Understanding Business Communication

1
The job search, résumés, and job-application
letters
1. Perform a self-analysis and research
possible employers. 2. Compose and format a
résumé. 3. Compose a job-application letter.
2
DO include on your résumé

• Name, address, phone number, and e-mail address
• Job objective
• College major, degree, name of college, and
  graduation date
• Jobs held, employers, dates, and duties
• Special aptitudes and skills

3
Do NOT include on your résumé

• Bases for discrimination
• Religion
• Ethnicity
• Age
• Gender
• Photograph
• Marital status
• High school activities

4
Job objective

• Too general
• An office position within a progressive
  company that offers excellent growth
  opportunities
• An accounting position in an organization
  that values loyalty and rewards hard work

5

• Too specific
• A secretary to the sales manager in the Loop
  area of downtown Chicago
• An assistant internal auditor for a federally
  chartered bank in San Francisco

6

• Helpful
• A secretarial position in sales manage- ment in
  the metropolitan Chicago area
• An internal auditing position in the financial
  industry on the West Coast

7
Describing your work experience
Not Worked as a night manager at
Arbys restaurant. But Supervised a six-person
night crew handled all customer and worker
com- plaints closed the store each evening and
made nightly deposits.
8
Not Worked as a student assistant for
a business professor. But Typed exams for a
business professor, graded assignments, and
formatted manuscripts using desktop
publishing software.
9
Not Worked as a packager on an
assembly line. But Learned the value of
precision and team- work while working as a
packager on a fast-paced assembly line received
Em- ployee-of-the-Month award during my first
year.
10
Application-letter bloopers

• I am a rabid typist.
• Im very thorough. I cross every I and dot every
  T.
• Here are my qualifications for you to overlook.
• I believe you would be very lucky to get me to
  work for you.

11

• My true ability is deceiving.
• As you can see, Dr. Tilton recommended me with no
  qualifications whatsoever.
• Thank you for your consideration. I look forward
  to hearing from you shorty.

12
Key terms

• application letter
• electronic résumé
• reference
• résumé