Chapter 8Written communication

By Lec.Hadeel Qasaimeh

Outline

1. Look good on paper

2. Identify the role of the resume

3. Examine types of job letters

4. Assess application form

Look good on paper

• Most of us tend to make judgments on the basis of

appearance, from time to time.

• Whether you are looking for something to drive,

somewhere to work, someplace to live, or someone to live

with, chances are based on the first impression.

Look good on paper

• Looking good on paper is important when

preparing resumes, cover letters, or application

forms .

• Employers will determine which applicants get

the interviews on the basis of applicants

written work

Look good on paper

Most application readers

take on average 45 second

to review an application

package (sometimes there

are 30 – 300 resumes for

the same job)

Look good on paper

To make a positive impression and look good on

paper consider the following:

-Consider your reader (look to reader name and

title, look to employer needs)

-Write clearly (be specific when describing your

skills, use strong, active verbs to show what you can do)

Look good on paper

-Organize logically (move from the most important

to least important)

-Be concise (limit your document to one page, use

short phrases rather than complete sentences to annotate

your listing, emphasize the most closely related to the

position)

Look good on paper

-Design an appealing document:

1.Use bulleted lists to help reader spot key information quickly

2.Allow plenty of white space

3.Include boldfaced heading and font changes to emphasis and use neutral colors

4.Select good quality of paper

5.Use graphics and colored fonts sparingly

Look good on paper

The written communication (associate with the

employment) is most important because it

presents you to a prospective employer and often

determine whether or not you will be granted to

interview

Look good on paper

Steps to prepare your written communication:

1.Gather information (employment history, educational

history, references, personal history, qualifications and skills)

2.Putting together a resume entails creating a one

page(summery of your most desirable qualifications )

Look good on paper

Steps to prepare your written communication:

3.Writing a cover letter to be sent with resume (identifies the

position sought, highlight your qualifications and requests an

interview)

4.Filling out application (neat, complete, accurate and honest

information)

5.Writing follow up letters (whether accepted or rejected,

positive comments)

identify the rule of resume

Resumes contain vivid descriptions of your

experience and abilities in brief sentence form, a

well constructed resumes makes you “come to

life” on the printed page (it is a way to sell your

self)

identify the rule of resume

Since writing good resume make take long time

but provide you some benefits:

-Give you an opportunity to reflect your qualifications

-Help to prepare for the interview (source of questions)

-Help you complete the application form

-Sets you apart from other applicants (time)

identify the rule of resume

Resumes must be a “living

documents”

Types of job letters

1. The letter of application, including the

cover letter, aims to achieve three

objectives:

a. identifies the position you are seeking

b. summarize qualifications

c. request an interview

Types of job letters

2. letter of application sent with resume:

Generally letter of application and resume are

complement , include no repeated

information's

Types of job letters

3. Follow up letters:

thank for the interview letters may be the most

important part, it say “I care” , “I’m

responsible” “I’m better qualified” “I

appreciate the time you spent with me”

Assess application form

-Unless you have sent a letter of application and

resume, the application form will be the first written

contact with the employer.

-Application form not only reveal your education

and experience but also show whether you can write

without errors, follow directions, and express your

self clearly and understandably.

Assess application form

To prevent unnecessary errors, make sure to:

• Read the entire form before filling

• Take a careful look at the layout and types of

questions

• Finally, be sure to fill out the application in

ink

Assess application form

There is three criteria's to assess the application forms:

- Accuracy and honesty (if you lie on paper you will lie on the job)

- Application should be complete (if you have no answer use N/A)

- Clarity and neatness (take your time and correct errors with single slash with the correction on the side)

Resume format Should include:- personal information (name, address, phone number, email address)

- Qualifications- skills (competencies and tasks that you feel qualified to perform on the job)

- Education (technical collage, specialized training, highlight specific courses and degrees)

- Employment experience (name address and phone number of current employer, brief description of each job)

- Additional qualification (hobbies, licenses, membership,…..)

- References (name, address and phone number of references on separate page with your name, address and phone on the top)

Resume format

The most challenging task is to present your

qualifications in a clear, meaningful and

interesting way that represent your

uniqueness as a prospective employee

“Use personal qualifications inventory”

Resume format

Three of most common resume formats include:

1.chronological resume :

present qualification and experiences as they

occurred over time starting from most recent,

good for experienced employee who are

changing their job

Resume format

2.functional resume:

Organize qualification based on skills and

accomplishment , good for fresh graduate.

Resume format

3. Modified functional resume :

Highlight skills and accomplishments as well as

the educational and work experience

Resume format

Follow these suggestion to create your modified resume:

- Prepare your document on computer and save them

- Don’t date

- Include career objective after the heading

- Beneath the objective list your qualifications

- Then follow with either education or work experience

- Use active verbs to describe in brief your skills

Resume format

- Add any additional information such as “who you are”

- obtain three references, two can discuss your technical

and the third can discuss your career, not related to you

- Contact your references and ask their permission

- Limit your resume to one page (at most two pages)

- Check for mistakes

Resume format

- Make your resume visually appealing (space, fonts,

colors, underlining and capitalization)

- Use good quality of paper

- Duplicate quality of copying machine

Letter of application

- Consistent business letter format

- Applies for specific job

- Identifies job lead

- Present qualifications not in resume

- Refers to resume

- Requests an interview

Letter of application

Letter parts:

1. Heading

2. Inside address

3. Greeting

4. Body

5. Complimentary close

6. signature

Letter of application

1. Heading include your:

- Address

- Street

- City

- Zip code

- Phone number

- date

Letter of application

2. Inside address:

- Use the same address as on the envelope

- Includes: Receiver’s name, title, address, city,

state and zip code

Letter of application

3. greeting:

- Use a formal greeting to begin your letter

Dear Mr. Smith:

Dear Dr. Allen:

- Follow your greeting with a colon (:)

Letter of application

4. Body

Include 3 paragraphs in the body of your letter:

a) Opening : job and source of lead

b) Middle: qualifications

c) Closing: interview request

Letter of application

4. body:

a) Opening paragraph:

- Response to ad (“I am writing in response ….”)

- Named referral

- School placement

- Self- introduction

Letter of application

4. body:

b) middle paragraph:

- List major area courses or describe directly related

employment

- Mention skills not included in your resume

Letter of application

4. body:

c) closing paragraph:

- Request an interview

- Indicate how to contact you

- Indicate the best times to contact you

Letter of application

5. Complimentary close:

Consider closing your letter with:

“sincerely” or “yours truly”

6. signature:

Remember to add your signature above your

typed name

Common problems

- Letter format

- Incorrectly using of capital letters

- Forgetting the “I” word

- Omitting a colon after the greeting

follow up letters

1. Use consistent letter format

2. Thank the interviewer

3. Make positive comments

4. Mention strong qualifications

5. Express interest in company

6. Accept or reject as appropriate

Thank the interviewer

• Begin your letter with a “thank

you”

• Include thanks for time, …..etc

Positive comment

Say something positive about the:

• People

• Place

• Product

• process

Qualification reminder

- Mention skills, achievements or

qualifications that you wish to emphasize

- Remind employer that you are qualified

Accept Position

- If offered a position, thank employer and

clarify where and when you will report to

work

- Ask any question you may have

Reject Position

- Thank employer for the offer

- Say no without “burning bridges”

- Inform employer when you might be

available

Common problems

- Mixing letter format

- Forgetting the “thank you”

- Omitting positive comment

- Using capital letters incorrectly

- Omitting a colon after the greeting