Becoming A Successful Business Communicator

Beginning of the class, our Career Advising Co-Ordinator gave a presentation about how to
write a standard resume and cover letter, common mistakes one makes, and what employers
look out for when applicants submit their applications. The first point of introduction for an
employer and employee is through the resume. Through the resume, an employer has a short
description of the prospective employee. I learnt that it is advisable to always submit a cover
letter when applying because it gives additional details about oneself to the employer (skills
one would bring into the company, and more details about work experience). Apparently, I’ve
been writing my resume all wrong this whole time; from the format, and font to the inclusion of
references. What I found interesting was the number of seconds an employer takes to go
through mass applications, how they screen applicants by using ‘keywords’ and I finally learnt
that curriculum vitae (CV) is quite different from a resume.

In the second part of the class, our Professor discussed how to become a successful business
communicator. Communication is simply the process of planning, creating, delivering and
interpreting messages both verbally and non-verbally. A successful business communicator
must have the ability to encode and decode information effectively & efficiently whether
verbally or non-verbally within any organization. Being an effective communicator gives a
competitive advantage in the labour market and achieves long-term professional and personal
success. The transactional communication model involves the Sender, Barriers, Shared meaning
and the Receiver. Communication cannot be transactional without the barrier component and
there are various types, namely; Physiological, Psychological, Semantic, Linguistic and Mixed
messages.

From this lecture, I learnt that to be an effective business communicator, I have to be strategic,
professional and adaptable. I am able to write my resume in the appropriate format, excluding
references & transcript until requested and incorporate submitting my cover letter when
applying for a job.