Class Notes

Resources for Job App Materials

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This is the post for the August 13, 2014 class meeting.

We are rapidly nearing the end of the course. Just two more daily sessions and then the final exam!

Class Work for August 13

These are the tasks to complete for today’s work:

  • Overview of remaining work
  • Course evaluation
  • Lynda videos on job application materials
  • Résumé resources
  • LinkedIn resources
  • Discussion in the Forums

What’s Left in the Course

We have almost finished the work of the course. To help you keep track of what’s left, I created a to-do list/schedule (below). There will be a blog post each day with details on what you need to do. Here’s an overview:

  • August 13 (today): Write one forum post for your daily forum post grade. Write more if you want to reach a higher number of forum posts.
  • August 14 (Thursday): Post a draft of your job application materials for peer review. Provide feedback to two students in the forums (for your daily forum post grade). Write more if you want to reach a higher number of forum posts. This is the last day to add forum posts that will count toward the overall number for your participation grade. Complete your SPOT feedback by midnight Eastern time.
  • August 15 (Friday): Submit your job application materials (your final exam) with reflection memo by midnight in your timezone. There are no extensions on the final exam.
  • August 18 (Monday): Course grades will be submitted by midnight. You can check what has been graded in the Gradebook in Scholar prior to Monday.

Course Evaluation

Please fill out the Student Perceptions of Teaching (SPOT) survey for this course. The feedback helps the department make important decisions about teaching methods, course content, and faculty promotion. Written comments help me decide what to keep or change the next time I teach the course. In many ways, I find the written comments the most helpful part of the evaluation. I do not see the feedback until after grades have been submitted, and your comments are anonymous.

Additionally, I have added a short topic in the forums: Feedback: Grade Levels for Projects. I am looking for feedback on the option to choose the grade level you were working on for each project. Please, please, go and respond to the anonymous poll there. It’s just one question, but it will help me decide how/if to continue to use the system during fall semester. If you choose to leave a written comment, that information will NOT be anonymous. I promise, however, that I will not read any comments in that forum until after grades have been submitted.

Lynda Videos on Job Application Materials

Remember that you can use your free access to Lynda.com videos to find additional resources that can help as you work on your job application materials. See the list posted on August 1 for resources on résumés, job hunting, LinkedIn, and Git.

Résumé Resources

Your best sources for information on writing résumés are Markel and either the 2013–2014 Career Planning Guide or the 2014–2015 Career Planning Guide. You can also find resources recommended by your classmates in the Recommended Job Application Resources topic on the forum

One of the questions that I get most frequently is about listing job objectives on résumés. The advice on listing objectives varies. I generally tell students that if they do include objectives, they should make sure that they are well-written and appropriate. On the other hand, students are having trouble with space and need to cut something, the job objective is something you can usually cut. Here are some additional resources you can check to help you write your objective:

LinkedIn Resources

You will find some tips on setting up your LinkedIn profile in the 2013–2014 Career Planning Guide or the 2014–2015 Career Planning Guide. You can also use the Lynda video Up and Running with LinkedIn with Brad Batesole.

One of the crucial parts of a LinkedIn profile is the summary. Remember that most of the information on LinkedIn is created by filling in data (like the names of companies you have worked for and the years you worked there). Your summary is one of the places that you can highlight your capabilities and passion. It is similar to the professional biography that you wrote at the beginning of the term, but you can use it to tell a more specific story and demonstrate your capabilities. These three resources can help you make sure your summary catches people’s attention:

Discussion in the Forums

In the Project 6: Job Application Materials section of the forums, you will find the following additional discussion topics:

By midnight in your timezone on Wednesday night, please reply to ONE of the topics above. You may reply to more if you desire.