Lecture Communication skill: Chapter 10 - Tracey Bretag, Joanna Crossman, Sarbari Bordia

Effective employee communication depends on the establishment of a positive organizational culture, through clear communication policies, programs, and assistance with organizational change. Employee communication will help employees become well-informed about their organizations and encourage them to express their views to management. The topics discussed in this chapter are employment communication. On completion of this chapter students will know how to prepare a résumé, write a cover letter, prepare for an interview.

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Chapter 10

Employment communication

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Learning objectives

On completion of this chapter students will

know how to:

• prepare a résumé

• write a cover letter

• prepare for an interview

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• Bishop-Firth (2004, p 39) recommends

keeping your résumé to two pages, highlighting only relevant information

• The aim of a résumé is not to document

your life story but to get an interview

• Employers often only skim read résumés

when making their initial selections so ensure that the layout and headings make the document easy to read quickly and to find the relevant information

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Personal résumé (cont.)

There are five main headings to a résumé:

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information and it is therefore not needed

• You do not need to write the words ‘Name’,

‘Address’ or even ‘Résumé’ in the heading because the information tells the reader what it is

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Activity 1

• Complete Activity 1 on pp 212–213 of your textbook

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• Deciding whether to place ‘Education’ or

‘Work Experience’ first in the résumé depends on what you wish to highlight

• Do not include information about your

primary school education

• Include a brief account of secondary and

tertiary university education, including dates, place of study and final qualifications

• You may wish to mention briefly any

outstanding achievements or leadership

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Activity 2

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Work experience

• Include information about:

– the title of the role – the years you held the position – the name and location of the employer.

• Some people group employment into

different categories depending upon experience—e.g an engineer may work in industry for a number of years, then take a job lecturing in a university In this case, it would be appropriate to have one heading

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• It is quite acceptable for a recent university graduate to include casual work experience

in a résumé

• Most employers value some experience

• You do not need to explain why you left a

previous position but it is a good idea to prepare a suitable response in case you are asked

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Work experience (cont.)

• Use parallel construction in presenting your responsibilities

• ‘Parallel construction’ refers to a consistent use of the same grammatical form after a bullet point

• It is better to use a verb form (e.g

‘Managed’ or ‘Managing’) rather than the noun form (‘Management of …’) because the verb form is more powerful

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Ordering of events

• There are two ways to list education or work experience:

Chronological order – list from the earliest event

until the present.

Reverse chronological order – list from the most

recent event and work backwards in time.

• Reverse chronological order is most

common

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Activities 3–5

• Complete Activities 3–5 on p 214 of your

textbook

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Power words

• Résumés need to be checked carefully to

ensure that particular words make an impact

on the reader

• Some words are more powerful in creating a good impression of the candidate because they give the impression that an individual is proactive rather than passive

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Activity 6

• Complete Activity 6 on p 215 of your

textbook

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• An employer is much more likely to be

interested in your interests if you can relate these pastimes to the requirements of your position

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Extracurricular activities

(cont.)

• ‘SA Rowing Team for Senior Girls’

is much less impressive than the following:

‘As a member of the senior girls’ rowing team I have developed the skills necessary

to work in a group dedicated to focusing on long-term challenges and maintaining high levels of motivation, even when training in adverse weather conditions and at

unsociable hours Coaching junior teams

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Activity 7

textbook

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• Most applications require a list of two or

three referees who will verify the information provided in an application

• Referees need to know the applicant well

and be familiar with their qualifications and abilities

• An applicant should consider carefully who can be trusted to represent them in a

positive and informed manner

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Referees (cont.)

• Sometimes companies may telephone

referees believing that they are more likely

to be open about strengths and weaknesses A referee who has been approached in good time as a courtesy is more likely to be positive and efficient in carrying out their role, especially if they know in advance the requirements of the position and have been reminded how an applicant is able to fulfil them

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Activity 8

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Personal profile

• A ‘personal profile’ or ‘personal statement’

placed right after the heading in the résumé highlights your key strengths and

qualifications

• As one of the first statements in a résumé, it can influence an employer’s impressions in powerful ways

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Personal profile (cont.)

• A personal profile can be written in the first person (using ‘I’)

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• Finally, a personal statement can be written

in the form of an employment objective:

Example

– To acquire a challenging position in the finance industry, with an opportunity for career

advancement.

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Activities 9 and 10

• Complete Activities 9 and 10 on pp 217–

218 of your textbook

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Personal integrity

• Although it can sometimes be tempting to

exaggerate personal achievement, it is likely

to be found out at some point

• Regaining the respect and trust of

colleagues and supervisors is likely to prove very difficult

• Personal integrity is a valuable asset to a

prospective employer and one way to begin demonstrating integrity is through the

application process

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Providing evidence

• Provide evidence to support claims (e.g

state that you have a certificate in Microsoft Office Skills rather than simply indicating

that you are ‘excellent in Microsoft Office Skills’)

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Sending résumés via the

Internet

• Keep emailed résumés short with only a

brief summary of key points

• Embed your résumé into the message as

some recruiters are less likely to open attachments from unknown sources

• Design the résumé so that the first

information on the screen is sufficiently attractive for the reader to want to scroll down further

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Sending résumés via the

• Do not send a résumé over the Internet to

multiple companies unless you have been invited to do so as this is known as

‘spamming’ and is not likely to provide a positive impression of you

• Remember that sending your personal

details via email is always a potential security risk

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A constantly evolving

document

• Add important information to your résumé as you progress in your working and personal life to save time when you next apply for a new job

• This will also provide opportunities for you to reflect on the direction you are taking in your career

• Each job application will require a slightly

different response depending on the requirements of the position, so do not send

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Activity 13

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Cover letter

• The purpose of a cover letter is to:

– introduce an applicant – provide some key information about how an applicant is able to meet an employer’s

requirements – draw the recruiter’s attention to the résumé.

• A résumé is usually accompanied by a cover letter

• In some cases an application form is also

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• The cover letter provides the employer with

a first impression of an individual and therefore needs to ‘stand out’

• Use your résumé as a basis for writing the cover letter

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Preparing for an interview

• Preparing for an interview will improve your performance on the day

• Anticipate questions and plan truthful and

impressive answers

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• Stress interviews designed to see how

applicants cope with stress

– Respond in a calm and assertive way and rephrase inflammatory questions so that they can

be framed more neutrally

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Activity 18

textbook

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Video conference

interviews

• Try to phone the interviewer before the

video conference to develop a rapport

• Arrive in good time to become accustomed

to the equipment

• Speak clearly at a normal speed

• Avoid slouching

• Avoid looking down when being videoed

• Try to look lively and alert (Bovée & Thill

2005, p 561)

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Interview stages

• Stage 1 usually involves building rapport

and reducing nervousness Appear friendly but professional

• Stage 2 involves making opening

statements The interviewer provides some general information about the organisation and the advertised position

• According to some commentators,

interviewers make 50 per cent of their

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Interview stages

• Stage 3 is the main part of the interview It

involves either ‘open’ or ‘closed’ questions

– Open questions invite applicants to respond at length – Open questions often begin with ‘Why’, ‘How’, ‘Please describe …’ or requests such as ‘Tell me about

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Closure of an interview

• Closure is indicated when you are asked if you have any questions or when you are told when the outcome of the interview will

be communicated

• An applicant who is able to end on a

positive yet assertive note is likely to make

a good impression (e.g ‘This job really seems to require all the kinds of things I enjoy working on’)

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Closure of an interview

(cont.)

• It is inadvisable to raise the question of

salary but, if you are asked, be prepared to discuss the issue

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Activities 19–21

• Complete Activities 19, 20 and 21 on

pp 229–230 of your textbook

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Careful editing of the

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A final word

• Practise to diffuse nervousness

• Prepare answers ‘out loud’

• Review any achievements that are likely to

be of interest to the employer

• Visualise a successful performance

• You do not have to pretend to be someone you are not, but as Kitty Locker (2006,

p 555) advises, ‘Be your best self at the

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Summary

• Keep your résumé to two pages with

headings that make the document easy to read quickly

• Use reverse chronological order (starting

with the most recent activity first)

• Use powerful and positive words and provide specific evidence of any strengths or skills

• When writing about interests, ensure their

relevance to the employer is emphasised

• Write personal profiles carefully because

they provide a first impression

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Summary (cont.)

• Only use referees that you trust and who

know you well

• Research up-to-date ideas on writing an

effective application

• Edit your résumé and cover letter carefully

• Be prepared for interviews that explore your qualifications and experience more deeply

• Prepare by anticipating questions and

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• Take into account the different kinds of

interviews possible in your preparations

• Research an organisation thoroughly prior to making an application or attending an

interview It will provide you with valuable information and impress your interviewer

• Remember: you don’t have to pretend to be someone you aren’t but you should be your best self at the interview

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• Bishop-Firth, R 2004, The ultimate CV for

managers and professionals, How To Books,

Oxford

• Bovée, C & Thill, J 2005, Business

communication today, International Edition,

Pearson Prentice Hall, Sydney

• Eggert, M 1997, Creating a successful

résumé, Simon & Schuster, Sydney.

• Locker, K 2006, Business and

administrative communication, McGraw-Hill

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• Satterwhite, M & Olson-Sutton, J 2003,

Business communication at work,

McGraw-Hill Glencoe, New York

• Windschuttle, K & Elliott, E 1999, Writing,

researching, communicating:

communication skills for the information age,

3rd edn, McGraw-Hill, Sydney

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