employment correspondence
TRANSCRIPT
Employment
CorrespondenceBusiness Writing
Chapter 17
Professor: Leticia Esteves
March, 2015
Panama
Résumé
&
Cover Letter
The letters you write to apply for a
job are probably the most
important for your personal career.
Before writing a résumé or a cover letter, you must:
• Think about yourself
• Picture your:
• personality
• background
• experiences
Make a list of your experiences in any order…
Jobs you have held
Schools you have gone to
Areas you have majored in
Special Courses you have taken
Extracurricular activities you have joined in
Memberships you have held
Awards/Honors you have received
Athletics you enjoy
Languages you speak
Special interest you have
Special skills you have
On your list, try to include any fact that
could help an employer see your value as
an employee.
Once satisfied with your list….
• Rewrite it
• Arrange facts into categories
• Use it as a worksheet to write your
• Résumé and/or
• Letter of Application
The Résumé, Data sheet or Vita
It is a presentation of your
qualifications, background &
experiences, arranged to convince a
business person to grant you an
interview
The Résumé, Data sheet or Vita
An OUTLINE of all you
have to offer a
prospective employer
It is the first IMPRESSION
you make on an employer
The Résumé, Data sheet or Vita
The Résumé must…
look professional
be PRINTED on business-size bond
be updatable, reprintable and photocopiable
have a neat appearance
have wide and balanced margins
have HEADINGS that stand out (capitalized, bold-faced, underlined)
have parallel HEADINGS
include accurate and complete information
consist of facts
express information in short phrases (Outline form, not sentences)
be kept to 1, 2 or maximum 3 pages
Update and reprint the whole document
NEVER send a résumé with handwriting nor typed additions
Decide facts you would like the employer to know
Eliminate facts you would rather he not know
Eliminate facts the employer might consider irrelevant
Omit religious & political affiliations (unless relevant to the job)
Exclude negative information (lawsuits)
Do not offer reasons for leaving previous jobs
Do not make critical comments about previous employers
Exclude lies
What not to…?
At the top put your
• name
• address
• telephone numbers
• e-mail address
Set up your Résumé
This information can be centered or blocked along
the left margin
Set up your Résumé
The rest of your résumé consists of the facts from your list, categorised and printed under HEADINGS
• Employment/Career Objective
• Education and/or Training
• Achievements and/or Accomplishments
• Awards and Honors
• Work Experience
• Related or Extracurricular Activities
• Special Skills
• Personal Data
• References
You do not need to use all the categories in your list
Add only those that relate to facts on your list
The order for listing categories is flexible
List your strongest sections first
List first the section that is most relevant to the job in question
If you have had little business experience, list education first.
If your college education was in an unrelated field but you have
had relevant part-time jobs, list work experience first.
The Résumé, Data sheet or Vita