English 420Y - Business Writing Online

I can see from the responses to the last instructor blog that many of you are now appropriately discouraged. Now I'd like to discuss ways to make you stand out from the crowd. Good application materials can help you score the job you want, or at least give you a fighting chance. The last thing you want to do is send out a mediocre or terrible resume. Without hyperbole, I can say that a resume is one of the most important documents you will ever produce. The irony, of course, is that it will be read in 10-30 seconds, and if you don't make that cut, you get thrown away.

Getting a job sucks. It can be one of the most frustrating and time consuming endeavors you ever undertake. Many people say that getting a job is as difficult and time consuming as having a job. I wish great job searches on all of you throughout your lives (as you'll probably have to undertake many, according to labor statistics), but if you have a rough job search experience, know you're not alone. When you look for a job, you are competing against hundreds, sometimes thousands of other candidates.

Welcome to English 420Y. This is a writing intensive course designed to introduce students from various fields to the principles of professional writing. Professional writing will be defined as the writing used to maintain and support institutions, including businesses, governments, non-profits, and the university itself. The course and its principles are grounded in rhetorical theory that students will be introduced to throughout the semester.