Anthony S's Tips on Letters of Recommendation

Letters of Recommendation

Letters of Recommendation are useful in many aspects in life, such as when applying for graduate school or a new job/position. It is important to remember that when asking for a letter of recommendation you cannot assume that a "letter recommendation" will be a "good letter of recommendation." So when asking for a letter of recommendation it is important that you specify, "Will you write me a good letter of recommendation?"At this time the person in question will respond "yes" or "no."

Who should you ask for a letter of recommendation?

• Someone who knows you very well
• Someone who has a great opinion about you
• A person with a good reputation
• A person who will be able to write a good letter of recommendation

How do you go about asking for a letter of recommendation?

• Make an appropriate and effective request, such as, "Will you write me a good letter of recommendation?
• Ask the individual if they know you well enough to write a meaningful recomendation
• Pay attention to the individuals demeanor
• If the person says "yes," provide them with an already addressed envelope with a stamp

Provide potential writers with information such as transcripts, resume, awards, due date for the application, professional goals. Many letters of recommendation are confidential and do not allow the individual to share their letter with the person. It is ultimately the decison of the individual whom is writing the recommendation, whether you get a copy or not.

Carlyn M's and Brennan L's Tips on Making It Through a Job Interview Without Breaking a Sweat!

This is the photostory that Brennan and I put together for this blog. I hope you all enjoy it and learn from it :)

The Difference Between Formal and Informal Reports By Terri R.

When in the work place it is very important to know what type of report you have to write for what instance and who your audience is. The two types of reports are formal reports and informal reports. Formal reports are reports that are normally for clients or anything that has to be published and viewed by the public. Informal reports deal with information that is generally internal. For instance when I worked at a retail store and we would have employee memos and bulletins those would be considered informal, but documents that we had to prepare to be seen be seen by customer's like signs or rules about returning policies then those would fall under the category of formal reports.

Informal Reports
Informal reports are generally going to be reports that you will just have to share with your coworkers, like a report of the status of a project, or simply some statistics that you need to share with your coworkers. The difference between an informal report and a formal one mostly comes down to the audience and of course as the names state the amount of formality required when writing for those audiences. The example below is one of an informal lab report that shows a great visual on the difference between that and a formal one. http://writing.umn.edu/tww/disciplines/engineering/assignments/assignmelab.htmlThese examples explain the formats and what should be involved.

Formal Reports
Formal reports require more attention to detail, for instance making sure the ideas that the report is explaining are understandable to the audience by using words that explain concepts in the simplest way possible. Using the example of a lab report, with an informal version you would be able to use jargon because you know the people you are writing to have the same knowledge base that you do, but with a formal report you cannot assume these things are cannot leave out details that to you and your coworkers could be considered common knowledge. Formal to me is just another way of saying that the report has to be as perfect as possible for every one to see while informal is allowed to have a few imperfections. The example I have chosen for formal reports explains that shows what elements have to be involved.
http://engr.bd.psu.edu/psu007/metbd-formal-report.html

Tips for Report Writing
Here are a few of my personal quick tips to deciding which type of report you need to write:

• Be sure to remember who your audience is.
• Make sure whether or not you can use jargon in the report.
• Make sure all the information you are using is correct and from reliable sources.
• Focus on making sure you are using the right tone.

Hopefully these tips make these reports a little easier to understand, and I wish you all luck in your future report writing endeavors.

Magdalena D’s Tips on Writing a Resume

We all have to write a resume at some point of our lives, so it is very important to learn how to write a good and effective resume. I already learned how to do it, and I have my resume ready. Do you? If not, that’s great. You know why? Because I will teach you haw to write a good resume! In addition, I will give you some useful tips.

Resumes are very important documents and you don’t want your resume to look like you did not put a lot of effort into it. You want your future potential employer to be impressed with your resume. You want your resume to stand out, so you can move on to the next step – job interview.

Here are things that you should include in your resume:

• Your full name and last name, address, phone number, and email address


• Objective ( if needed)


• Education


• Work experience ( Describe all present jobs in present tense, and previous jobs in past tense; List your jobs in sequential order with the most recent first)


• Volunteer Experience


• Related Skills


• Languages ( if you speak more than one)


• Accomplishments


• Computer Experience

Here is an example of resume:

Tips for a good resume:

• It should be attractive and easy to read
• It should be free of spelling and grammar errors.
• The format of your letter should be very clear
• Bold the most important information
• No “right” way to do it

Don’t s

• Do not use Wizard, build everything from scratch
• No highlighting
• Do not include references or phone numbers of previous employers
• Do not refer to yourself by using “I”
• Your resume should not be longer than one page
• Do not use font smaller than size 11

To learn more about things that you should not put on your resume you can watch the following video:

I hope that at this point you know how to write a resume. You should start right away, even if you are not currently seeking for an employment. You can always make some changes to your resume and add some new things. I hope that my tips were helpful to you. However, if you are still confused, you are more than welcome to watch the following video:

Anthony S's Tips on E-mails

Emails

When typing an email it is important to keep in mind to whom the email is addressed to. Based upon who the intended audience is emails will vary quite differently from person to person.

Some things to keep in mind when writing a email:

1. Some emails will be sent to a large group of individuals.
2. Some emails require a timely response.
3. Many recipients are geographically distant.
4. Emails can be printed and distributed.

Internal emails are different than external emails in the following ways:

• Internal documents can often be less formal than external documents.
• Internal documents generally do not include formal greetings and closing statements.
• Emails are often, but not always, less detailed than other types of documents.

(Dobrin, Keller, Weisser, 2008)

Awesome Tips To Navigate Through a Job Interview By Terri R

A thing that many people including my self is, how does one exactly master a job interview? With the economy the way it is getting to the job interview stage is a feat all by its self. Here my top 5 tips for job interviewing:

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Tip 1: Make sure to dress professionally
When going to a job interview the main objective is to make a good enough impression to be hired. Part of that impression which some people tend to forget is dressing the part. Even if the job you are applying for does not have a strict dress code , the best policy is to wear business attire that goes more to the conservative side. Presenting a clean and put together outer appearance helps people believe that you are that put together in a work environment as well. I personally have experience with this through my own job interviews that I have been on and gotten hired from, when I was in high school I put this tip in use and dressed smartly for a job interview, and was hired over other people my age who dressed in jeans and t-shirts to go on a job interview.
Tip 2: Having a positive attitude
In almost every job you will ever have, like it or not, you will have to deal with people on a daily basis, be it just your boss and coworkers, or clients, people skills are an important part of any job. Having a positive, upbeat attitude in a job interview shows interviewers that you would be easy to work with and are capable of being a team player.
Tip 3: Make sure your resume is up to date and easy to understand
With so many Americans losing their jobs lately getting to the interview process has gotten even harder because of the sheer amount of resumes that are coming in. The key when applying for a job is to make sure your resume stands out in the pile. Having a good cover letter and an easy to understand resume that clearly states your work experience and education background. My fellow blog group members have posted resume tips to go further into detail about it.
Tip 4: Turn negatives into positives
In every job interview you will get asked something about your faults, the key is to turn your fault into a positive, like being obsessive about being organized, never say an actual fault that could endanger your chances of being hired. We all know that every one has faults but job interviewing is all about good marketing, only focus on the positives.
Tip 5: Be prepared for anything you might be asked
When at a job interview the same basic question are always asked: why do you think you will be a good fit with this company, are you a good team player, where do you see your self in the future, etc. Making sure you know how you will answer this question will enable you to make quick solid answers, which will show how confident you are and hopefully how right for the job you are.

Magdalena D’s Tips on Writing Letter of Application

Letter of Application, which is also called a Cover Letter, is extremely important because this is the first thing the potential employer will look at. Most of the employers look at a cover letter before looking at a resume. Writing a cover letter, gives you a chance to impress the employer. Therefore, I will give you some good tips on writing a cover letter, and I hope that after reading what I have to say, you will have no problems with writing a good cover letter.

Tips on Writing a Cover Letter

• Cover letter must be written in business letter format. It should look professional.
• Your address and employer’s address should be included in the letter.
• Address the letter to specific person: “Dr. Mr.…” is more effective than “To Whom It May Concern”.
• Paragraphs should be separated by single blank line.
• You should close your letter with “sincerely” and your name. Don’t forget to leave four blank spaces for your signature!
• Keep you cover letter clear and concise, it should not be longer than one page.

Now, I am going to tell you what you should include in your paragraphs:

Introductory paragraph

In the first paragraph you should say why you are writing this letter. Then you should inform the employer what position you are applying for and how did you hear about this position.

Body Paragraphs

In the body of you letter you should explain how your education and experience connect to qualifications of the position or values of the company. You should definitely be specific in this part of the letter. Include all of the details about yourself that can help you to impress the employer, and make him hire you for the desired position.

Concluding Paragraph

Your conclusion should be short. You should simply state why the employer should higher you. In addition, you should say how YOU are going to contact the employer. For example: I will contact you within several days in order to confirm that you received my letter and my resume. I also will be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have.

I hope that now you know how to write a cover letter. However, if you are still unclear, you should definitely watch this video: