1 Project 2: Professional Job Application Assignment Overview For this assignment, you will create two documents: • A Job Application Letter • A Résumé ENGL2338: Technical Writing Department of English University of Texas at Arlington You will need to find an actual job announcement that advertises a position for which you are qualified. Search national job sites like Monster.com, Employmentguide.com, Careerbuilder.com, and USAJobs.gov. Also review pages 153-154 for a discussion of various sources for finding out about a job opening. Research the Company or Organization. You must research the company or organization that advertised the job announcement. You can research the company in a variety of ways. For instance, you can find the company’s Website if one is available; or you may obtain a copy of the company's annual report; or, if you know someone who works for that company, you can network with employees of the company The goal here is for you to become more informed about the company in general—its product line, its past and current successes, and its plans for future development. Ideally, you should use some of this information to your advantage in your application letter. The best application letters not only demonstrate how you are well qualified, but also show how you can make specific contributions to the company. Remember that the chief aim of an application letter is to help you get an interview. Your letter should persuade the reader that you are the best applicant for the position. Requirements for the Application Letter Review the information on application letters in Chapter 9 and write a job application letter with an effective introduction, body, and conclusion. The job-application letter, which is the first thing the reader sees, expands upon a few of the points made in the resume. The typical letter has at least three parts, and your letter should have all of them: • Introduction. The first paragraph establishes why you are writing to your reader. State that you are looking for a particular position and explain why you would like to work at that particular company. You should also identify the source where you find the job opening information. Forecast the body of the letter by stating your major qualifications for the job. • Body. The body of the letter develops each qualification (education and experience) with specific evidence. The goal is to show that you know what the employer needs and that you meet the requirements. You may organize this section around your education, around your training and experience, or around 2 what the job or the company requires. • Conclusion. You should end the letter politely and include a reference to the enclosed resume, a request for an interview, and your phone number and e-mail address. Format. Your letter must meet all the formatting requirements of a good business letter. It ...

1. 1
Project 2: Professional Job Application
Assignment Overview
For this assignment, you will create two documents:
• A Job Application Letter
• A Résumé
ENGL2338: Technical Writing
Department of English
University of Texas at Arlington
You will need to find an actual job announcement that
advertises a position for which
you are qualified. Search national job sites like Monster.com,
Employmentguide.com,
Careerbuilder.com, and USAJobs.gov. Also review pages 153-
154 for a discussion of
various sources for finding out about a job opening.
Research the Company or Organization. You must research the

2. company or
organization that advertised the job announcement. You can
research the company in a
variety of ways. For instance, you can find the company’s
Website if one is available; or
you may obtain a copy of the company's annual report; or, if
you know someone who
works for that company, you can network with employees of the
company
The goal here is for you to become more informed about the
company in general—its
product line, its past and current successes, and its plans for
future development. Ideally,
you should use some of this information to your advantage in
your application letter. The
best application letters not only demonstrate how you are well
qualified, but also show
how you can make specific contributions to the company.
Remember that the chief aim
of an application letter is to help you get an interview. Your
letter should persuade the
reader that you are the best applicant for the position.

3. Requirements for the Application Letter
Review the information on application letters in Chapter 9 and
write a job application
letter with an effective introduction, body, and conclusion. The
job-application letter,
which is the first thing the reader sees, expands upon a few of
the points made in the
resume. The typical letter has at least three parts, and your
letter should have all of them:
• Introduction. The first paragraph establishes why you are
writing to your
reader. State that you are looking for a particular position and
explain why you
would like to work at that particular company. You should also
identify the
source where you find the job opening information. Forecast the
body of the
letter by stating your major qualifications for the job.
• Body. The body of the letter develops each qualification
(education and
experience) with specific evidence. The goal is to show that you
know what the
employer needs and that you meet the requirements. You may
organize this
section around your education, around your training and
experience, or around

4. 2
what the job or the company requires.
• Conclusion. You should end the letter politely and include a
reference to the
enclosed resume, a request for an interview, and your phone
number and e-mail
address.
Format. Your letter must meet all the formatting requirements
of a good business
letter. It should use the block format. If possible, write no more
than one page. The
letter should contain all the elements covered in Chapter 10:
• Heading (sender’s address)
• Date
• Inside address (full address, including title, for the person
who is addressed)
• Salutation
• Body text (introduction, body, conclusion)
• Complimentary closing ("Sincerely," or "Sincerely yours,")
• Signature
• Typed name
• Enclosure notation (“Encl. Resume”)
Requirements for the Resume

5. The purpose of the résumé is to describe your qualifications for
work. Review the
information on résumés in Chapter 9 carefully and then design
and write a professional
résumé.
You should create a reverse chronological résumé tailored for
the specific job opening.
Your résumé must contain all the following elements:
• Heading (full name, address, phone, and email address)
• Education (schools, majors, minors, and dates of graduation)
• Work Experience (employer’s name, the position you old, and
a list or description
of duties and responsibilities for each position)
• Certifications (optional)
• Interests and Activities (optional)
Your style should be formal. You need not use complete
sentences, but you should use a
concise, active style and show consistency in expression from
section to section. When
making lists, be sure to use the parallel structure (They should
match one another in
tense and form).

6. 3
Submission
• Combine all documents (letter and resume) into ONE WORD
FILE and submit via
Unicheck. No assignments will be accepted over email.
• Required title for Word file: your last name-letter-resume. For
example, my file
name should be: Pearman-letter-resume.docx.
• See Course Calendar for important due dates.
Evaluation Rubrics
• Completeness (10 pts): The job application package is
complete, containing one
application letter and one tailored résumé. Each document is
complete and contains
all required elements as stated in the handout.
• Relevance (20 pts): The letter and résumé are tailored to the
specific job for which
you are “applying” and include information relevant to that job.
The information
included makes clear why you are qualified for the job.
• Résumé Design (20 pts): The résumé is clean and well
organized. The use of space
is uniform and well considered. The font and type size are easy
to read. Different

7. levels of headings are used consistently to demarcate different
levels and
categories.
• Writing Style (10 pts): The description of job duties and
responsibilities at each
position include vivid, concrete, action verbs (in past tense if
you no longer hold
the position). The verbs are in parallel structure. The style and
tone are formal.
Paragraphs utilize effective topic sentences.
• Format (20 pts): The letter and résumé are each formatted
correctly following the
specified guidelines in Chapter 9 and 10.
• Grammar and Mechanics (20 pts): Spelling, grammar, and
punctuation are
correct. Employers impose strict standards of correctness on job
application
materials. Accordingly, I will mark this assignment on a stricter
scale than usual in
terms of correctness. If any letter or resume contains a single
typographical or
grammatical error, you cannot receive an A on this assignment.
Warning Against Copying from Online Job Application
Materials!
While you can find unlimited samples of job application

8. materials on the Internet, do not
attempt to copy from those samples. The point of this
assignment is for you to learn how
to compose a letter and create a resume to persuade your
audience to give you an
interview. Therefore, it is NOT acceptable to copy sentences,
paragraphs, or
descriptions of work experience you found elsewhere.
You may use the format of a sample resume, but not any of its
content.
If you copy sentences, paragraphs, or descriptions of work
experience you found in
online samples, Unicheck will detect and report the copied
content. In this case,
you cannot get a 70 or above on this assignment, even if you
cite the sources.