Writing Reports and

Proposals

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9e Chapter 14 - 1

 Writing Resumes

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9e Chapter 14 - 2

 Finding the ideal Opportunity in Today’s
Job Market
• Build your Career with Communication Skills by
Getting Organized, Starting and stick to tasks and
looking for stepping stone opportunities
• Employers judge their recruiting success by quality
of hire, and you can take steps to be—and look like
—a high-quality hire
• Writing the “story of you” is a helpful way to think
through where you’ve been in your life and career
so far, where you are now, and where you would
like to go from here
© Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9e Chapter 14 - 3
 Finding the ideal Opportunity in Today’s
Job Market
• Employers expect you to be familiar with
important developments in their industries, so
stay on top of business news.
• TAKE INITIATIVE TO FIND OPPORTUNITIES
– An essential task in your job search is presenting your
skills and accomplishments in a way that is relevant to
the employer’s business challenges
– Customize your resume according to requirements of
each job

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9e Chapter 14 - 4

 Finding the ideal Opportunity in Today’s
Job Market
• Don’t hesitate to contact interesting companies
even if they haven’t advertised job openings to the
public yet; they might be looking for somebody
just like you
• BUILD YOUR NETWORK
• Networking is the process of making informal connections with
mutually beneficial business contacts
• Put your network in place before
• Your classmates could turn out to be some of your most
important business contacts
• Networking is a mutually beneficial activity, so look for
opportunities to help others in some way.
© Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9e Chapter 14 - 5
 Finding the ideal Opportunity in Today’s
Job Market
SEEKING CAREER COUNCELING
 Don’t overlook the many resources available through your
college’s career center
 They offer a wide variety of services, including individual
counseling, job fairs, on-campus interviews, and job listings
AVOIDING MISTAKES
Don’t let a silly mistake knock you out of contention for a great job
misspelling the name of a manager you’re writing to, showing up late
for an interview, tweeting something unprofessional, failing to complete
application forms correctly, asking for information that you can easily
find yourself on a company’s website, or making any other error that
could flag you as someone who is careless or disrespectful

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9e Chapter 14 - 6

 Planning Your Resume
 CV and Resume
 Curriculum Vitae (CV) is Latin, literally meaning ‘the course of
one’s life’
 Résumé— a structured, written summary of your education,
employment background, and job qualifications
 The Chronological résumé: The work experience section
dominates and is placed immediately after your contact
information and introductory statement
 The Functional Resume: Sometimes called a skills résumé,
emphasizes your skills and capabilities, identifying employers
and academic experience in subordinate sections

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9e Chapter 14 - 7

 Planning Your Resume
 CV and Resume
 Curriculum Vitae (CV) is Latin, literally meaning ‘the course of
one’s life’
 Résumé— a structured, written summary of your education,
employment background, and job qualifications
 The Chronological résumé: The work experience section
dominates and is placed immediately after your contact
information and introductory statement
 The Functional Resume: Sometimes called a skills résumé,
emphasizes your skills and capabilities, identifying employers
and academic experience in subordinate sections

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9e Chapter 14 - 8

 Writing Your Resume
 If you’re uncomfortable writing your own résumé, you might try to
trade with a classmate and write each other’s résumé.
 KEEPING YOUR RESUME HONEST:
 Résumé fraud has reached epidemic proportions, but employers
are fighting back with more rigorous screening techniques
 ADAPTING YOUR RESUME TO YOUR AUDIENCE:
 Translate your past accomplishments into a compelling picture
of what you can do for employers in the future
 Adapt your resume according to job requirements
 Military service and other specialized experiences may need to
be “translated” into terms more readily understandable by your
target readers.

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9e Chapter 14 - 9

 Writing Your Resume
COMPOSING YOUR RESUME:
 Draft your résumé using short, crisp phrases built around strong
verbs and nouns.
 Avoid using the word I
 Include relevant keywords in your introductory statement, work
history, and education sections

COMPONENTS OF A RESUME:
1.Name and Contact Information
a) Name
b) Address (Both Permanent and Present Address)
c) E-mail Address
d) Phone Numbers
e) URLs

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9e Chapter 14 - 10

 Writing Your Resume
COMPONENTS OF A RESUME:
2.Introductory Statement
 Career Objective
 Qualification Summary
 Career Summary
3.Education
 If you are early in your career, your education is probably your strongest
selling point
 Write your grades according to job requirements
4.Work Experience, Skills and Accomplishments
 List your jobs in reverse chronological order
 When you describe past job responsibilities, identify the skills and knowledge
that you can apply to a future job
 Devote the most space to jobs that are related to your target position

© Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9e Chapter 14 - 11