В поисках работы

twoor three-line description for each position. For particularly important or relevant jobs, write a longer description.

Model:

I wrote business letters, organized files, prepared schedules for part-time help, assisted the manager in preparing accounts (at my past job).

I write business letters, organize files, prepare schedules for part-time help, assist the manager in preparing accounts (usually, my regular duties).

Now I am writing business letters, organizing files, preparing schedules for part-time help, assisting the manager in preparing accounts (my temporary duties at present).

26.To save space on the resume, do not use “I” or other pronouns to identify yourself; omit the verb “to be”; use phrases rather than complete sentences, minimize the use of articles. Write down the job descriptions given in Ex. 25 as you would give them on your own resume.

Model:

Wrote business letters, organized files, … (at my past job).

Write business letters, organize files, … (as my regular duties).

Writing business letters, organizing files, … (at my present job).

27.Depending on a specific situation, you may need to use different techniques or their combinations to organize material within the EXPERIENCE section.

You may give dates to the left of the entry (see Appendix 2, Figs. 2b–4b); but there they detract the reader’s attention from more significant information. So it is much better to give them in bold at the end of the entry (see Appendix 2, Figs. 2a–4a).

a)A traditional resume format is best if your job experience has led logically toward the job you now seek. Jobs here are always listed in reverse chronological order, with the most recent job coming first. Consider the three options:

•A student with on-going education:

Student dietitian, St. Mary’s Hospital, Westwood, VA. June–September 1999 job description (e.g. gathered dietary histories)

job description (e.g. assisted in preparing menus for a 300-bed hospital)

91

job description (e.g. received “excellent” on all items in evaluating by head dietician).

•A person with much professional experience:

Staff Chemist. INTERMED Research Corporation, Atlanta, GA. 1995 – present job description

job description

Genetics Technician. CHENOX, Inc., Atlanta, GA. 1988–1995 job description

Laboratory Technician. MEDICOR, Birmingham, Alabama. 1980–1988 job description

•A person with experience that is not education or work-related but may be of interest to his prospective employer can group them together under separate listings: EMPLOYMENT and Other Employment, like this:

EMPLOYMENT

Staff Chemist. INTERMED Research Corporation, Atlanta, GA. 1997 – present job description

job description

Genetics Technician. CHENOX, Inc., Atlanta, GA. 1995–1997 job description

Laboratory Technician. MEDICOR, Birmingham, Alabama. 1990–1995 job description

Other Employment: Exchange Office Teller (summer, 1993); salesperson (part-time, 1992); clerk (summer, 1991).

b)Using your personal Fact Sheet and the options suggested, write a JOB EXPERIENCE section on your resume for the position you currently hold. Remember: if you have no definite purpose for including something, leave it out.

28.In a functional resume format, you also include a brief job history that summarizes job title, employer, its address, and dates, like in a traditional resume format. But this is preceded by a professional experience organized by categories of skill. Functional resume format is most appropriate for a person who has had a considerable amount of varied professional experience, often in widely differing fields.

a)Consider a portion of this section organized functionally.

92

b)Your personal Fact Sheet contains a list of all your marketable skills, i.e. special skills that you learned in your major or on your job (e.g., giving injections, operating a computer, preparing specialized menus, etc). Arrange them into separate categories so that the employer could quickly see what you can do. You can also put the length of time you have used a skill.

c)From your Fact Sheet, pick out the skills required for the position you currently hold.

d)Working in pairs, exchange the lists made with the members of your class and discuss where and how you acquired the skills.

Model:

St. 1: Where did you develop your typing skill?

St. 2: While working as a secretary for Taylor Corporation and McDeen Electronics, I had to type all in-going and out-coming correspondence.

e)Write an EXPERIENCE section on your resume for the position you currently hold (or held before) in the functional resume format.

29.Organizational resume format is useful for people who have worked for well-known and respected organizations (disregarding the length of period of time or impressiveness of their job titles), so the name of these organizations will go first.

a)Consider the example:

INTERMED Research Corporation (Atlanta, GA), Staff Biochemist, 1995 – present Job description

Job description

93

CHENOX, Inc. (Atlanta, GA), Genetics Technician, 1988–1995

Job description

MEDICA (Birmingham, AL.), Laboratory Technician, 1980–1988

Job description

b)Using the organizational resume format, write an EXPERIENCE section on your resume for a position you currently hold (or held before).

30.You should be selective in the sections HOBBIES, ACTIVITIES, SPORTS, AWARDS, SKILLS, MEMBERSHIP, etc.

These sections are optional and should be included only if they have a direct bearing on the kind of job you are applying for. For example, drawing may be appropriate for an archeologist; weight lifting for construction work; photography for advertising; travel for hospitality industry; participation on a college newspaper for a journalist. To properly convey your related qualifications, you may need to make up other categories, e.g. AREAS OF EXPERTIZE instead of RESUME CAPSULE.

a)Using your personal Fact Sheet, make a list of facts you may include on your resume under the above headings. Write as much of this information as you can think of. Then arrange it into separate blocks. You can also put the dates.

b)Using the above blocks, make a list of optional information required for the position you currently hold.

c)Exchange the lists made with the members of your class. Discuss how this information may help win your position.

Model:

St. 1: When applying for an engineering position, I may benefit from mentioning my amateur electronics hobby.

St. 2: Mentioning participation on a college newspaper may help me earn my journalist position.

St. 3: I am an oceanographer, so my interest in diving and underwater photography is pertinent.

d) Write the above mentioned optional sections on your resume for your current position.

94

31.You will have to decide whether to include the PERSONAL INFORMATION section on your resume or not. Ultimately, common sense dictates which personal information is required to underscore your qualifications for the job.

a)Using your Fact Sheet, make a list of personal facts which you think may help you in applying.

b)Exchange the lists made with the members of your class. Discuss how personal information may help your case.

Model:

St. 1: You are divorced. How could this information help you win the position?

St. 2: I am applying for a sales position requiring extensive travel. So my putting down that I am divorced would inform the employer that I do not have family obligations to worry about.

32.Discuss advantages and disadvantages of full listing of referees*. Consider the statements to pick out the arguments for the most preferable strategy in your case.

1.Furnishing* the referee’s name appears open and forthright.

2.Giving your referee’s name shows you have already secured your referees and have nothing to hide.

3.If one or several of your referees are well-known people in their fields, the reader is likely to be impressed.

4.The reader can easily phone the referees or write them a letter.

5.Listing references takes up precious space on the resume that may be needed for other information.

6.You do not want your references to be bothered by phone calls or letter requests until you have made it to the second or third cut.

7.The length of your resume sometimes dictates which approach to use.

8.If the resume does not fill out the page, the longer form might be the one to use.

9.Writing “Available upon request” leaves you in a flexible position – you can send selected letters of reference to prospective employers according to your analysis of what they want.

10.Some readers may interpret the lack of names and addresses as evasive or secretive.

11.If a reader is impressed by the resume and wants to learn more about you, he cannot do it quickly and directly.

95

33.If you decided to include the full listing of referees in the REFERENCES section, identify every referee by name, title, organization, business mailing address, and phone number.

a) Consider the example:

Dr. Judy Witton, Manager

Pet Care Products Division

Food Supply, Inc.

1234 Piedmont Road

Portland, OR 89307

(403)666-5555

b)Using your personal Fact Sheet, make a list of your referees. Pick out those who you will include on the resume for your current position. Follow the example given in a).

34.Now that you have an idea of how to write different segments (categories, sections) on the resume for your current position, bring them all together to form a complete version.

Be sure to be brief. A smaller font type will help you fit it on one page. If your resume does not fit on two pages, make up a separate long version and take it with you to an interview, and use a brief one as an attention grabber. In a multi-page paper resume, do not forget to put your name and page number on each subsequent page, in case they get separated. Do not staple multi-page resumes, or staple anything to resumes. Avoid folding a resume: creases may interfere with scanning. Never use computer fonts less than 10 pt. Stick to Courier or Times Roman.

35.Discuss which of the following would or would not belong on your resume and why. Work together as a group.

Model:

T: Your GPA.

St. 1: Undoubtedly, I would include my GPA because it is rather impressive.

St. 2: I wouldn’t mention my GPA because my job experience is much more than 5 years, so nobody is interested in it any more.

St. 3: I am not proud of my GPA, so I would omit it.

96

Items to discuss: reasons for leaving past jobs; past salaries or present salary requirement; your health status; the names of your major professors in college; a photograph of yourself; license number for your car; list of professional journals you are subscribed to; your nickname; foreign languages you studied; names of spouses or children; dates you attended college; all job titles you held; your telephone number; the zip codes of your references’ addresses; statement that you are married or divorced; your religion; list of all courses in your major; your summer job in non-professional area; your current status with the Army; your volunteer work for the Red Cross.

36.No one can produce an exceptional document overnight, so don’t feel bad if you cannot construct your resume in half an hour. Perfecting its content and visual design will take time. You may even have to write several drafts.

a)Below are two job ads with two resumes in response to each of them, one effective and one ineffective (see Appendix 2, Figs. 7–10). Read through the job ads.

1.

GRANDHILL & Co. Is currently seeking applicants and interviewing candidates for a position in Management consulting. A unique opportunity for young professionals to work as part of a highly experienced and focused team of management specialists dealing with management analysis, productivity, employee relations, profitability, and other fields. Applicants should be creative, energetic, organized self-movers with BS/BA in Management or related field. Spoken and written communication skills and a strong background in Economics. Visual C++ programming ability and a speaking knowledge of French, German or Spanish are plusses. 40 hrs/wk, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, salary negotiable depending upon experience. If you are interested in a rewarding career in management consulting and chance for advancement to senior staff, please forward your resume to Philip Balley, Director, Department of Human Resources, GRANDHILL & Co. 1081 N.Quaker Ave., Hempstead, NY 11575.

2.

Full-time position available for career-minded professional qualified in data processing who has the ability to solve problems and work in team. Responsible for consulting with users and producers of hardware and software in developing user-friendly application packages, surveying and defining user needs, and producing high quality documentation by using client/server architecture in UNIX including coding, testing and enhancing the software to meet client specific needs. REQD: Bachelor’s degree in computer software or computer science, 2+ yrs exp in job offered, strong communication skills, must be willing to travel and work flexible hours. Background in systems engineering and industrial psychology a plus. 35 hrs/wk, 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM, compatible salary, fringe benefits. Send resume in duplicate to RSC 1458, PO Box 708 NY, NY 10014-0809.

97

b)Analyze the content of the resumes by giving answers to these questions (see Appendix 2, Figs. 7–8, 9–10).

1.Which obligatory and optional sections (categories) are there on the resume? 2. Are there zip codes and telephone numbers? 3. Is the job objective precise and informative? 4. Which category goes first – education or experience and why? 5. Is the location of a college indicated?

6.Is there a major and a minor? 7. Is the minor relevant or misleading and introduces disharmony? 7. Is GPA high enough to be included? 8. Does the selected list of courses tell the reader much about specific skills? 9. Should you list courses that your reader assumes you took?

10.Do the course numbers and professor’s names tell anything about what the class was about?

11.Is there a related course description? 12. Are there job descriptions? 13. Is the style of the entries appropriate? 14. Does the applicant separate work experience that is relevant from other jobs? 15. Is there irrelevant information which adds nothing and only takes space? 16. What strategy is used for references? 17. Is the resume informative enough for the reader to make an interviewing decision?

c)Analyze the visual design of the resumes by giving answers to these questions (see Appendix 2, Figs. 7–8, 9–10):

1.Is the appearance pleasing and esthetically satisfying? 2. Is the access to information easy? 3. Is the layout clear and balanced? 4. Is the resume based on a hierarchical principle?

5.Which type and point type sizes are used for ease of reading and creating professional appearance? 6. Which visual techniques are used to emphasize important organizational elements? Think of use of fonts, point type sizes, bolding, capitalization, italic, indentation, white space around. 7. Are these techniques used consistently, i.e. to always emphasize the same kind of things? 8. Did the applicant use plenty of white space and even-spaced margins? 9. Is the resume free of spelling errors? 10. Does the resume use slang? 11. Does it fill out the page perfectly? 12. Do you think the applicant proofread his resume more than once?

d)What is your overall impression of the resumes – which ones are effective and which are ineffective?

37.After you completed your resume, try to evaluate its effectiveness. Talk about the layout, selection of material, quality of production, hierarchy of headings and subheadings, the amount of text and white space, optional information, the print-type size, font, etc. To be able to do this in English,

a)match the attributes in column A with nouns in column B to form an evaluation phrase.

Model:

St. 1: Generous amount of white space.

98

St. 2: Too small point type size.

A

Too small; generous; poor / good; additional; (ir)relevant; much / little; supportive; (un)informative; (un)clear; random; professional; attractive; symmetrical; balanced; (un)necessary; positive; optional; letter-perfect.

B

The layout; selection of material; quality of production; hierarchy of headings and subheadings; the amount of text and white space; information; the point type size; font; information to support job objective; +margins on all four sides; description of skills, duties and accomplishments; details; appearance.

b)form an evaluation sentence using the verbs to look, to appear, to seem, to organize, to contain, to help, to present, to arrange, to have, and there is / are.

Model:

St. 1: The resume seems to be quite effective.

St. 2: There is no additional information to support the job objective.

38.Exchange the resumes written for your present position with the members of your class and discuss their effectiveness, each person role playing a recipient for the other person’s resume. Give your overall rating. Work in small groups.

Discuss its content and organization, focusing on a) effectiveness of its visual design; b) clarity of job objective; c) selection of information; d) availability of (additional) positive information that supports job objective; e) length of the resume; f) ease of reading (layout); g) correctness of typing; h) attractiveness, etc.

Model:

St. 1: I think the resume presented meets the criteria required of a good resume. It is effective in its selection of relevant information, style, and visual design. The amount of text balances the amount of white space. However, it is a bit too long for an applicant with so little job experience.

St. 2: In my opinion, the resume does not seem well organized. Although the layout is symmetrical and easy to read, selection of information seems random and does not support the job objective stated because there are unnecessary details. Moreover, the quality of reproduction is poor because of unclear type.

99

LISTENING AND SPEAKING

Dialog 1

39.Listen to your teacher reading the dialog. Did the applicant get the information needed?

40.Listen to the dialog again and repeat after each speaker. Follow the script if necessary.

Stating Your Purpose

H.R. Officer: Personnel Department, please. What can I do for you?

Applicant: My name is Gregory Williams. I am calling about your ad in today’s newspaper. I’d like to know if you still have the opening for a computer operator? I am interested in this job.

H.R. Officer: Yes, we do. If you want to apply, mail or fax your cover letter and resume as soon as possible. We’ll soon start screening the candidates.

Applicant: But I need to know first if the job is for a part-timer or full-timer? It wasn’t in the ad.

H.R. Officer: It’s a full-time position.

Applicant: Oh, that’s great. Could you tell me two things more: how much the position pays and what benefits you provide?

H.R. Officer: I am sorry. I am unable to discuss these details over the phone. You will have to come in for an interview.

Applicant: OK. I just thought you might know. What is your mailing address then?

H.R. Officer: We are at 1020 Church Street, Suit 207, New York, NY 12345.

Applicant: Thank you. Goodbye.

100