Chapter 16 Solutions to Activities
16.1 Document for Analysis: Tracy’s Poor Interview Follow-Up Letter (Obj. 4)
Documents for Analysis are available at the student premium website (www.cengagebrain.com).
Weaknesses
• Lacks conciseness; is too wordy and long.
• Includes many writing errors, such as the use of articles (a, an), figures (2 summers instead of
two summers), capitalization (Tuesday, assistant account manager, account management),
and apostrophes (your department’s need).
• Shows poor proofreading (e.g., Maraposa instead of Mariposa), spelling problems (excelent
Revision
Current date
Mr. Michael Searle
Vice President
Mariposa Agency
3021 East Van Buren Street
Phoenix, AZ 85022
Dear Mr. Searle:
Thanks for speaking with me on Tuesday, June 2, about the goals of the Mariposa Agency and
the duties of the assistant account manager position. The position you described seems to be an
excellent match for my training and skills.
190 Chapter 16 Solutions
16.2 Learning About the Target Organization (Obj. 2)
This activity will familiarize students with some of the resources available for researching
16.3 Learning What Jobs Are Really About Through Blogs, Facebook, and Twitter (Obj. 2)
Students should enjoy this activity. More and more company blogs are being created every day,
16.4 Digging for Digital Dirt: Keeping a Low Profile Online (Obj. 2)
This exercise should generate a lively discussion. It should also raise awareness in students who
often don’t think twice about posting inappropriate photos of themselves and their friends.
Young people may feel safe posting on Facebook even with minimal or no privacy settings and
16.5 Exploring Appropriate Interview Attire (Obj. 2)
Students need to know more than to wear a suit to an interview. The opportunities for dress code
violations are many and involve crucial details—for example, the correct fit of a suit, proper
16.6 Building Interview Skills With Worksheets (Obj. 3)
16.7 Preparing Success Stories (Obj. 3)
16.8 Polishing Answers to Interview Questions (Obj. 3)
16.9 Learning to Answer Situational Interview Questions (Obj. 4)
Students will enjoy writing their own situational interview questions and playing the role of both
16.10 Developing Skills With Behavioral Interview Questions (Obj. 3)
Students should list some of the following skill areas: analytical/problem solving,
16.11 Negotiating a Salary (Obj. 3)
Have two students role-play a short scenario with preliminary interview questions before
192 Chapter 16 Solutions
16.12 Creating an Interview Cheat Sheet (Obj. 3)
Preparing an interview “cheat sheet” is an excellent strategy, particularly for new job seekers.
16.13 Handling Inappropriate and Illegal Interview Questions (Obj. 3)
Students may be confronted with inappropriate or illegal questions in actual interviews. Many
16.14 Knowing What to Ask (Obj. 3)
Students are sometimes caught off guard when asked if they have any questions at the end of a
16.15 Role-Playing in an Mock Interview (Obj. 3)
Students will enjoy this activity and will learn from it. Carefully observe these mock interviews
16.16 Recording an Interview (Objs. 3–6)
16.17 YouTube: Critiquing Interview Skills (Obj. 3)
In classrooms equipped with Internet access and video screens, students could watch instructor-
selected video clips of successful and unsuccessful job interviews or share previously approved
Chapter 16 Solutions 193
16.18 Mastering Interviews Over Meals (Obj. 3)
Students may enjoy this activity because they tend to fear violating table manners more than any
Activities 16.19 – 16.23
Activities 16.19 through 16.23 enable students to prepare an interview thank-you message, a
reference request, a résumé follow-up message, a follow-up to a rejection message, and an
acceptance message. Decide which of these activities you would like your students to complete,
and consider collecting all documents in an employment portfolio. Students can then use the
documents in this portfolio as models as they begin their job searches. Also consider having
students exchange employment documents so that they can give each other feedback and obtain
employment document preparation ideas from others.
16.24 Searching for Advice (Obj. 1–5)
16.25 Evaluating Your Course (Objs. 1–5)