English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

1. Do you like the overall format of the cover letter? Specifically the heading

2. Do I give enough specific examples of my exeriences?

I would like to be upfront with everyone who happens to read this response. I have never written a cover letter in my life. In classes before this one I have spent an unbelievable amount of time drafting resumes and participating in things that "enhance" my resume. This is because I have always known who I am applying for a job with. Today, I find myself living in a different state from where I grew up and away from the people I know. For me it is more important that ever that I know how to construct a cover letter.

Resume attached

I am an agricultural communications major. This means that much of my academic career has been spent writing and speaking. While reading Chapter 8 of Telcomunications Today, I thought about what I did when I was preparing to write papers or speeches in the past. I certainly could have used some of the information shared about generes. Although this seems like a simple process, putting some serious though into what format you will use to convey a message can be the difference between your audience understanding and acting or not.

I have thought a lot lately about what I want to do when I finish my degree in May. My background and experience qualifies me to work in agricultural sales and marketing. However, having worked in the corn and soybean sales industry, I have learned that I did not excell running my own territory. While I was working in Ohio, I managed $3 million dollars in seed sales. I was very good in front of people, I knew my products and gave good information to customers I came in contact with. I also learned that I am not ready to run my own business.

As I start to prepare my resume and cover letters for future jobs, I found many ways to stand out from other applicants in Chapter 15 - Starting Your Career of Technical Communications Today. The most important is that there are many ways to create an effective resume and cover letter. The trick is learning which most effectively highlight your skills. Researching the process of applying for jobs may be as important as the work you put into creating effective documents.

I think that Chapter 3—Readers and Contexts of Use in Technical Communication Today was an appropriate way to begin our class. For the last four years I have worked in sales and I found that many of the concepts related to context are true in writing and sales. Learning and adapting to your audience's physical, economic, political and ethical contexts can improve either your sales or readership. I most recently worked in Ohio selling corn and soybean seed and the fact that I'm from Michigan became an ethical issue for many Ohio State fans which hindered our relationship.