Pre-writing & Resumes, cont.

Plan Your Writing Out || (GOSH!)

Generate Ideas

- Figure 3.1

- Read up on subject à go to Internet (periodicals (news)/ lib. database (relevant topics))

Organize a Rough, Rough Draft

- Workable thesis (revisable, but focus on the main point you’re trying to get across)

- 2-3 other goals / points of discussion that develop thesis

Select a Design

- templates

- program (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)

- best audience response

Hash Out Your Time (Budget)

- give yourself set amounts of time to work on various parts, schedule manageable parts in chunks of time

- Set deadlines à in business careers, you might have those set for you, so figure them out, ask questions to bosses, etc.

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Plan For Writing a Resume

Self-inventory: brainstorm answers to questions on page 390

- What are your strengths and weaknesses?

- What subjects do you like? Which subjects are you must successful in – and why?

- What kind of organization would you like to work for?

- What are your geographical preferences? (Willing to relocate, commute, etc.?)

Learn about the Employer

- Go to company website, look up their Goals / Objectives / Mission statement

- What are some of highlights or emphases?

- Scavenge the website (and any other literature) about the business that is from the business.

- Goal: To understand what they’re going to expect from someone coming into their company, doing your job…

- Much of your resume should mirror job posting/employer’s philosophy in where you match

Matching Language in Resume

- Verb-conscious à page 402 (What “actions” do I perform on this job?)

- Concise description with only professionally-necessary adjectives to modify action (it’s not “extremely hard worker,” but “Experienced with 60-hour work weeks.”

- De-emphasize the use of “I” in a resume. Start with the right verb for the skill.

Writing Practice: Grant Writer for Northeast Valley Health Center

1. Highlight/underline important parts of the job posting (http://jobview.monster.com/Grant-Writer-Job-San-Fernando-CA-US-85394584.aspx )

o Three to Four Main Skills Wanted (look for repetition/link between various skills)

o Minimum Education / Experience

2. Go to their website( http://www.nevhc.org/ )

o Main philosophy

o Where do company services meet your skills?

o What other programs do they have, or are they involved in? Partners

3. Make generic skills/experience match their specific wants:

- You spent three years as a research assistant to a professional Sci-fi writer, Issac Asimov. He had you research scientific theories for his novels. You learned to use LexisNexis, JSTOR and EBSCO databases to find relevant articles on topics discussed in his book. Fact-checking, etc.

- You spent one year as a grant writer for National Louis University. Most of the time you had about 15 to 20 different professors in the Science Department who you worked on proposals with. Sometimes you wrote the proposals. Sometimes you proofread. Sometimes you took notes and went over them with the professors, figuring out which grants they should pursue – because you learned to look at the US Govt.’s database (grants.gov) ahead of time and know what grants professors could go for.

- Revise the info above into THREE main skills, each starting with a Strong Action Verb.

o Again, take cues from job posting, but also from the notes brainstormed above

Now, on to your own job postings:

- Highlight Job posting skills wanted

- Go to their website and read for vital info

- Brainstorm some of the duties that you performed at other jobs / or within relevant courses.

- List three Strong Action Verbs that you perform (Supervised, Developed, etc.) that match what job wants

- For each SAV, expand on the duty performed with specific info.

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Homework:

Thursday, by e-mail by 2pm: A list with five moist important facts you learned about the company that you will integrate/ reflect in your resume. For each fact, in one sentence explain in which section of resume (Skills, Education, etc.) you plan to integrate the fact.

Tuesday, 4/20: Résumé Draft for peer review (now due on Thursday!)