Today is the due date for Project 6, the final exam. Submit your work by midnight in your timezone. There is no grace period for the final exam, since I must get the work graded immediately to turn in course grades.

Final Exam Work for August 15

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

• Go over the requirements for Project 6.
• Review the location of the FAQs for using Google Drive.
• Review the LinkedIn permissions settings.
• Discuss the reflection memo and how to submit Project 6 in Scholar.

Requirements for Project 6

You need to turn in a reflection memo as well as a share link to your job application materials. Use the project assignment to check your work. Make sure that you include all the elements that you proposed in your Project 4 Proposal. Also remember to check your spelling and proofread for grammar and punctuation.

Google Drive FAQs

Note: this is the same information you followed in Project 1. I’m including it as a reference in case you need a reminder.

To make sure that you can submit your project smoothly, pay attention to the following FAQs:

• If you worked in something other than Google Drive, you can use your preferences to automatically convert files you upload to Google Drive automatically.
  This step is important so that I can use the commenting features in Google Drive.
• If you already uploaded a document to Google Drive, check the format of your files and manually convert the files on Google Drive if necessary.
• Follow the instructions on how to set permissions and get the Google Drive Share link to get a link that will allow me to read and comment on your document.

Set Permissions for LinkedIn Projects

For me to see and grade your work on LinkedIn, I either need you to connect with me on LinkedIn or for you to make sure your privacy setting will let the public see your profile. Check the What permissions do I need on LinkedIn? FAQ for more details.

Writing Your Reflection Memo and Submitting Your Project

Your reflection memo is your chance to tell me anything you want me to know before I read your project. For this project, your reflection memo will give me the link to your spreadsheet on Google Drive and the link to your analysis memo if you created one. You will also tell me about what you have written. Follow these instructions to submit your work:

1. Go to the Assignments tab on the left menu in Scholar.
2. Choose “P6: Job Application Materials.”
3. Scroll down to the text box below the headings Submission and Assignment Text. You will write your memo in this box. (Alternately, you can write in a word processor/Google Doc, and copy/paste your text into this box.)
4. Add your memo headers (To, From, Subject, and Date). For your reflection memo, you’ll use the following:
• Address your memo to me (Traci) and from yourself (use your name).
• Add a subject line that indicates this is your reflection memo and which project it is for.
• Add the current date.
5. Insert a horizontal divider line using the button indicated with the red arrow in the image below:
   
6. Introduce your project—what are your overall goals, what grade have you aimed for for Project 6, and what documents have you written for the project? Be sure to list all three levels that you outlined for your job application materials in your Project 4 proposal.
7. If you are using Google Drive for any of your documents, do the following:
   1. Convert your document to Google Drive format if you worked in another word processor.
   2. Add the Share link to the document on your Google Drive. Use the instructions for how to get the Share link on the FAQ site if you are unsure how to share documents. Make sure you set permissions so that I can add comments.
8. If you are working on other sites (like LinkedIn or GitHub), do the following:
   1. Make sure that your permissions are set so that I can see your work.
   2. Add the link to your profile or website to your reflection memo.
9. Tell me what I need to know to understand the information you have included in your document.
10. Tell me anything else you want me to know about the the layout and design.
11. Add a concluding section that tells me anything else you want me to know about your project.
12. Agree to the Honor Code by clicking the checkbox at the bottom of the page in Scholar. You cannot finish submitting the project without clicking that checkbox (and it’s easy to miss).
13. Submit your Project, and save a copy of the confirmation and submission ID. If something goes wrong in Scholar, you can contact 4HELP with that information.
14. You’re done! Thank you for a wonderful semester. Course grades will be submitted by midnight Monday, August 18.

Today is the last class day for the course. Tomorrow you will turn in your final exam (your job application materials). Please pay attention to the details below to make sure you have everything completed and turned in properly.

Class Work for August 14

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

• Overview remaining work in the course.
• Complete the course evaluation.
• Set permissions for LinkedIn (if relevant).
• Refresh yourself on the documentation for the comment system in Google Drive.
• Post drafts for Project 6 in the forums.
• Respond to two students on Google Drive and in the forums.
• Review the comments on your own work.

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 14 (today): 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. Additionally, I have added a short topic in the forums: Feedback: Grade Levels for Projects. Please respond to the one-question, anonymous poll there. 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.

Set Permissions for LinkedIn Projects

For me to see and grade your work on LinkedIn, I either need you to connect with me on LinkedIn or for you to make sure your privacy setting will let the public see your profile. Check the What permissions do I need on LinkedIn? FAQ for more details.

Refresher on the Google Drive Comment System

If you need a reminder on the comment and sharing systems in Google Drive, use the step-by-step instructions for how to use Google Drive for peer review on the FAQ site, which includes details on how to share your document, how to comment, and how to respond to comments.  If you need a more detailed explanation, be sure to check out the Lynda video on “Commenting on a file.”

Posting Your Drafts for Project 6

You will post the share link to your draft in the forums:

1. Go to the Project 6 Drafts section of the forums, and create a topic for your draft with your name or your username (e.g., “Traci’s Job App”). [Note I created a subforum to make it a bit easier for you to find one another’s drafts.]

2. Post a reply in your topic, doing the following:
   • If you do not want to share your last name in the forums, change it in your draft to a pseudonym. You can use a generic last name like Doe or Smith, or you can change it to Lastname.
   • Share the link(s) to your Project 6 drafts in Google Docs, using the FAQ linked in the Refresher section above. If you have links to other documents, like you LinkedIn profile, provide those instead (or as well).

3. Let your classmates know about any specific concerns that you want them to consider as they comment on your draft.

4. Be sure to Preview your draft to make sure everything shows up the way you want it to, and then submit your post.

Responding to Your Classmates’ Drafts

Follow these instructions to respond to your classmates’s drafts:

1. Read and comment on the drafts of at least two of your classmates:

   • Find one post that no other student has replied to (so that we can be sure everyone gets a reply).
   • Find a second post that has only one other student reply.

2. Either use the Share link to go to your classmate’s draft on Google Drive or visit the page(s) they have submitted.

   If you are working on Google Drive, use the Comment system to add details on the following issues. If you are reviewing a LinkedIn profile or another document outside Google Drive, add a reply in the forums and include answers to the following in your reply:

   • Consider your immediate impression of the document(s), and add a comment to tell your partner your first thoughts. Job application materials can be rejected at a glance, so your first impression matters.
   • If you notice any spelling errors, punctuation errors, or typos, mark them as you read, but please focus more on the content rather than editing.
   • Add comments on the content of the draft. Comment on at least three things your classmate does well and at least three things that your classmate could improve on. It’s fine (excellent, even) to include more than the minimum number of comments.

3. Once you finish commenting on the document, add an overall comment in the forums that sums up what you thought of the job application materials and gives your partner some encouragement.

Reviewing the Comments You Received

Once you have finished adding comments to your classmates’ projects, return to your own draft, read the comments that your classmates have given you, and add replies as appropriate. For instance, you might thank your partner for catching an error, ask your partner for more detail on feedback you don’t understand, or share a revision and ask your partner if it is an improvement. Your goal is to reply today so that your classmate can respond if you need more information.

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:

• Resume Objectives (from VT Career Services)
• Resumes 101: Swap a Stale Objective for a Fresh Branding Statement
• Resume Objective Statements to Catch a Manager’s Eyes

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:

• 5 Essential Tips for a KILLER LinkedIn Summary
• Your LinkedIn Profile Summary: How to Distinguish Yourself from Your Company
• 3 Stunningly Good LinkedIn Profile SUMMARIES

Discussion in the Forums

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

• Comparing Cover Letter Openings 
• Creating a Job Application Word Cloud 
• Evaluating Objective Statements 

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

Today we have some resources for your work on Project 6 and a number of options to post in the forums. I have graded and released Projects 1 and 2, so you should be able to find your grade and feedback in Scholar.

Next, I’m going to skip ahead and grade Project 4 next, so that you have the feedback on your proposals. After I get through Project 4, I will go back and grade Project 3. I hope to have feedback on both these projects back to you by Monday night.

Class Work for August 8

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

• Reaching the forum posts requirement
• Writing résumés and cover letters
• Discussing job application materials
• Go over an optional forum post question

Reaching the Forum Posts Requirement

There have been some questions about the post levels for the forum grades, which are currently set at the following numbers:

• C-level forum participation: 45 posts
• B-level forum participation: 55 posts
• A-level forum participation: 65 posts

I adjusted the numbers down yesterday (8/7) from the original requirements (B = 60; A=75). For now, I am leaving the numbers as they are. There is still a week left in the class, and there will be a number of opportunities to make additional posts during these last days of the course. I may create a curve at the end of next week, but the 45 post minimum, which was announced at the beginning of the term, will stand firm.

Remember that you have until the last day of class (the 14th) to reach the number. In your Project 5 report, you can indicate where you are currently and where you anticipate you will be by the end of the course.

Writing Résumés and Cover Letters

Although you may not be writing a résumé and cover letter for Project 6, you will certainly have to write these documents and keep them updated over the course of your career. Since that’s the case, I want to spend a little time pointing out some useful information you can use when you do work on job application materials.

• There’s good information in chapter 10 of Markel, including details on how to adjust your documents for electronic submissions.

• Use the example résumés and cover letters in either the 2013–2014 Career Planning Guide or the 2014–2015 Career Planning Guide. Career Services publishes information on exactly what recruiters who come to Virginia Tech are looking for. When you’re back on campus, be sure to take advantage of the resources that Career Services offers. They have workshops, presentations, and even advising appointments.

• Pay attention to the Correspondence Principles for Hard Copy and E-mail section of the 2013–2014 Career Planning Guide and/or the Professional Communication section of the 2014–2015 Career Planning Guide for tips on not just cover letters, but also the other kinds of communication you will need to make.

Discussing Job Application Materials

As I promised above, I have set up a lot of opportunities for you to add posts in the forums. In the Project 6: Job Application Materials section of the forums, you will find the following topics:

• Improving Networking Advice
• Letter of Appreciation
• CAM Technician Application Letter
• CAM Technician Résumé
• Analyzing Corey’s Résumé

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

If you are working to meet your goal for the number of posts in the forums, you may reply to more than one of these topics. Additionally, you may interact with your classmates by quoting a portion of someone else’s reply and responding with your own thoughts. Just remember that “me too” posts, where you just say something like “I agree” or “great idea” don’t count toward your total number of posts. Say why you agree (or disagree) and include details to support your opinions.

Optional Forum Post Question

I have also posted an optional forum topic: Recommended Job Application Resources. You can share useful job application resources that you find while working on Project 6 in this forum. The format for your posts is included in the forums. Essentially, you will provide details on the resources you have found and a short summary of the information from the resources.

The goal of this forum topic is to crowdsource a list of additional resources that everyone in the class can use to improve the job application materials in Project 6. You may most more than one resources in reply, but please be sure that each webpage you recommend is listed in a separate reply. I want you to keep the resources in separate replies for two reasons: (1) it will help your classmates as they look through the list for helpful sites, and (2) every separate reply counts as a post in the post levels for the forum grades.

Today, we will look at the assignments for Project 4 and Project 6, which are related to each other. If you do nothing else today, make sure that you read them and understand how they connect!

Class Work for July 30

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

• Go over Projects 4 and 6
• List some examples for Project 6
• Look at information on proposals

Getting Started on Projects 4 and 6

The fourth project for this course is a proposal for the work you will do for the sixth project (which is also the final exam).

• Project 4 is an informal proposal. You will research the job application expectations for your field and write an informal proposal that explains a job application project you want to complete.
• Project 6 (your final exam) is your job application materials. You will create whatever job application materials you proposed in Project 4, with my approval. The specifics for this project will be up to you.

The goal for these projects is for you to identify something that you can use and that you need or want to create. I used to ask all students to write a relatively conventional résumé and cover letter. The problem is that you may not need a résumé and cover letter. You might need something like an online portfolio or an internship application. By opening the project up, I can let you write whatever you need or want to create for Project 6 (the final exam).

Because Project 6 is wide open however, I need you to tell me what you plan to work and approve your plan. Project 4 is where you tell me what you need to create and set goals for what you will turn in. You will write an informal, short report that tells me about what people in your field usually write and what you have chosen to create. Your proposal will include levels for C, B, and A work.

So here’s what you need to do to get started:

1. Read the assignment for Project 4 and 6 completely. Begin thinking about the job application documents you need (or want) to create. You don’t have to commit to anything yet, but start thinking about it.

2. If you have any questions (today or in the future) about the assignments, go to the forums:
   • Post in Questions about Project 4 topic if you have questions about the proposal.
   • Post in Questions about Project 6 topic if you have questions about job application materials themselves.

Examples for Project 6

As I explain in the assignment, I am referring to what you are working on for Project 6 as “job application materials.” In reality, you do not have to create materials for applying for a job. You have many other options. To show you want I mean, I want to tell you about some of the projects that students have done in the past. You don’t have to choose something from this list. The idea is simply to help you understand the options:

• a job posting and a résumé and cover letter you would use to apply for the job
• an internship announcement and the materials you would use to apply for the internship
• a scholarship announcement and the materials you would use to apply for that scholarship
• a before image (PDF) of your LinkedIn profile and a link to your revised LinkedIn profile
• before images of several online profiles (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) and then links to your newly cleaned up profiles
• the link to a website you have built as a portfolio, which provides info about yourself and your accomplishments
• the link to your GitHub repository with descriptions and well-documented code for projects you have done
• the link to your Academia.edu profile, which provides info on your education and projects you have done
• the link to a YouTube video that gives a guided tour of some work that you have done or presentations you have given

This list is just some of the options. You can do whatever makes sense for your field and career goals. You can combine and rearrange things as well. For example, I had some students in the past who cleaned up their existing online profiles and then created a LinkedIn profile to build a professional online persona.

I cannot stress enough that this is your chance to work on a project that you can use now and in the future. I’ve had students, for instance, who told me that their in-major advisors or advisors at Career Services kept telling them they needed to set up profiles on LinkedIn, but they never had time. They used this project to get that work done.

Writing Proposals

The proposal that you will write for Project 4 is a short, informal report. Chapter 11 of the textbook provides details on more complex proposals than what you are doing. You will often find that textbook descriptions do not match the writing that you do exactly, and this proposal is a good example. The assignment outlines the parts that your proposal needs to include and the relevant details on each section in the text:

• summary (p. 282–283)
• introduction, which explains the findings of your research and your needs (p. 283)
• proposed tasks, that is what you propose to create for Project 6 (p. 283–286)
• task schedule (p. 287–289)
• evaluation techniques (p. 289), which outlines three levels of work:
  • Average Work (a C project)
  • Above-Average Work (a B project)
  • Excellent Work (an A project)

Those are the pages in the chapter to pay the most attention to. You will need to adapt the information to fit what you are doing, but the general information is all there.

More Information To Come

There are more details that I need to provide about these two projects. You probably noticed that I haven’t yet given you details on what you need to do for an A, B, or C for Project 4, for instance. I will share more, and you can ask questions in the forums if you have a burning question that can’t wait. For today, however, I think there’s already a lot of information here, so I will end for now.