Transcript Functional Résumé - siwah-usk

14.1
Chapter 14
Writing Résumés and
Application Letters
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
14.2
Chapter 14 Objectives
 Explain why companies are encouraging
employees to get varied job experience.
 Delineate three things that need to be
analyzed when planning a résumé.
 Discuss how to choose the appropriate
organization for your résumé.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
14.3
Chapter 14 Objectives
continued
 List the major sections of a traditional
résumé.
 Adapt your résumé to an electronic
format.
 Define the purpose of application letters
and how to apply the AIDA approach to
them.
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14.4
Building Toward a Career
 Employers are looking for people who
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Are able and willing to adapt to diverse
situations
Thrive in an ever-changing workplace
Continue to learn throughout their careers
Are team players with strong work records
Are versatile leaders
Are sensitive to intercultural differences (and
have perhaps studied abroad)
Have a sound understanding of international
affairs (and have perhaps learned another
language)
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Steps Toward Building
Your Career
 Keep an employment portfolio.
 Take interim assignments.
 Polish and update your skills.
 Learn about the services your campus
career center offers.
 Don’t think the process is over once an
employer hires you.
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14.5
14.6
Planning Your Resume
 Your résumé is
A structured, written summary of your
education, employment history, and job
qualifications
 A form of advertising
 Intended to get you an interview with
prospective employers
 Your purpose in writing a résumé is to
create interest, not to tell readers
everything about you.
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14.7
Before the Resume…
 Before you can create a successful
résumé, you need to find out
 What you have to offer
 What you want to do
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14.8
Analyze Yourself
 The first step toward knowing yourself is to
analyze your talents and skills:
 Jot down ten achievements you’re proud of,
and think about the skills they demanded.
 Look closely at your educational preparation,
work experience, and extracurricular activities.
 Take stock of your personal characteristics
(making a list of your most important qualities).
 Consult your college placement office for help
identifying interests, aptitudes, and personality
traits.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
14.9
Analyze Yourself
 The second step toward knowing yourself is to
discover what will make you happy and satisfied
on the job:
 What would you like to do every day?
 How would you like to work?
 What specific compensation do you expect?
 Can you establish some general career goals?
 What size company would you prefer?
 What type of operation is appealing to you?
 What location would you like?
 What facilities do you envision?
 What sort of corporate culture are you most
comfortable
with?
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14.10
Knowing the Job Market
 Employers hire people by
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Hearing about candidates from an employee
(personal contact)
Sending representatives to college campuses
to interview students for job openings
Accepting unsolicited résumés
Recruiting candidates through employment
agencies, state employment services,
temporary staffing services, and employment
bureaus operated by some trade associations
Posting jobs through classified and display
ads in newspapers, trade magazines, and
campus publications
Advertising positions on the Internet
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Resources for
Employment Opportunities
Journals and Periodicals
Business and Financial News
Specific Companies
Web Sites
Career Counseling
Contacts
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14.11
14.12
Writing your Resume
 Call attention to your best features and
downplay your weaknesses—without
distorting or misrepresenting the facts.
 Turn negative into positive
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14.13
Creating Successful Résumés
Your résumé should convey the seven
qualities employers seek in a candidate:
Thinks in terms of results
Gets things done
Is well rounded
Shows signs of progress
Has standards of excellence
Is flexible and willing to try new things
Possesses strong communication skills
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14.14
Types of Resumes
 Focus attention on your strongest points by
adopting an organizational approach:
 Chronological
 Functional
 Combination
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14.15
A Chronological Résumé
 A chronological résumé emphasizes your work
experience, placing that section in the most
prominent position (immediately after the name
and address and the objective):
 You list your jobs sequentially in reverse order,
beginning with the most recent position and
working backward toward earlier jobs.
 For each listing, describe your responsibilities
and accomplishments.
 If you’re a recent graduate, you can vary this
approach by putting your educational
qualifications before your experience.
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14.16
A Chronological Résumé
 The chronological approach has three key
advantages:
 Employers are familiar with it and can easily
find information.
 This approach highlights growth and career
progression.
 This approach highlights employment
continuity and stability.
 The chronological approach is especially
appropriate for candidates with a strong
employment history who are aiming for a job that
builds on their current career path.
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14.17
Functional Résumé
 The functional résumé emphasizes a list of
skills and accomplishments, identifying
employers and academic experience in
subordinate sections:
 You list your skills and accomplishments
in the most prominent position.
 You stress individual areas of
competence.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
14.18
Functional Résumé
 The functional approach has three advantages:
Employers are able to see what you can do for
them, without having to read through every job
description.
 You can emphasize earlier job experience.
 You can de-emphasize any lack of career
progress or lengthy unemployment.
 The functional approach is especially appropriate
for candidates who are just entering the job
market, who want to redirect their careers, or
who have little continuous career-related
experience.
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14.19
Combination Résumé
 The combination résumé includes the best
features of the chronological and functional
approaches, but it is not commonly used:
 It tends to be longer.
 It can be repetitious if you have to list
your accomplishments and skills both in
the functional section and in the
chronological job descriptions.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
14.20
Writing Your Resume
 To compose an impressive résumé,
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State your information as forcefully as possible
(avoid weak statements)
Write your résumé using a simple, direct style
(use active statements that show results)
Use short, crisp phrases instead of whole
sentences
Focus on what your reader needs to know
Absolutely avoid using the word “I”
Start your phrases with impressive action
verbs
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
14.21
Writing Your Resume
 Begin your résumé by identifying yourself
and providing your contact information:
 Include your name, address, phone
number, and e-mail address (if you have
one).
 If you have contact information at school
and at home, provide both.
 If you have a work phone and a home
phone, list both and indicate which is
which.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
14.22
Career Objective
 Stating a career objective is optional:
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Some experts advise against it, saying that
your objective is obvious from your
qualifications and that a stated objective labels
you as being interested in only one thing.
Some experts argue for it, saying that
employers will try to categorize you anyway,
so you might as well give them the right label.
If you choose to state your objective, make it
as specific as possible.
If you have different types of qualifications,
prepare separate résumés.
If your immediate objective differs from your
ultimate one, combine the two in a single
statement.
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14.23
Education Section
 In the education section, present your
academic background in depth:
 Use a simple heading such as
“Education,” “Professional College
Training,” or “Academic Preparation.”
 List the name and location of each
school you attended (starting with the
most recent).
 Include the term of your enrollment (in
months and years) for each entry.
 List your major and minor fields of study
for each entry.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
14.24
Education Section
 Include significant skills and abilities you’ve
developed in your course work.
 List the degrees or certificates you’ve
earned at each school.
 List the courses that have directly
equipped you for the job you’re seeking.
 Indicate any scholarships, awards, and
academic honors you’ve received.
 Include any off-campus training sponsored
by business or government.
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14.25
Education Section
 List any relevant seminars or workshops
you’ve attended (and any certificates you
received).
 Mention high school or military training
only if the associated achievements are
pertinent to your career goals.
 If you choose to show a grade-point
average, include the scale (especially if a
5-point scale is used instead of a 4-point
scale).
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14.26
Work Experience Section
 In the work experience section, highlight the
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relationship between your previous
responsibilities and your target field:
List your jobs in chronological order (with the
current or last one first).
Include any part-time, summer, or intern
positions, even if unrelated to your current career
objective.
If you have worked your way through school, say
so.
Include the name and location of each employer.
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14.27
Work Experience Section
 Briefly describe what each organization
does.
 State your functional title for each job.
 State how long you worked on each job
(from month/year to month/year).
 Devote the most space to the jobs that are
related to your target position.
 Mention any significant achievements on
the job (including facts about your skills
and accomplishments).
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14.28
Additional Sections
 You might include a section describing other
aspects of your background that pertain to your
career objective:
 Command of another language
 Travel experience
 Skills in operating computers, specific
software, or other specialized equipment
 You may insert information at the bottom of your
résumé about additional materials that are
available:
 You might want to say that work samples are
available upon request.
 You may say that “references are available
upon request,” but doing so isn’t necessary.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
14.29
Additional Sections
 In a section titled “Activities and Achievements,”
you might
 List volunteer activities such as tutoring,
fundraising, or community service projects
 List career-related activities such as speaking
or writing activities
 List participation in athletics or creative
projects
 List the offices held in academic or
professional organizations
 Note any awards you’ve received
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14.30
Personal Data
 Personal data should be left off your
résumé, unless including it enhances the
employer’s understanding of why you
would be the best candidate for the job.
 Exclude:
 Political or religious organizations
 Any protected class data
 Salary information
 Reasons for leaving jobs
 Names of previous supervisors
 Your social security number
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14.31
Completing Your Resume
 As with any other business message, you
need to complete your résumé by
 Revising it
 Producing it
 Proofreading it
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14.32
Common Résumé Problems
Too short
Too slick
Too long
Too amateurish
Misspellings
Poorly reproduced
Grammatical errors
Boastful
Hard to read
Dishonest
Wordy
Gimmicky
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14.33
Resume “To-Dos”
 When producing your traditional, printed
résumé,
 Use a clean typeface on a high-grade
letter-size bond paper
 Use an envelope that matches the paper
 Leave ample margins all around
 Make sure that all corrections are
unnoticeable
 Avoid italic typefaces
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
14.34
Resume “To-Dos”
 Use a quality laser printer
 Try to keep your résumé to one page
 Break up text with headings that call attention to
various aspects of your background
 Set off key points by underlining, capitalizing, or
reversing indentation into the left margin
 Use lists to itemize your most important
qualifications
 Leave plenty of white space (even if you run onto
a second page)
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Creating a Scannable
Résumé
 Prepare résumés in plain text or ASCII.
 Eliminate complicated formatting such as
boldfacing, underlining, multiple fonts,
italics, or other formatting features.
 Provide key words so employers can
readily detect specific skills, experience,
or education requirements.
 Balance traditional language with current
jargon.
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14.35
14.36
Creating an Online Résumé
 Provide employers with your URL
 Use keywords as hyperlinks
 Don’t use photos
 Leave out names of references
 Include a link to an ASCII file of your
résumé, so employers can download it
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Other Types of Employment
Messages
 In addition to your résumé, you’ll need to
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Write application letters
Write job-inquiry letters
Fill out application forms
Write follow-up messages
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14.37
14.38
Application or Cover Letters
 The purpose of your cover letter is to get the
reader interested enough to read your résumé:
 Learn something about the organization you’re
applying to
 Focus on your audience so that you can show
you’ve done your homework
 Address your letter with the name, title, and
department of the person you’re writing to
 A solicited application letter is in response to an
announced job opening.
 An unsolicited application letter is sent to an
organization that has not announced an opening.
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14.39
Cover Letters
 Present your strongest selling points (in
terms of their potential benefit to the
organization)
 Be careful not to repeat facts presented in
your résumé (interpret them)
 Spell out a few of your key qualifications
 Back up your assertions with some
convincing evidence of your performance
 Discuss each requirement specified in any
advertisement
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14.40
Cover Letters
 Demonstrate a few significant job-related
qualities (diligence, willingness to work
hard, ability to learn quickly, skill at
handling responsibility, aptitude for getting
along with people)
 Mention salary requirements (only if the
organization has asked you to state them)
 Refer the reader to your résumé by citing a
specific fact or general point covered there
 Ask readers for a specific action (for an
interview)
 Try to sound natural and appreciative
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14.41
Cover Letters
 Offer to come to the employer’s office at a
convenient time
 Make a reply easy by clearly stating
contact information and the best time to
reach you
 Mention that you will follow up with a
phone call in a few days
 Refer again to your strongest selling point
 Refer to your date of availability
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14.42
Application Forms
 Application forms are data sheets that
simplify the comparison of applicants’
qualifications
 When completing application forms, you
should
 Have your résumé with you
 Never leave anything blank; if you have
nothing to fill in, write “Not applicable”
 Use a pen and print legibly
 Do not distort information or lie
 Follow up after a reasonable time
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Let’s
Discuss
Test Your
Knowledge
 What is the purpose of maintaining an
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14.43
employment portfolio?
What is a résumé, and why is it important to
adopt a "you" attitude when preparing one?
In what ways can job-seekers use the Internet
during their career and employment search?
How does a chronological résumé differ from
a functional résumé, and when is each
appropriate?
What elements are commonly included in a
résumé?
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
Let’s
Discuss
Test Your
Knowledge
14.44
continued
 What are some of the most common
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problems with résumés?
Why is it important to provide a key word
summary in a scannable or electronic
résumé?
What advantages do résumés sent by e-mail
have over résumés sent by fax or by mail?
How does a solicited application letter differ
from an unsolicited letter?
How does the AIDA approach apply to an
application letter?
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall