Respond to a Job Announcement

Research job openings for a position you’d like to consider, either immediately or in the future). Minimal requirements for the assignment are an updated LinkedIn profile, résumé or CV, and cover letter, but the job posting may require additional materials (like personal statements, diversity statements or portfolios). With the exception of letters of reference or recommendation, the required materials in the job posting are the required materials for this assignment.

We’ll spend time working through building an effective résumé or CV and cover letter, especially related to submitting materials via applicant tracking systems (ATS) to capture the attention of hiring managers. We’ll also look at ways to update your LinkedIn profile. 

Your research goal is to find a position you’d like to apply for, either as a class exercise without actually submitting the application or as a real-life application for a position you’d like to consider.

Your business and professional writing task is to develop application materials that respond rhetorically to the job announcement. You’ll receive feedback on your résumé or CV, cover letter, and any other material required in the job ad should you wish to prepare the materials for an actual application portfolio.

Submission Instructions

1. Create or update your LinkedIn profile to reflect your current professional position or context.
2. Download or copy and paste the job posting as a document you can convert to a PDF.
3. Create a single PDF file of your cover letter, résumé, and any other materials required by the job posting (except letters of reference or recommendation).
4. Post these two PDF files in the Employment Materials shared Google Folder. Please upload with file names in this format: LastnameFirstname-Job.pdf and LastnameFirstname-Materials.pdf.
5. Copy shared links from Google Drive for each of these materials (context menu > Get shareable link).
6. Send a professional email from your UR account to me (dhocutt@richmond.edu) as if submitting your application by email. Include links to the job posting and to your application materials (cover letter, résumé, etc.) in the text of the email so I can retrieve them from the email message.

Project Overview