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During the employment project, you
will learn strategies for seeking and securing employment, with
particular attention to the documents people normally use to represent
themselves and their prospects to potential employers (see
"Deliverables" below). This project asks you to work individually, but
there will also be chances for you to work with your peers to exchange
ideas and feedback.
Project
summary
You will be asked to locate a job or internship for
which you are qualified and create the documents you would need to
apply for it. If you already have a good job, you'll find one that
would be an advance for you, then prepare application materials for
that position. Step 1 of the project asks you to learn about and use
various resources for job seekers and to select one real job to pursue,
and, if necessary, research the potential employer and position beyond
the job ad. In Step 2 you will prepare the all-important cover letter.
Step 3 asks you to prepare a print resume suitable for the position
you've chosen. In Step 4, you will assess your experience in a "Project
Assessment Memo." In the process of completing each step, you will work
closely with your peers and me to shape your writing so that it
represents you and your experience fully and effectively.
Project
goals
This project emphasizes several important goals that all
professional writers should bear in mind and that are consistent with
those of the Professional Writing Program at Purdue. In the Employment
Project, you will begin focus on these particular course goals:
Writing in Context
Analyze professional cultures, social contexts, and audiences to
determine how they shape the various purposes and forms of writing,
such as persuasion, organizational communication, and public discourse.
Writing Process
Develop and understand various strategies for planning, researching,
drafting, revising, and editing documents that respond effectively and
ethically to professional situations and audiences.
Collaboration
Learn and apply strategies for successful collaboration, such as:
responding constructively to peers' work via peer review of documents.
Research
Understand and use various research methods to produce professional
documents, including analyzing professional contexts, assessing and
using information resources, and determining how various media and
technologies affect and are affected by users and readers.
Project Management
Develop strategies for organizing and using your time effectively,
planning and executing project components, etc.
Document Design
Learn to argue with visual data, understanding and implementing various
principles of format, layout, and design of professional documents that
meet multiple user and reader needs.
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Deliverables
Step 1: Job Description and Rationale:
Produce an exact copy of the job ad you choose, and
highlight key terms and concepts that will help you tailor your cover
letter and resume to the organization and position. You may need to do
additional research of the organization and the
position for which you will be applying. Then create an analysis, in
memo format, of the position and the organization. Your memo should
follow these assignment guidelines
and be 1 - 2 pages in length. This step is due on _______.
Steps 2 and 3:
Cover Letter: The cover letter (or job
application letter) is critical to your efforts to secure a job,
perhaps as critical as your resume itself. For this step, you will
create a one-page cover letter to accompany your resume. You will use your
research and the materials you collected and created for Step
1 to help you tailor your letter to that specific position and
employer. Printed draft due for peer review: ______________.
Print Resume: Your print resume (one or more
pages in length, depending upon the type of job and the depth of your
experience) should adapt features drawn from examples collected for and
discussed in class. It's critical that you shape your resume to the
specific job you have chosen to apply for, so be sure to emphasize the
most relevant aspects of your professional experience. As in the cover
letter, your writing needs to be error-free, concise, and presented in
an easily readable format. Printed draft due for peer review:
__________.
Step 4: Project Assessment Memo : At
the end of your work on the Employment Project, prepare a memo, of not
more than two pages, providing an overview/analysis of your
deliverables and the process you used to complete them. Your Project
Assessment Memo should employ professional memo format and should
answer most of the following questions, each of which is tied to the
major goals of the assignment:
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Writing in Context:
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How did the particular job you
applied for affect how
you wrote your letter? Did it change or affect how you presented
yourself?
How did applying for this position help you understand aspects of your
experience
you might need to develop more? |
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Process:
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What was the most challenging document to
produce and
why? Briefly describe and explain one of the significant revisions you
made to this document after your initial draft. |
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Research:
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Which research resource proved to be the most
beneficial
for you? The least? Explain. |
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Collaboration:
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What was one way that peer feedback helped you
improve
your work? How did responding to the work of others help you improve
your
own work? |
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Project Management:
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How well did you plan your work on this
project? What
might you have done differently? |
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Document Design:
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What is the most effective aspect of your
deliverables
in terms of presentation or design? Have you deliberately adapted a
standard
form in an unusual or creative way? If so, why? |
Your Project Assessment Memo is due when you turn in
the final drafts of your Employment Project documents.
All four deliverables (Job Ad and Analysis memo, Cover
letter, Resume, Project Assessment Memo) should be fully revised and
submitted to me in printed form by the end of class on _________________.
You should bind them with a paperclip, in the proper order (Steps 1-4).
They should, of course, be neatly printed and indicate your
professionalism.
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Resources
Grading
The Employment Project is worth 50% of your course
grade. The breakdown for each of its components is as follows:
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Step 1: Job Ad and Analysis Memo
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20% |
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Step 2: Job Application Letter
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30 % |
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Step 3: Print Resume
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30% |
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Step 4: Project Assessment Memot
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20% |
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Total
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100% |
Grading
criteria
When I grade your project, I will measure your work
against the models discussed in class and will pay particular attention
to see whether you have effectively adapted your documents to the job
for which you have applied. Your writing will need to be precise,
accurate, and well-suited to the context (the job/field) and to the
rhetorical occasion in tone, style, and content.
Revision
You will have ample opportunity to
consult with me and your peers and to revise your work throughout the
writing process. Therefore, revisions will not normally be
permitted after the final draft has been turned in and graded.
However, if you really wish to revise, I will accept such revisions,
subject to these restrictions: 1) You meet with me or a tutor in the
Writing Lab to discuss the revision; 2) You turn in your completed
revision within two weeks of the date it was returned to you with a
grade; 3) you include the original with the grade and my comments, and
4) submit with the above a professional memo specifying precisely what
you did to improve your work.
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