Job Application Paper

Describe each position you are applying for and analyze the two audiences that you have chosen. Include a rhetorical analysis highlighting how you specifically adapted your résumés and cover letters to the different positions. Since writing the memo will help you in designing the résumés and cover letters, you may want to work on it first. But you should review it carefully after you have completed the other documents, to be certain that it reflects your rhetorical decisions.

Job Description

You may base your job descriptions on listings that you find in professional or trade journals, in newspapers, or on the Internet. The positions should be different enough that you will have to emphasize different parts of your experience to qualify for the positions. You should specify any particular qualities or experiences that the company may be looking for in candidates for the position. For example, a small company may be looking for an accountant who can work on a variety of projects, while another may be looking specifically for someone with experience in tax accounting. If you use language such as the mission statement of an organization in your description, make sure you cite it properly.

Audience Analysis

Investigate the particular companies to which you are applying. Information on many companies is available from the library, the Internet, and Penn State Career Services < http://www(dot)sa(dot)psu(dot)edu/career/ >. You may also contact the personnel office of the company directly. Describe the company and its values: When was the company founded? Where is it located? What does the organization do? How many employees does it have? What character traits does it look for in its workers?

This is also the place to describe anything you know about the particular personyou are writing to. Is it someone who already knows you or who is familiar with Penn State? Is it someone without much knowledge of you or your educational background and work experience?

Résumé Content

Purpose

Each résumé should describe your qualifications for a specific type of position. The résumés may overlap in content somewhat, but they should differ substantially from one another in terms of their order of presentation, their content, or their emphasis.

Content

Your résumés should include contact information and relevant details about your education, professional training, special accomplishments, and skills. A résumé is not a life history, but rather an argument that you are qualified for a particular position and that you would be a capable, responsible employee who communicates effectively. You will not have space to discuss everything you’ve ever done; instead, select only those details that will appeal most to your chosen employers.

When readers skim résumés, their eyes typically move to the top middle third of the page. Fold your résumé into thirds—"wide-wise," like you would a letter. Open it and circle along the top crease. That’s the place on your résumé that makes the most impact. At that spot, you should have something “meaty” to say about yourself, whether that be your fine GPA or great work experience. Don’t put the best information at the end of your résumé.

Format

Your format may be traditional or innovative, as long as the information is highly accessible and highlights the most important items from the employer’sperspective. Limit the length to one page.

Style

Your style should be fairly formal. You need not use complete sentences, but you should use active voice and pay particular attention to parallel structure.

Cover Letter Content

Many folks will tell you that cover letters are a thing of the past, and in fact, many online services do not ask for a cover letter anymore. Nonetheless, it is not a bad skill to know how to write a cover letter, in case you are asked to provide one, because a good cover letter can serve as a writing sample.

Purpose

The purpose of the cover letter is to persuade that employer to grant you an interview. Tailor your choice of details and explanations to the employer’s values and interests. Avoid generic or vague phrases like “I believe that I have the proven skills that you are seeking.” Instead, try “My experiences interning at Amazon’s distribution center along with my supply chain responsibilities at my current employer Acme, Corp. have given me an understanding of the complexities in maintaining consistent, reliable distribution networks for a variety of different products and vendors.”

Content and Organization

The opening of your letter should establish who you are, what position you are applying for, how you learned of the position, and why you would like to work for that particular company. Your goal is to show the reader both that you know what the specific company needs and that you have the qualifications. Conclude your introduction with a brief sentence that forecasts the points you’ll discuss in your body paragraph(s).

Begin the body of the letter by stating your major qualifications for the position. Make sure that this qualification statement is specific and unique. Most applicants will likely have the education and experience to make them appropriate candidates; what do you, individually, have to offer? The body of the letter should develop each assertion with specific, illustrative evidence. You may organize this section in various ways: around your training and experience or around what the position or the company requires.

The letter should close by inviting a response and making it easy to arrange an interview. Provide your own contact information and thank the employer for considering your application.

Style

While cover letters should be polite and fairly formal, they also should sound individualized and reflect your personality. Otherwise, how will your application stand out from the others? Why should you be chosen over everyone else? The best policy is to talk to your reader as directly and naturally as possible, avoiding bombastic, hyper-elevated vocabulary.

Format

Use conventional business letter format. Keep the length of your letter to one page.

Grammatical Correctness

Employers impose a strict standard of correctness on application letters and résumés, often “throwing out” applications for even minor errors. Because these documents involve such high stakes in the “real world,” I will hold them to a similarly high standard.