English 420Y - Business Writing Online

After reading the assigned section of the Thomson Handbook, I expect this course to cover material that focuses on two things. First, how to write and format the documents one needs to provide to obtain a job. Second, how to appropriately create business documents for a company once one has received a job. The checklists provided in the reading do a good job describing the general layout of all these documents. Pages 228-229 focused on resumes. The checklist allows any user to follow along and be able to understand the requirements of the resume. However, creating a resume specific to a company will be left up to the person applying for the job. Also, the comments provided on page 226 allow the reader to see some common mistakes that could be made and how to properly word this document. The cover letter is another important document needed when applying for a job. The example on page 225 does a nice job providing an example of a well written cover letter and how it should be formatted. The Thomson Handbook also discusses memorandums on page 233 and reports on page 237 that again cover the material that comprises these documents. Having read through all this sections material on resumes, cover letters, memos, and reports, I expect to be able to effectively create these documents from participation in this course and be able to use this learned ability in my search for a job in the future. To be effective at this, however, I will need to increase my current ability to create these documents. Again, this course will be helpful in doing so. The Thomson Handbook provides ways to improve your skills. It makes suggestions for improving your resume once it has been written. Page 238 covers this material. It suggests changing things to make the document neater and easier to read by shortening word phrases and uses white space to increase scannability, for example. In addition to the suggestions of the Thomson Handbook, I think that the only thing left to do is practice. One should practice writing and perfecting his resume for specific companies. Also, one should gain experience researching companies to better understand their objectives and the things they look for in their employees. Knowing this information will go a long way in writing a cover letter and resume, as well as getting the job. After all, practice makes perfect.