job openings are never

advertised to the general public.

The more people who know you, the better chance you have of being recommended for one of these

hidden job openings.

Start building your network now, before you need it. Here are some places to make contacts:

• Participate in student organizations, especially those with ties to professional organizations.

• Visit trade shows to learn about various industries and meet people who work in those

industries.

• Don’t overlook volunteering; you can demonstrate your ability to solve problems, manage

projects, and lead others.

Remember that networking is about people helping each other, not just about other people helping

you. Pay close attention to networking etiquette:

• Learn something about the people you want to connect with.

• Don’t overwhelm others with too many messages or requests.

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To become a valued network member, you need to be able to help others in some way. The more you

network, the more valuable you become in your network—and the more valuable your network

becomes to you.

Be aware that your online network reflects on who you are in the eyes of potential employers, so

exercise judgment in making connections.

Seeking Career Counseling

College career centers offer a wide variety of services, including:

• Individual counseling

• Job fairs

• On-campus interviews

• Job listings

• Advice on career planning

• Workshops in job search techniques

• Résumé preparation

• Job readiness training

• Interview techniques

• Self-marketing

You can also find career planning advice online. Many of the websites offer articles and online tests

to help choose a career path, identify essential skills, and prepare to enter the job market.

Avoiding Mistakes

Take care to avoid the simple blunders that can torpedo a job search, such as:

• Not catching mistakes in your résumé

• Misspelling the name of a manager to whom you are writing

• Showing up late for an interview

As recruiters work to narrow down the possibilities, even a minor mistake on your part can give them

a reason to bump you right out of the candidate pool.

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Section 2: Planning a Résumé

Learning Objective 2: Explain the process of planning your résumé, including how to choose the best

résumé organization.

Your résumé will be the most important document you create in a job search. Adapt it for a variety of

uses:

• Personally delivered applications

• E-portfolio and/or social media résumé

Writing a résumé really benefits from multiple planning, writing, and completing sessions spread out over

several days or weeks. You are trying to summarize a complex subject (yourself!) and present a

compelling story to complete strangers in a brief document.

Analyzing Your Purpose And Audience

A résumé is a structured summary of a person’s:

• Education

Make sure you understand the true function of a résumé. It’s a brief, persuasive business message

intended to accomplish two objectives:

• Stimulate an employer’s interest in you.

• Get you an interview.

Learn as much as you can about the individuals who may be reading your résumé. Any bit of

information can help you craft a more effective message.

Gathering Pertinent Information

Gather all the pertinent personal history you can think of, including:

• Dates, duties, and accomplishments from previous jobs you’ve held

• Relevant educational experience—formal degrees, skill certificates, academic awards, or

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Selecting the Best Media and Channels

You should expect to produce your résumé in several media and formats.

“Producing Your Résumé” discusses your options.

Organizing Your Résumé Around Your Strengths

Although you will see a number of ways to organize a résumé, most are:

• Chronological

• Functional

• Combination of the two

The right choice depends on your background and your goals.

The Chronological Résumé

In a chronological résumé, the work experience section dominates and is placed immediately after

your contact information and introductory statement.

The chronological approach is the most common way to organize a résumé, and many employers

prefer this format because it presents your professional history in a clear, easy-to-follow

arrangement.

List your jobs in reverse chronological order, beginning with the most recent position and giving

the most space to the most recent positions. For each job, start by listing these facts:

The Functional Résumé

A functional résumé, sometimes called a skills résumé, emphasizes your skills and capabilities,

identifying employers and academic experience in subordinate sections.

This arrangement stresses individual areas of competence rather than job history. The functional

approach also has three advantages:

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Be aware that because the functional résumé can obscure your work history, many employment

professionals are suspicious of it. If the chronological format doesn’t work for you, consider the

combination résumé instead.

The Combination Résumé

A combination résumé meshes the skills focus of the functional format with the job history focus

of the chronological format.

Addressing Areas of Concern

Many people have gaps in their careers or other issues that could be a concern for employers. Here

are some common issues and suggestions for handling them in a résumé:

• Frequent job changes. If you’ve had a number of short-term jobs of a similar type, group

them under a single heading. Reasonable employers understand that many professionals have

been forced to job hop by circumstances beyond their control.

• Gaps in work history. Mention relevant experience and education you gained during

employment gaps, such as volunteer or community work.

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Section 3: Writing a Résumé

Learning Objective 3: Describe the tasks involved in writing your résumé, and list the major sections of a

traditional résumé.

Note: Figures 18.4 through 18.6 show students how to apply this résumé-writing advice to three different

job-search scenarios.

As you follow the three-step process to develop your résumé, keep four points in mind:

• Treat your résumé with the respect it deserves. A single mistake or oversight can cost you

interview opportunities.

• Give yourself plenty of time. Don’t put off preparing your résumé until the last second and then

If you feel uncomfortable writing about yourself, you’re not alone. Considering finding a classmate or

friend who is also writing a résumé and swap projects for a while. You might be able to speed up the

process for both of you.

Keeping Your Résumé Honest

Applicants with integrity know they don’t need to stoop to lying on their résumé.

If you are tempted to stretch the truth, bear in mind that professional recruiters have seen every trick

in the book, and frustrated employers are working aggressively to uncover the truth.

Nearly all employers do some form of background checking, such as using these methods:

• Contacting references

• Verifying employment

Given the networked nature of today’s job market, lying on a résumé could haunt you for years—and

could force you to keep lying throughout your career to hide the original misrepresentations on your

résumé.

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Adapting Your Résumé to Your Audience

The importance of adapting your résumé to your target readers’ needs and interests cannot be

overstated.

In a competitive job market, the more you look like a good fit, the better your chances will be of

securing interviews.

Class discussion question: How should you handle the conflicting advice you can read about résumés

from various online and print sources?

Composing Your Résumé

Write your résumé using a simple and direct style:

• Use short, crisp phrases and focus on what your reader needs to know.

• Avoid using the word I, which can sound both self-involved and repetitive.

In addition, most résumés are subjected to keyword searches in an applicant tracking system.

Recruiters search for résumés most likely to match the requirements of a particular job so it’s

essential to use the words and phrases that a recruiter is most likely to search for.

Keywords that catch a computer’s attention are usually nouns that describe the specific skills,

attributes, and experiences an employer is looking for.

Study job descriptions carefully to understand your target audience’s needs. Keywords can include:

• Business and technical terms associated with a specific profession

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Beware of clichés that are used on so many résumés and social media profiles that they’ve lost most

of their impact. These are the buzzwords and phrases that are among the most overused (notice how

vague and generally unquantifiable most of them are):

• extensive experience

• innovative

Instead of saying you are all these things, show how you are, using solid evidence.

Name and Contact Information

Your name and contact information constitute the heading of your résumé; include the following:

• Name

• Physical address (permanent and temporary, if you’re likely to move during the job search

process)

Be sure that everything in your résumé heading is well organized and clearly laid out on the page.

Introductory Statement

You can put one of three things here:

• Career objective—identifies either a specific job or a general career track you would like to

pursue. If you have little or no work experience in your target profession, this might be your

best option.

• Qualifications summary—offers a brief view of your key qualifications. Consider using this if

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Education

If you’re still in college or have recently graduated, education is probably your strongest selling

point. Present your educational background in depth, choosing facts that support your “theme.”

Starting with the most recent, list:

• The name and location of each school you have attended

• The month and year of your graduation

• Major and minor fields of study

• Significant skills and abilities developed in your course work

You don’t have to show your GPA on a résumé but be prepared to answer questions about it

during interviews (many employers will assume it is not spectacular if you don’t).

Work Experience, Skills, and Accomplishments

The work experience section should focus on your overall theme, showing how your past can

contribute to an employer’s future.

Use keywords to highlight skills you’ve developed on the job and your ability to handle

increasing responsibility.

List your jobs in reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent. Include any relevant:

• Military service

• Internships

Devote the most space to jobs related to your target position.

• If you were personally responsible for something significant, mention it.

• Facts about your skills and accomplishments are the most important information you can

give a prospective employer, so quantify them whenever possible.