Job Search Portfolio Context Notes
Job Search Portfolio: Narrative Context
For the rest of our summer term, we will work on the Job Search Portfolio (JSP) project.
Basically, the JSP asks you to pretend to apply for a job—you will go through all the steps as if you were on the job market right now and actually applying for a job.
Why pretend? If we don’t position ourselves within a “real” writing context, we’re just writing documents for the sake of writing documents. Without a writing context, we have no audience in mind and our documents don’t really matter.
Unfortunately, that’s what a lot of professional writing classes ask students to to—write generic resumes and generic cover letters. These non-rhetorical, generic documents
- are generic(!)—they often use a fill-in-the-blank style where you plug your information into a resume or cover letter template
- reflect (only) you—your education, your work history, and your relevant background. I guess the assumption is that you could send out a generic resume and generic cover letter to any position you might qualify for.
That doesn’t work for this professional writing class. Here’s where you (and we) are different:
- You are not generic. You aren’t a generic [whatever] major—you’re unique. Rather than fit your details into a generic template, you need to write your job search documents in a way that makes you shine—in a way that highlights your strengths and makes a strong argument for why you’d be a great candidate for the job.
- The jobs you’ll apply for are not generic. Different positions (even ones with the same or similar job titles) have different roles and responsibilities—they draw on different skills, abilities, and strengths. Different organizations (and types of organizations, businesses, industries) have their own vibes, organizational personalities, and ethos.
- Your audience is not generic. Actual people will read your job documents. Potential employers and colleagues are real people with real values, wants, and needs.
In this professional writing class—and during the JSP—you will approach your job search documents rhetorically (not generically). You will strategically highlight your strengths and make strong arguments for why you’re an excellent fit for the position and the organization. You will carefully consider your audience and appeal to your reader. (Who will read your documents? What do they care about? What are they looking for? What diction/language are they likely to use? What appeals to them?)
So, instead of asking you to write generic documents for a generic job, the JSP asks you to place yourself in the rhetorical context of a real (or could-be-real) job search (okay, I guess it’s a pretend job search that could be real… pretend it’s real!).
You’ll find and select an advertisement for a job you’re interested in, and then you’ll tailor all of your job documents to that specific job—in brief (very brief), that’s the whole project.
Summary of Required Components
What’s below is just a brief summary of JSP required components to give you an idea of what you’ll turn in when the project is due. Detailed guidelines, requirements, notes, resources, etc. will be provided in later course material. Again, this is just a summary.
- (Annotated) Job Advertisement for a desirable, real job in your field that you could likely obtain directly after graduation; this is the job ad you will work with for the rest of the project—the job you will pretend to apply for
- Cover Letter written as if you’re applying for the position described in your job ad
- Traditional (Print) Résumé written as if you’re applying for the position described in your job ad (professionally designed using tenets of professional document design)
- Optimized/Scacnnable Résumé written as a digital version of your resume; written, designed, and optimized for OCR, searchability, maximizing “hits,” and prepared for submission to inline or text-box browser applications (and applicant tracking systems, or ATS)
- Interview Question Responses to questions that will be provided to you; you’ll respond as if they were part of an interview for the position described in your job ad
- Thank-You Correspondence written as if you have already interviewed for the position described in your job ad
Tips for Assignment/s and Project Success
Here’s my tentative summary schedule of what you’ll be doing. Specific links, assignments, and deadlines will be listed on the Canvas course schedule. What’s provided below is an overview of the whole project to give you some context for the individual parts. Again, this is just a summary to give you some context.
|
RESPECT THE ORDER
The organization and order of notes and small EEC assignments leading up to final JSP project submission are designed to walk you through the process that will eventually get you to a finished JSP project (and a similar process you’ll go through in finding, applying for, interviewing for, and hopefully, getting a job).
Respect that order. Notes and assignments build on one another sequentially—do the readings/notes and EEC assignments in the order listed on the Canvas course schedule.
|
FORGET WHAT YOU (THINK YOU) KNOW
Forget most of what you’ve been told about resumes and cover letters (and perhaps the whole process). Some of what you’ll learn during this project—and some of what you’ll be asked to do in your JSP documents—is different than what you were probably told about “the correct way” to do things.
Remember, in this class, we don’t follow templates or lots of prescribed rules about the “correct way” to do things. Instead, we take a rhetorical approach. Same goes for this project, too.
|
|
USE THE NOTES
Read/study the notes before doing the corresponding exercises—you’re expected to use the notes to complete the exercises. Similarly, you must use the notes to draft your JSP documents. The notes tell you how to approach JSP documents rhetorically, they give you guidelines you must follow, and explain content you must include.
While you must make many choices to write the JSP docs, you shouldn’t feel feel unsure about how to approach them or what to include. If you feel lost or have a question, check the notes. Usually, the notes have the answer.
|
DON’T OPEN THAT OLD RESUME
Everyone has an old resume and probably an old cover letter somewhere on their computer. Forget about them—don’t even open them. They won’t help you.
I can tell you from experience (of teaching 44 sections of professional writing over the past 20 years) that students who open up their old resumes and simply update them for this project do not do well. Your old resume wasn’t written for this class and probably wasn’t written rhetorically. Updating your old documents will not fulfill the requirements for this project. Trust me.
|
START EARLY & DRAFT OFTEN
Start on your documents early—they take a lot of time and hard work to write well. Work on your drafts often—good documents require lots of careful revision and editing.
DON’T PLAGIARIZE & NO TEMPLATES
You may not use fill-in-the-blank templates, bits of sample text you find online, or generators you may find online. If you do—if you use phrases or sentences you find online in your documents, you’ll get a 0% on the project, fail the class, and have an academic dishonesty notation placed on your transcripts.
|
First Steps & Selecting a Job Advertisement
All of your JSP documents will be written in the context of a single, real job advertisement—so, selecting a good advertisement (and one that meets requirements) is essential for the success of your entire project.
Before selecting a job advertisement for for the JSP, please prepare by learning about “Job Targets” and “Finding a Job”. The first two exercises due in this project cycle will draw on those notes by asking you to identify job targets and find a job to work with for this project. (everything is on the Canvas course schedule—links to notes and readings, as well as assignment explanations and deadlines).
Job Advertisement Selection Preparation Requirements
As suggested above, selecting a good job advertisement is very important—the job advertisement you select will be the basis on which all your other job search portfolio documents will be based.
*Job Advertisement Guidelines and Requirements
Some students plans include applying for an internship before graduation. Some students post-bachelors degree plans may include graduate school, a position with their family’s business, moving up in a company where they are already employed , or something else other than taking in entry-level position in their field.
While I acknowledge all of these possibilities as reasonable plans for before and after graduation, these situations are not appropriate as the basis for the job search portfolio project. Students must use real, desirable, entry-level positions (or positions they would – or would almost – qualify for immediately following graduation). These positions must be advertised publicly with businesses or organizations that are accepting applications from the general public.
- be for a position in your major, career field, or industry (or your minor/s, or some combination of majors/minors, etc.); in other words, you must choose a job your FAU education has prepared you for
- be for a position you will qualify for (or nearly qualify for) after you graduate with your BA/BS/BSW (and take any necessary licensing exams, obtain certifications, etc.)
- be for a position you would be satisfied with—in an industry you’d be comfortable working in, in a geographic area where you want to live, etc.
- include the job/position title, the name of the business or organization hiring, a job description/list of duties, and minimum qualifications/requirements for applicants
- you may not use an internship or graduate school application/opening
- you may not use a position in your family business or a friend’s business
- you may not use a position that has no job advertisement; a position that is not publicly advertised (internal); or a position not accepting applications from the general public
- you may not use an opportunity for a promotion at a business you already work for
- you may not use telemarketing, temporary/temp agency, or office positions (such as administrative assistant, secretary, etc)
- you may not use positions advertised by job placement or recruitment agencies that do not include the name of the business or organization that is hiring
- you may not use multi-level marketing positions, network marketing positions, or referral marketing positions.
- you may not use job advertisements/positions that require an advanced degree (no degree higher than bachelors); in other words, you may not use positions that require an MA, MFA, MS, MBA, MEd, PhD, EdS, JD, MD, DMD, etc.
* I’ll discuss a few notes for K-12 (teachers), law enforcement (police), and architects in class.