Week 7 Discussion: Constructing a Cover Letter and Resume (Peer Review)
Reflecting on what you learned in Chapter 17, you will be constructing a cover letter and resume for submission. The discussion board assignment details and procedures are listed below.
Visit the LinkedIn job posting site links to an external site. and select a job posting of your interest.
Compose a persuasive and thoughtful one-page cover letter targeted to the job posting you selected. It is recommended that your cover letter highlights a few relevant elements from your resume and should be in a business format.
Create a one to two-page resume appropriate for the job you selected. When creating this resume, think of its appearance and the job information included. Determine whether the document you have created represents you at your best. Be sure to utilize proper resume formatting.
Use a career planning process that leverages a self-assessment, personal development activities, and a career portfolio as a guide to formulate your resume. Feel free to use the provided Resume Worksheet Download Resume Worksheet to gather and organize resume content. As a reminder, strong action verbs should be utilized but use caution to not overuse. DO NOT use the resume templates found in Microsoft Word. Some of these templates use bad design principles.
Once complete, combine the following items into one Word document (.doc or .docx format) and submit it to the discussion board. This is not a standard practice but is being formatted this way for the sole purpose of this discussion board. Initial discussion board posts are due by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Wednesday.
A screenshot of your job posting from LinkedIn.
Your cover letter.
Your resume.
Conduct a peer review of the cover letter and resume for two peers by Sunday at 11:59 pm Eastern Time. All peer feedback should be submitted directly in the discussion board and not submitted in Word format as an attachment. Consider the following when conducting your review:
The Cover Letter:
Check the Heading, Inside Address, and Salutation of the letter. Are the writer’s name and address (optional), date, and addressee listed correctly? Is the salutation formatted correctly?
Does the letter show that the writer is familiar with the company?
Does the letter discuss the specific characteristics and qualifications of the applicant? If so, does the letter discuss the ways those qualifications would benefit the company or exemplify traits this company desires? If not, explain how this could be done more effectively.
Does the final paragraph close courteously? Does it suggest what the reader should do? Does it thank the reader? If not, make suggestions for how these things could be done effectively.
List the three best qualities of the draft. Next, provide three suggestions for revision.
The Resume:
Suggest any way the visual layout of the document could be improved.
Career Objectives: Is the objective too specific? Too general? What changes would you suggest?
Work Experience: Does this section include all jobs and duties that relate? Are the descriptions of job duties clear? Should any one of the jobs listed be emphasized or downplayed? Is the verb structure parallel? Are strong verbs and adjectives used?
Skills: Do the skills listed seem applicable to the position? Can you suggest other skills that might be included?
Read the resume carefully looking for any grammatical errors. Are any spelling errors present? Are all terms that should be spelled out actually spelled out? Is jargon used correctly?
List the three best qualities of the draft. Next, provide three suggestions for revision.
I have chosen this job posting:
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/search/?currentJobId=3904939588&geoId=103644278&keywords=data%20analyst&location=United%20States&origin=JOB_SEARCH_PAGE_KEYWORD_AUTOCOMPLETE&refresh=true
