Perfect Timing

The assignment to write a resume came at just the right time. At the beginning of this semester I received some bad news about my post graduation plans. Since that time I have been trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. After much deliberation and research I have decided to apply to graduate school. This past week I have been looking over the application process and one of the requirements is a resume and cover letter. I have always been a little unsure about resume writing until these past few weeks. I now feel confident that I can compose a professional resume. On the other hand cover letter is still a little foreign to me. I think the last time I had write a cover letter was about four years ago. Needless to say I am a little out of practice. However, I have some great resources available to help in this process. Thankfully there is a short outline of what should be included in my resume and cover letter given in the application instructions.

"Knowledge is Power"

I feel more empowered as a job seeker now that I know how to read job listings. It has never occurred to me before that I could use a company job description to tailor my resume. In the future as I search for a job I will take the time to carefully read job descriptions looking for skills, characteristics, and traits that I can highlight in my resume. Additionally I would also look into other aspect of the company that I am interested in. Traditionally I find it difficult to know what to include in my objective. However, I have found that a company mission statement can help to make your statement more focused and direct.
My greatest struggle in writing a resume is deciding what to include. I now know to look for skills, characteristic, and trait that I posses. My worry than becomes that I do not have enough experience to interest the employer. This is a difficult situation trying to land that first job. As we saw this week in class, maintaining integrity is very important. Falling into a non-ethical trap will come back to haunt you. It is my hope that my future employer will accept honesty and a hard work ethic over a lack of experience in the field.

I am late again!

This blog has been placed at the bottom of my “to do” list. I think I have only made one of the deadlines. However, I just came to the realization that it needs to move up on the list. I thought it was more of a reflective laid back assignment and I somehow missed the part about the evaluations. Just as an aside is anyone else having any trouble with interpreting any of the assignments of this class? I hope I am not too late to salvage this module of the class. I am leaning great deal about formal writing that I have been hesitant to approach in the past. The Business Writer’s Handbook is very explicit and helpful in answering questions that I have. I will definitely keep a copy of it by my desk when I enter the work field. I will also be using it the remainder of my time in formal education.

What will make you shine!

I really enjoyed writing my personal narrative. It was very helpful assignment before having to write a memorandum. The main difference between the two assignments for me was the audiance. In a business setting time is important and so the information needed to be spcific. my goal was to create a clear picture of myself with words. Some times it can be hard to write about yourself without going into to much detail. We saw a great example of that earlier in the semester with Dan's letter. I found the assignment of writing a memo a process that required a lot of reflexion and review. The most helpful thing to me was the peer feed back that I recieved. It really helped me rethink some of the language I use and other things that I might want to include.