Assignment instructions
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Assignment Instructions
Blog Posts - Original Posts & Substantive Replies
Tip:
- Each week, you MUST blog about your experience of the interview process. (This is MANDATORY).
- The blog posts will help prepare you to write the Final Paper
- There are no grades for each blog post.
- They MUST be 250 words with substantive information / content AND substantive replies to at least two (2) of your peers (75 words for each person).
Completeness
- Posts that are less than 250 words are NOT considered "complete", and will forfeit credit for the week's post - and lose 10 points off your Grade for the Final Paper.
- Contributors who do not respond substantively to at least two peers - will forfeit credit for the week's post - and lose 10 points off your Grade for the Final Paper.
- Substantive replies are NOT required for the last (Week 5) blog post.
BLOG POSTS DUE: Wednesdays by 11:55 pm
- You are required to reply substantively (75 words per person) to blog posts of your peers and colleagues - and continue the discussion thread / conversation as appropriate. Feel free to share your thoughts and advice.
REPLIES DUE: Fridays by 11:55 pm
- You will use the blog posting functionality in Sakai
- Be aware of:
- Timeliness
- Connection / Alignment to Week's Theme
- Focus on what you Learned
- A SMART Goal for What You Are Going To Do Differently (i.e., Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Results-oriented, Time-based)
- Writing / Presentation Quality
Resume - Requirements
Please answer Yes / No, and Consider how the document can be improved.
Does the resume...
- catch the attention of the reader? (Yes / No)
- include specific, active language?
- list and describe relevant work and/or academic experience?
- list and describe relevant extracurricular interests and/or activities?
- provide appropriate contact information?
Is the resume...
- visually appealing and appropriately formatted? (Yes / No)
- free of all grammatical and typographical errors?
- no more than one (1) page in length, in a professional font size (Arial OR Times New Roman) and style?
(
: Arial is better for electronic versions; Times New Roman for print.)
- As you may have created draft versions of your resume, what parts / versions did you like the most? Why?
Cover Letter - Requirements
Does the cover letter...
- directly address the employer? (Yes / No)
- respond to a specific, published job posting?
- explain why the job candidate is best suited to this job?
- include a high level of detail concerning the strengths of the job candidate?
- appear in full block form and include all six (6) elements?
- return address
- date
- recipient's address
- salutation (including hiring manager's title)
- body
- closing
Is the cover letter...
- signed? (Yes / No) - (
: If submitting electronically, you can take a picture of your signature, and copy and paste it into the space where the signature typically goes).)
- free of all grammatical and typographical errors?
- no more than one (1) page in length, in 12 point Times New Roman font with one-inch margins?
Improvement / Comments
- What parts of the drafts need the most improvement?
- Additional Comments/Suggestions
Submission Guidelines
- FINAL Cover Letter / Resume (include the job posting / advertisement) - Submit to Canvas and Deposit into Google Folder (Ask Instructor for link to Folder)
Final Paper - Employer Research, Strategy & Action Plan (3-4 pages)
(: Building on your blog posts and the experience of the mock interviews and info interviews and instructor feedback, you will write a Job + Employer Research Paper (3-4 pages single spaced - 500 words per page) based on a real job description + employer (i.e., found on LinkedIn, Indeed, Idealist.org or a trade / association website).)
You will do the following:
- Detail your strategy for researching an employer;
- Build on the experience of the mock interviews and instructor feedback (in-class)
- Conduct information interviews (where applicable);
- Prepare answers to likely research questions
- Outline a plan of action (integrating the SMART Actions) learning throughout the course (i.e., readings, videos, blog posts and discussions, feedback from instructors and peers, mock interviews, information interviews and individual research, self-reflection and practice.)
Structure and Format for Final Paper
- Write your Full Name (First, Last), Email Address and Phone Number (with area code) - at the top of the paper
- 12 points, Times New Roman font
- 3 pages (i.e., 500 words per page)
- Single-spaced
- Use headings (as below)
- 1 inch margins
- Submitted to Sakai as MSFT Word Document
- Properly Name Document (i.e., Shawn Fisher_Final Proposal)
My Interest in this Position - Why? (1 paragraph)
- What I bring to the position / role
- What are my interests, experiences, talents
- What I makes me different / better than the competition
My Prospective Employer - Research (300 words)
- Organization and its Business Operations
- Roles and Responsibilities of the Position
- Recruitment / Hiring Process
- Hiring Manager & Team of Employees
- Other Opportunities - Where I Could Be of Service
My Interview Strategy (500 words - 1 page)
- Video Introduction 1 - provide YouTube URL / hyperlink
- Video Introduction 2 - provide YouTube URL / hyperlink
- Phone Screen
- In-Person Interview (: Remember CAR Stories for behavioral interview questions)
- Salary / Negotiation (: Be sure to include your desired salary and strategy for getting more money without losing the job offer.)
- Post-Interview
My Learning (300 words)
- What Did I Learn About Myself?
- What Am I Going to Do Differently? Why?
- SMART Goals
- What are the Take-A-Ways / Key Learnings from this Course
Appendices - in one (1) document (PDF)
(: Failure to 100% follow the directions will result in a failing grade - even if the Content is Excellent.)
- Job Advertisement (including Job Role & Name of Company and Job Requirements)
- Your Resume
- Title of Your Video (YouTube)
- URL of Your Video (Make sure I have permission to see the video)
(: DO NOT LOCK ANY OF THE PDF DOCUMENTS - MAKE SURE YOU GIVE THE INSTRUCTOR FULL PERMISSION TO OPEN, EDIT, SAVE AND PRINT IT. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN A FAILING GRADE. Saying: "I did not know..." is NOT an acceptable excuse.)
FINAL PAPER CHECKLIST
One (1) Microsoft Word Document
- Submitted to Sakai (via Assignments)
- Final Paper ) - make sure you put your first name, last name and final paper (i.e., Shawn Fisher Final Paper) on the document
One (1) PDF Document comprising the items below:
- (: Procedure Change: You will place the Document in a Shared Google Folder (It is below, and I will send this through Sakai) - Make sure you put Your Name, Final Paper - PDF Documents (i.e., Shawn Fisher Final Paper - PDF Documents. MAKE SURE YOU GIVE ME FULL EDITING RIGHTS TO PRINT, VIEW, EDIT AND SAVE THIS DOCUMENT. This will save the Instructor time in placing the documents for 40 students in that location).)
- Google Drive Folder - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DMU0OF-h5a5LANlnFHqRwhrz01oVARmU
- Job Advertisement (including Job Role & Name of Company and Job Requirements)
- Your Resume
- Title of Your Video (YouTube)
- URL of Your Video (Make sure I have permission to see the video)
You will place the Document in a Shared Google Folder (It is below, and I will send this through Sakai) - Make sure you put Your Name, Final Paper - PDF Documents (i.e., Shawn Fisher Final Paper - PDF Documents. MAKE SURE YOU GIVE ME FULL EDITING RIGHTS TO PRINT, VIEW, EDIT AND SAVE THIS DOCUMENT. (: This will save the Instructor time in placing the documents for 40 students in that location).)
- Google Drive Folder - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DMU0OF-h5a5LANlnFHqRwhrz01oVARmU
Digital Projects / Portfolio
- Any digital project / work that you do, may be used in your portfolio. This can be very impressive to employers.
- Be sure to capture and organize all relevant links - (i.e., URLs, videos, tweets, etc.)
- A good practice is to organize them in a Google Doc - and make sure you share it with your personal and Rutgers email addresses.
- This can serve as part of your portfolio for this course (and other digital projects) that will be impressive to employers and can showcase what you've done.
- Here is a resource: http://wikieducator.org/Interview_skills/Digital_projects
Examples of Strong Capstone Websites
- Here are some examples of strong Capstone websites (the students from School of Communications and Information have agreed that they may be shared).
