Job Application Materials

You may need a job or a scholarship or an internship. You may need to begin building a personal presence online. You may want to establish yourself professionally so you can network with future colleagues. No one assignment that I could design will ever fit what each one of you needs, so for this assignment, you will choose what kind of job application materials are relevant for your future. This assignment is meant to be personally meaningful and useful.

Project Details

Step 1: Choose a topic:

Your plan should be specific and personal. Some (not all) possible options are the following:

Find a job posting you want to apply for and write the materials it requires.

Find an internship posting you want to apply for and write the materials it requires.

Find a scholarship you want to apply for and write the materials it requires.

Create a personal website that provides a portfolio of your work and basic biography or resume.

Step 2:

Submit your documents and the materials to which you are responding (job ad, scholarship, etc.) 

Assessment
Tips for Earning an A
The grade of A is reserved for excellent work, the kind of work that knocks me down with its impressive nature. Excellent work does not equate with simply doing the work and turning it in on time. Those are average achievements, and average work earns a C. Here are some ways to earn an A:

Produce an excellent project. Do something more than complete the terms of the assignment. Do something amazing. Create the kind of project that I will want to put up on the screen as an example of great work next term (or if this were a workplace, work that I would show to other employees as a model of what I expect from them).

Participate excellently in class. Excellence in class participation means contributing in active and generous ways to the work of the class as a whole by asking thoughtful questions, graciously accepting challenges and feedback, and being a productive class member. Participating isn’t simply about contributing to discussion, but also about your level of engagement and the effort you put into peer review. If this were a workplace, participating is just coming to work and putting in your time. Participating excellently is going beyond that in ways that produce bonuses and “employees of the month.”

Be an excellent scholar. Specifically, be able to demonstrate to me (through discussions, collaboration, and your drafts) that you understand and can reflect on the content of this class and show progress toward that knowledge in your final project. Be able to recognize what makes technical writing that is polished and professional. Finally, develop a capacity for self-assessment and transferable learning.

You might be an excellent student if you

have a collegial attitude.

ask for help in advance of a due dates.

use email or office hours for private or involved questions.

understand that strategic (and sometimes maximum) effort results in excellent work.