Your week 3 assignment requires you to bring your English/CW major skills of close analytical reading to bear on…a job ad. The assignment walks you through the key preparatory steps in analyzing a job ad that will help to respond with an effective cover letter and targeted resume. You’ll be writing the cover letter and resume in the weeks ahead, so make sure you pick an ad for a job that genuinely interests you–you’ll be spending a lot of time with it.
For your weekly blog response, you will practice the skills required for this assignment in the company of your online classmates. Here are two job ads for you to work with:
- An internship with the Illinois Federation of Teachers (a nonprofit organization)(Amarin and Carly, start with this one)
- Digital media account executive position with a company called Division D.(Belinda and Ruth, start with this one)
Whichever ad you have been asked to start with, read it carefully, and then “comment” on this post by:
- Identifying three key words or phrases (2 – 3 words) in the ad (that is, words that come up more than once or that stand out as being particularly important for understanding what the organization is looking for in an employee).
- Writing a sentence to convey–as authentically and honestly as possible–your enthusiasm for this particular employer and position. Note that, the more closely your enthusiasm matches the way employers describe themselves, the more effective it is, so try to use those key words you isolated! (Every effective cover letter requires a sentence like this. Writing it is excruciating, but practicing—particularly when there’s NOTHING at stake–can help you get comfortable with the pain.)
- THEN look at the ad that you WEREN’T asked to start with and read how your two classmates responded to the assignment (That is, Carly and Amarin will read how Belinda and Ruth responded to their job ad and vice versa. Doing this step effectively will require you to have a look at the ad you DIDN’T write about yourself). How might you improve on ONE of their statements of enthusiasm? Write a brief reply in which you are kind and gentle, but honest in probing the weaknesses of your classmate’s work, then offer an improved rewriting of the “statement of enthusiasm” your classmate has crafted. The point here is not judging your classmates, but refining your skills–sometimes it’s easier to work with raw material that someone else has generated than with your own.
- Then reflect briefly: what makes this exercise so hard?
There are a lot of steps here, but it shouldn’t take longer than the 50 minutes you would have spent in the face-to-face class.
Keywords: Digital & Agency
In order to have agency in the field of digital media, one has to take charge and not be afraid to push the limits, I’m the kind of person that faces life head on and given the opportunity I’ll prove it.
This exercise is hard because it’s real, and real is really intimidating! You have to know yourself pretty well and that can be a hard process to go through.
I think it’s great that you are very direct and confident- this is admirable and is telling of the drive that you already possess. I think that instead of saying “one has to,” which is more distancing, rephrasing your statement like this: “I will take charge and not be afraid to push the limits in order to demonstrate my agency within the digital media field as an intern for Division D; I’m the kind of person that faces life head on and given the opportunity I’ll prove it” will be more effective. Specificity helps as well, instead of just saying “the field of digital media,” and really small grammatical issues! I agree that it is actually very hard to know thyself, as a great philosopher once said, and hopefully, your internship (not with Division D, but whomever you are with) will help you draw closer to a more whole understanding of yourself 🙂
Three keywords: “education,” “communication,” and “taking action.”
To have me as a member of the IFT team, working as an intern, is a remarkable opportunity, as I bring to the table my gifts in communication on multiple platforms, digital and physical, as well as a proactive passion for making sure that voices that aren not being heard, especially in the education field, are being heard loudly and clearly.
Oh, I forgot to mention what makes this difficult!
I am extremely uncomfortable talking about myself, and I thrive off of others’ stories, rather than my own.
In addition, to me, personal statements/resumes always seem like bragging; I believe that if someone is talented, other people, not that person, will brag about them…
Keywords: Students, Communication, and Education
The way in which curriculum management is handled is imperative to students’ education; the department of communications plays a key role in the success of those students, and it’s a role that I can be a part of.
This exercise is hard because it’s real, and real is really intimidating! You have to know yourself pretty well and that can be a hard process to go through.
Wrong one, I can’t read. Please disregard this one.
Communication, message, labor
I am excited about the opportunity to expand my skills as a communicator on multiple online platforms while working in solidarity with an organization committed to supporting public educators in Illinois.
Hey there,
I love the language you use in your sentence. However, I think that if the sentence was more confrontational while retaining the professionalism in the sentence that you’d have the company hook, line and sinker… in a good way!
I like your statement. I like how you said “working in solidarity.” That feels very assertive in a good way, like you’re already part of the time. I would somehow tie in some skills you already have or a character trait about you specifically that would make you a good fit for the position though. Emphasizing that you like the opportunity and you yourself are awesome and they need you.
Key words/Phrases: Communication, Social Media, Writing/Copywriting
I believe that I would be an invaluable addition to the IFT’s Department of Communication internship, as I am a driven student with extensive copywriting and content creation experience who multitasks my responsibilities well and feels passionately about the mission of this organization.
I really like this statement! I feel this statement would be more powerful if you would take out the phrase “I believe” because, although the rest of your statement is really great, to me, it makes it sound like you think you can do but then again if I were this recruiter I would question your capabilities.
“I would be an invaluable addition as an intern of the IFT’s Department of Communication, as I am a driven student with extensive copywriting and content creation experience who multitasks my responsibilities well and feels passionately about the mission of this organization.”
This exercise was hard because when writing these statements, it’s hard trying to balance your level of enthusiasm where you don’t want to be too sarcastic but at the same time still sound interested enough for them to want to schedule an interview with you. It’s also hard deciding what you think is most important to write in one statement as I kept rewriting mine because I wanted to talk about all I’ve done that would qualify me for the job but I knew I couldn’t write a long paragraph.
Three key phrases that stood out to me and were repeated include: students, encouraging the development, hands-on opportunities.
Being an Intern for the Illinois Federation of Teachers would benefit me immensely because it would prepare me for my future career as I would collaborate with other students while partaking in hands-on opportunities to gain more experience within the educational field.
I like how you refer to your interest in working in the field of education; I think that suggests a certain level of commitment to the IFT’s mission and makes you an attractive candidate. To make your statement even stronger, I might add more about how your skills can serve them, in addition to explaining how their position could benefit you. This exercise is definitely difficult because I’m not able to gain a strong sense of just how enthusiastic I should be from reading a one page job description. I also don’t know too much about the IFT, so I’m not quite sure how to present myself as someone who already looks like I could “fit in” with their organization.