Unit 3 EC
Unit 3 EC
Unit 3 EC
B. Gathering Information
• all your old resumes
• personal assessment sheet
• personal information sheet
• certificates
• letters of recommendation
• contact information for references
C. Identifying Potential Employers
• Networking – name and contact details
• Directories - yellow pages, commercial directories, and your local library to make a list of
companies
• Job Postings - resources such as private employment agencies, public bulletin boards,
placement offices, trade journals, local job clubs, the Internet, classified advertisements.
LETTERS OF APPLICATION
Letters of Application usually consist of letters applying for employment. Letters of Application should follow the
format of formal/business letters.
Before and after you write a letter of application, make sure you check for the following:
Always start with a short introduction stating whether the applicant is writing in response to a reference from
an advertisement found online or in the newspaper.
State the age, education and experience of the applicant.
Provide the employer with a genuine expression of the applicant’s earnestness in taking up the job in the
respective company.
Also, furnish references so that the employer can gather an idea of the kind of employee you would be.
LETTERS TO NEWSPAPERS
Always address these letters to ‘The Editor’ and end with ‘Yours faithfully’. Letters to the Editor are letters
that express concerns that should be addressed to the higher authorities. These letters should be professional
and authentic. No newspaper would publish anonymous letters, so make sure you are writing the letter for a
cause and provide your name and address correctly.
WRITING A FORMAL LETTER – PARTS OF A FORMAL LETTER
When writing a formal letter, always be respectful and conscious of your language, no matter what the subject of
the letter might be in a prescribed format.
Use of colloquial words, abbreviations and slang language should be restricted while writing a formal letter.
A Formal Letter must be precise and to the point.
To write a formal letter, there are some points to be remembered:-
1. Always start with the sender’s address.
2. This is followed by the date.
3. The receiver’s address comes next. The receiver can be the name of the firm or the one who represents the
firm.
4. The subject of the letter is very important. It is a statement of the purpose of the letter. It should be written in
a single line.
5. The salutation can be Dear Sir/Ma’am. If the person is known, address name, ‘Dear Shrinath’.
6. The body of the letter can be written in 3 paragraphs.
i. The first paragraph should be aimed at introducing yourself and stating the purpose of your
letter.
ii. The second paragraph should furnish all the information about the matter.
iii. The third paragraph can be a concluding paragraph where you lay out your expectations
regarding the matter.
7. To close the letter, you can use a complimentary closing like ‘Yours faithfully’, ‘Yours sincerely’ etc.
8. Unlike informal letters, the signature should include your name (in block letters) and designation below your
signature.
The Writing Process: Check List for writing formal letter:
1. Pre-writing: Time to think
What do I want to say?
How do I want to say it?
Who will read my writing?
Who can I talk to about my ideas?
Where will I record my ideas?
2. Drafting: Time to write it down
Are my thoughts organized?
Which ideas do I want to develop?
In what order do I want to say them?
Who can read this and offer suggestions?
3. Revising: Time to improve my writing
Have I read what I’ve written?
Are my details clear?
Should I add or take out parts?
Have I used the best ideas and words?
Is my writing in a logical order?
What suggestions have others given me?
4. Editing: Time to make things correct.
Have I used complete sentences?
Are my spelling, capitalization and punctuation correct?
Have I marked corrections that I need?
Has someone checked my work?
Do I have a corrected copy that I can publish?
5. Publishing: Time to share my writing
How should I publish this writing?
Should I illustrate and display it?
Should I make it into a book?
Should I read it out loud?
Writing Business Letter takes much longer than in own language. Guidelines for writing business letter:
Plan before you write.
Look up the words you need before you start.
Note the points you want to make, and order them into logical paragraphs.
Tone
Write as you speak in a business conversation. The tone should be friendly and polite.
Names
Make sure you check the gender of the addressee (the recipient), as well as the correct spelling of the
person’s name and title.
Use Ms. for women and Mr. for men. You can use Mrs. for a women if you are 100% sure that she is
married.
Dates
To avoid any confusion, write the month instead of using numbers (e.g. January 15th, 2011, or 15 January
2011)
Be concise and clear.
The easier it is to read a letter, the better.
Keep sentences and paragraphs short and simple.
Use straightforward vocabulary to avoid any misunderstanding.
Ask direct questions.
Rewrite any sentence that does not seem perfectly clear.
If the recipient is not a native English-speaker, it is preferable to avoid words and expressions
that are too technical or complicated.
Remember this word order principle :
Who – Does – What – How – Where – When (Subject – Verb –
Object – Manner – Place – Time) Examples :
Mr. Brown will travel by plane to London on Monday, June 5th.
A technician will install the equipment in your office on Tuesday morning.
I will confirm the transport arrangements as soon as possible.
Writing cover letters is a very important art and technique involving following four steps.
Gain attention in the opening.
Carefully word your content -keep it short, simple and well arranged.
Organize for conviction.
Quick goal to be achieved
One-A4 size page of write up
(after that that the employer will be looking at detail CV or electronic resume mail).
Drive for action in the close (conclusion paragraph).
Be specific
Include salary
Aim for high quality
Tips for writing an effective Cover Letter:-
Tip 1 - Research. - Before you begin writing, make sure you have done your home back on the company, what
they do, their competitors, their place in the market and the key people that work there. You do not need to
mention your findings, but your research will shine through when you begin to write your cover letter.
Tip 2- Format. - Your cover letter should be no longer than one side of A 4 and written in an appropriate font
and size 11 or 12 in Arial or Georgia will work well if you are unsure. No not need to include a photo in the
cover letter.
Tip 3-Forms of address. - It seems obvious, but make sure you know who you are addressing the letter to and
their preferred title, are they Mr, miss or Dr. for example.If you do not know look on the company’s website or
make a call and find out. Small displays of initiative like this can really impress the reader.
Tip 4- Tone of voice and content. - Throughout your cover letter, make sure your tone of voice is professional
while letting your personality shine through. Think about what you are going to say and how you are going to
say it. Clearly indicate why you are applying for the job in the first paragraph. HR departments recommend
linking your experience to the job description if only to ensure your cover letter survives the initial sift.
To give it a personal touch include your relevant professional achievements, and make sure you give some
evidence to back up your claims. If you increase your company’s revenue exactly how much by, if you
furthered social media reach how many extra followers did you get and how.
Remember to mention any relevant courses or qualifications you have. And if you do not have previous
experience, display your enthusiasm for the role and for learning.
Tip 5- the sign off. - It is universally considered a good idea to use the last paragraph of your letter to
emphasize your enthusiasm for the role. Thank the employer for taking the time to consider your application.
And sign off politely with your sincerely- your name email address and telephone number.
Tip 6- Proofreading. - 83 percent of recruiters say poor spelling and grammar are the worst mistakes a
candidate could make. So, be sure to double check your letter. Finally make a list of all the things you wanted
to say and check them off against what you have written. Then get a fresh set of eyes to spot mistakes before
you press send.
Types of Resume:-
1. Chronological
2. Functional
3. Combination
4. Targeted
5. Mini
6. Nontraditional
1. Chronological – The various sections in the resume are organized in chronological order i.e. year wise or
period wise. The chronological resume will be used if the candidate has:
Minimal or no gaps in work history
Worked for several clients or employers in one industry
Several years of work experience in one career path
Advantages:
Clearly highlights the positions one has worked on and for how long.
Recruiters are more familiar with the chronological resume format and inclined to prefer it.
Preferred when recruiters are hiring for senior executive positions.
Disadvantages:
It highlights the gaps in your work history.
This format is not ideal for career changers.
For a student or fresher, a chronological resume would clearly show the lack of experience.
2. Functional – Functional resumes focus more on relevant skills than work history. While the chronological
format highlights work experience with detailed summaries of the achievements within each position, the
functional format focuses on the applicant’s skill set relevant to the role applied for or an employer might be
looking for in a student. Functional resume which is reverse chronological i.e. the latest or the earliest on top
and the oldest or the most farthest at the bottom of various segments of the resume.
The functional resume will be used if the candidate is:
• Having one long gap or multiple employment gaps in the past five years.
• First-time worker
• Drastically changing career paths
• Wish to emphasize the right qualifications for the position wanted by highlighting skills that transfer
across industries and your most relevant accomplishments,.
Functional resume prioritizes the information that’s most important to a recruiter rather than focusing on a
work history that doesn’t align with the job.
A functional resume format usually includes the following information in the order:
• Contact information
• Objective or summary statement
• Summary of relevant skills
• Work experience
• Education
• Additional information (i.e., volunteer work and special interests)
Advantages:
• Works well for recent graduates, career changers or people who don’t have much experience because it
emphasizes skills instead of experience.
• The functional formats for resumes also work well to highlight relevant skills you’ve gained from an
unrelated position or volunteering efforts.
• It’s great for job seekers with career gaps or many different jobs throughout their work history because it
places the employment history toward the end and instead shifts the focus on your skills and knowledge.
Disadvantages:
• Because it starts with a bullet list of skill-based accomplishments, some employers do not find the
functional format resume easy to read.
• This resume format doesn’t provide a complete story, leaving recruiters wondering about your job
experience.
• Some applicant tracking systems (ATS) may not be programmed to recognize this format.
3. Combinational Resume - In some cases, a functional resume might be too limiting. If you have some
experience and few or no gaps in your employment history, a combination resume might be the right choice.
Scannable resume - A scannable resume is a resume that allows a computer reader to search it optically in hard
copy, for the purposes of compiling resume information in a database. These types of resumes were popular when
companies took paper documents and scanned them for employment information, for the purposes of recruiting.
Format
• Use white, standard weight (20 lbs), 8 1/2 x 11 paper printed on one side only
• Laser printed original is preferred over dot matrix or other printed copy
• Do not fold or staple
• Use a standard font size of 10 to 14 points
• Standard fonts are Helvetica, Courier and Times Roman
• Avoid italics, underlines, shadows, symbols and reverse lettering
• Avoid vertical and horizontal lines, graphics and boxes
• Avoid the two column format
• Place your name at the top of the page on its own line
• Use standard address format below the name
• List each phone number on its own line
Content
• Use enough key words to define your skills, experience and education
• Increase list of key words by including specifics; for example, list the names of software used
• Describe experience in specific words rather than vague descriptions
• Use jargon and acronyms specific to industry
• Avoid using pronouns (e.g, my, I, us)