13. Employment Communications

Chapter 13 The Job Search, R ésumés, and Cover Letters

1 to 3
4 to 7
8 to 11
12 to 15
Test Your Employment Savvy 1. The average employee will have worked at how many jobs over the course of a career?

True
False
Test Your Employment Savvy 2. Having your job terminated ranks in the top ten of life’s most severe crises.

Chronological (arranged around dates)
Functional (arranged around skills)
Combination
Test Your Employment Savvy 3. You are putting together a résumé. What format do recruiters generally prefer?

Searching the Internet
Sending out hundreds of résumés
Networking
Reading the classified ads
Test Your Employment Savvy 4. Many experts in the field of recruiting think that the surest way for a college graduate to find a job today is by

10 to 19 percent
20 to 29 percent
30 to 49 percent
50 percent or more
Test Your Employment Savvy 5. You begin your job search the way most people do by looking through the newspaper ads. What percentage of available opportunities can you find in those ads?

Potential employers and professional organizations
Family members, friends, neighbors, associates
School alumni and former instructors
Your dentist, your doctor, other service providers
All of the above
Test Your Employment Savvy 6. You’ve heard that “networking” is a good way to find a job. Who should be on your list of people to contact?

Potential employers and professional organizations
Family members, friends, neighbors, associates
School alumni and former instructors
Your dentist, your doctor, other service providers.
All of the above
Test Your Employment Savvy 6. You’ve heard that “networking” is a good way to find a job. Who should be on your list of people to contact?

About 20 percent
About 40 percent
About 60 percent
About 80 percent
Test Your Employment Savvy 7. You’re now a serious candidate for a job. What percentage of companies will require pre-employment drug testing?

Dress in campus casual attire
Dress professionally in a suit
Hit a happy medium
Call to ask interviewer
Test Your Employment Savvy 8. You’ve landed a job interview with a company that has a casual dress code. What should you do?

Test Your Employment Savvy
Dress in campus casual attire
Dress professionally in a suit or
Hit a happy medium
Call to ask interviewer
8. You’ve landed a job interview with a company that has a casual dress code. What should you do?

Preparation
Research the job market.
Use newspapers, the Web, and other resources to learn about jobs, qualifications, and employers.
Analyze your strengths.
What will sell you for the job you want?
Study other résumés as models.
Experiment with formatting.
Writing a Persuasive Résumé

Heading and Objective
List your name, address, phone.
Include a career objective for a targeted job.
Education
Name your degree, date of graduation, and institution.
List your major and GPA.
Give information about your studies, but don’t inventory all your courses.

Work Experience
List your previous jobs.
Start with the most recent jobs. Include employer’s name and city, dates of employment (month, year), and most significant title.
Manager, Fleet Equipment, Kettering, Ohio. 6/03 to present
Salesperson, Kmart, Dayton, Ohio. 4/02 to 5/03
Tax Preparer, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. March, 2003, to present. Sinclair College, Dayton, Ohio

Work Experience
Describe your experience.
Use action verbs to summarize achievements and skills relevant to your targeted job.
Prepared state and federal tax returns for individuals with incomes under $25,000. Conducted interviews with over 50 individuals to elicit data regarding taxes. Determined legitimate tax deductions and recorded them accurately.

Work Experience
Include nontechnical skills.
Give evidence of communication, management, and interpersonal skills. Employers want more than empty assurances. Try to quantify your skills.
Organized holiday awards program for 1200 attendees and 140 awardees. Praised by top management for enthusiastic teamwork and achievement.

Special Skills, Achievements, Awards
Highlight your computer skills.
All employers seek employees proficient with word processing, databases, and spreadsheets.
Show that you are well-rounded.
List awards and extracurricular activities, especially if they demonstrate leadership, teamwork, reliability, loyalty, initiative, efficiency, and self-sufficiency.

Additional Tips
Omit references (unless specifically required).
Look for ways to condense your data.
Double-check for parallel phrasing.
Project professionalism and quality.
Avoid personal pronouns. Omit humor. Use 24-pound paper and a quality printer.
Have a friend or colleague critique your résumé.

Additional Tips
Proofread!

Additional Tips
Proofread! Proofread!

Additional Tips
Proofread! Proofread! Proofread!

Additional Tips
Proofread! Proofread! Proofread! Proofread!

Poor Résumé RÉSUMÉ OF JENNIE JENKINS 3320 Lafayette Street, #12 San Leandro, CA 94561 (415) 781-5592 OBJECTIVE: An entry-level position where my proven communication, accounting, and administrative skills could be utilized in a path leading to advancement into management eventually. DEGREE from San Francisco State University. Broadcast Communication Arts. Bachelor of arts. 3.2 in major.

Poor Résumé EXPERIENCE Apprentice KPFA - 94.1 in Berkeley, CA. Duties included scheduling studios. Also recruited staff. Some paperwork. Often given responsibility to act as production manager. 10/03 to present. Pacifica House Position for financial manager. Duties included payroll and benefits for employees of shelter. Was responsible for the books, also for cash transactions. Took care of some donations. Expected to help raise funds. I prepared all payroll reports. Also petty cash. Chaotic environment, underfunded.

Poor Résumé Spring, 1999 Worked for one spring with Renaissance Rainbow, which is a performing arts troupe operating out of San Francisco. My duties included scheduling interviews with print and broadcast journalists. Was responsible for volunteers and publicity. Other temporary positions Manpower, Inc. San Francisco. Worked at many different places as a temp. 1999-02. Dorhring Company. File clerk, receptionist, general duties. Other places. Good Earth Restaurant - server 1998-1999.

Poor Résumé Personal Self-starter, can finish jobs without supervision. Marital status: single Birth: 6/15/80 Health: Excellent Hobbies: Knitting, singing, like to read First Baptist Gospel Choir Awards: Spirit Award, Oakland High School Dean’s List, college, 2 semesters

Improved Résumé
Jennifer Marie Jenkins
3320 Lafayette Street, #12
San Leandro, CA 94561
(415) 781-5592
Objective: Administrative position involving
Payroll • Accounting • Employee Benefits • Customer Service
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
• Two years’ experience in responsible administrative and accounting positions
• Disciplined self-starter; able to work without supervision
• Proficient with PCs including Word, Excel, and the Internet

Improved Résumé • Can be counted on to follow through on every detail, until a task is successfully .. completed • B.A. degree, San Francisco State University RELEVANT EXPERIENCE 10/03 to Apprentice, Radio Production, KPFA - 94.1, present Berkeley, CA • As production manager, schedule studios, recruit support staff • Process scripts, permissions, and logs involved in weekly productions 2002-03 Financial manager, The Pacifica House (shelter), San Francisco, CA • Used computer to manage payroll and employee benefits for a staff of 26 • Completed all projects on time, despite chronically chaotic environment

Improved Résumé • Managed agency's cash flow, involving funder reimbursements, in-kind donations, .. and fund-raising • Processed all accounts payable and receivable, monthly, and quarterly statistical .. reports for local, state, and federal funding agencies; oversaw petty cash • Designed a flow chart to track success of a $25,000 fund-raising project Spring, 1999 Publicity coordinator, Renaissance Rainbow (performance arts troupe), San Francisco, CA • Scheduled all media interviews and supervised volunteers • Coordinated publicity mailings for African-American Performance Arts Festival 1999-01 Temp positions, Manpower Temporary Services, San Francisco, CA • Developed customer service skills as telephone interviewer for Dorhring .. Company

Improved Résumé • Maintained files, routed incoming telephone calls, input employee progress .. journals, prepared interoffice memos, recorded accounts payable checks, .. keyboarded accounts payable correspondence, learned e-mail systems in various .. assignments EDUCATION B.A. in Broadcast Communication Arts, San Francisco State University, 2002 GPA in major: 3.2 Dean's list, 2 semesters

Emphasize keywords–nouns that describe traits, skills, and characteristics from job description.
Avoid unusual typefaces, underlining, and italics.
Use 10 to 14-point type.
Preparing a Computer-Friendly Résumé

Use smooth white paper, black ink, and quality printing.
Be sure that your name is on the first line.
Provide plenty of white space.
Avoid double columns.
Don’t fold or staple your résumé.
Use abbreviations carefully.
Include all your addresses and telephone numbers.

Be prepared to send your résumé in ASCII.
Note: Unlike a paper résumé, one that will be scanned by a computer may be as long as you think necessary.
Use only one page for your assignment. The following resume is one page but must be shown on two pages because of the PowerPoint.

Keyword Resume
Mary Carol Chen
301 Palmatum Street
Livermore, CA 94550
Home: (510) 555-1751
E-mail: mcchen@aol.com
KEYWORDS
Human Resources. Management.Organizational Skills.ADA. Applicant Screening. Applicant Tracking. Supervisor. 4+ years experience. Team Player. 401K. Training and Development. Service Award. B.S. MS Word. PowerPoint. Resumix. PeopleSoft. Communication. Dean=s List. SHRM. Spanish Fluency.
OBJECTIVE
Seeking a Human Resources position which will utilize my management and organizational skills and lead to increased responsibility and advancement.
EDUCATION
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Pomona, California
Business Administration Degree, 2001
Management and Human Resources Major, 3.33/4.0 (Overall) GPA
Computer Experience and Training: Hardware: IBM PC, Macintosh, VAX VT120 (UNIX);
Software: MS Word 7.0, MS Excel 7.0, MS PowerPoint 7.0, MS Access 7.0, MS Schedule+, e-mail, Synchronics, Lotus 1-2-3, Corel WordPerfect 7.0, Aspects, GroupSystems v5.0 (GDSS)

Keyword Resume (cont)
Relevant Coursework: Human Resources Principles, Staff Development, Training and Development, Compensation and Benefits Planning, HR Computer Applications, Communications for Management
EXPERIENCE
Tools-r-us, Livermore, CA 94550
September 1997 to present
Human Resources Specialist and Supervisor
Manage 15 employees in human resources department, coordinate medical, 401K, and pension plans, train employees in human resources hiring procedures, insure compliance with affirmative action programs.
ACHIEVEMENTS/ACTIVITIES
Dean’s and President’s Honors List; Community and High School Tennis Coach; BSA Den Leader;
Member of Society for the Advancement of Management and Society for Human Resource Managers

A focus group of nine expert recruiters gave these individual responses:
“Personal data. That’s a major ‘red flag.’ Also typos, inconsistent punctuation, and huge paragraphs that look like job descriptions.”
“Odd-sized résumés from services saying ‘Presenting the candidacy of . . .’ I don't even read them anymore. They’re a major rip-off.”
What Turns Recruiters Off When Reading a Résumé?

“Résumés that show no research; not looking at the employer’s needs.”
“Omissions in terms of dates. And misspellings!”
“Long cover letters and résumés over two pages.”

“Excess cosmetics, substituting form for content. A résumé should look nice but not go overboard.”
“A photo. I have to remove them because managers must be color and gender blind.”
“Not sending the résumé to the right place.”

“The objective. Plus dates when things happened and accomplishments.”
“Information about skills that apply to the job; less about job history and past duties.”
“Valid information in an easy-to-read, attractive style.”
What Do Recruiters Consider Most Important in a Résumé?

“The candidate’s address and phone number. Lots of people put them only in the cover letter!”
“Realizing that the employer is looking for ‘red flags’ and making sure there aren’t any. If you have an employment gap, include a clear statement explaining it.”

“Meeting the qualifications for the job.”
“The presentation and the objective.”
“A clear objective, backed up with qualifying experience and continuity in the work history.”

Writing a Persuasive Job Application Letter
Opening
Address the letter to an individual by name.
For advertised jobs, name the source; include job title, date, and publication.
If someone referred you, name that person.
Show that your qualifications fit the job specifications, show your knowledge of the reader’s business, or show that your special talents will be assets to the company.

Body
Demonstrate that your background and training meet the job requirements.
Summarize your principal assets from education, experience, and special skills.
Avoid repeating specific data from your résumé.
Refer to your résumé.

Closing
Ask for an interview. Consider hooking the request to a statement reviewing your strongest points.
Make it easy to respond. Tell when and where you can be reached (during office hours). Some recruiters prefer that you call them.

Targeted Letter of Application
The following paragraphs should be used in your targeted letter of application:
Paragraph 1—Opening. State your interest in a specific job. Explain where you found the job advertisement.
Paragraph 2—Education. Give information on your degree and major. Be specific about accomplishments. List classes.
Paragraph 3—Work Experience. Give an overview of your accomplishments on the job.
Paragraph 4—Optional. You can explain your leadership roles or special qualifications for the job.
Paragraph 5—Promote Action. Ask for an interview.

Letter of Application
Please accept this letter and resume as my application for the Human Resource position you posted in the Career Center at San Jose State University, San Jose, on November 1, 200-. I believe that my qualifications and experiences match the requirements for the position.
As shown on the enclosed resume, I will be graduating in December 2003, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. The Management and Human Resources major has given me the opportunity to complete courses in employee compensation, benefits analysis, information systems technology, and training and development.
My internship in human resources at Tools-R-Us located in Cupertino, California, gave me an opportunity to learn the many facets of a human resources department. While participating as an intern, I was able to assemble a manual for new hires and to conduct a new employee training session. Working for a small business gave me an opportunity to apply what the theory from my class work.
As a student, I participated as a member of the cross-country team and was elected team captain. As team captain, my responsibilities included not only leading the team in the championship finals, but also maintaining the scoring sheets and attendance records. The organization skills learned as the team captain have helped me prepare for the human resource position that you have advertised.
I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with you about the Human Resource position. You may reach me by telephone at (908) 555‑1762 or by e-mail at tja5@net.com and will be available for an appointment at your convenience.

Mary Carol Chen 301 Palmatum Street Livermore, CA 94550 Home: (510) 555-1751 E-mail: mcchen@aol.com
Mr. Marion Sandoval, Manager ( Reference List is Required)
Tools-r-us
1234 Crownpoint Street
Livermore, CA 94550
(925) 555-7834
(925) 555-7835 FAX
Mrs. Rowena Kelsey, Consultant
San Ramon Corporation
2387 Seboyeta Avenue
Danville, CA 94526
(925) 555-7817
[email_address]
Dr. Carol Larson Jones, Professor (Include a professor or advisor.)
Cal Poly Pomona
3801 West Temple Avenue
Pomona, CA 91768
(909) 869-2428
[email_address]

13. Employment Communications

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