Technical+Reading+and+Writing

Business Communication Unit

 The unit was on professional communication in the workplace. The documents required were a resume and cover letter for a job and an internship. Also, we wrote a reflection about it all. These are considered technical writing because they use HATS (Headings, Alignment, Typography, and Space) to communicate information quickly and easily. We also had the option of writing a thank you letter to the employer as a follow-up. We started with the introduction to the project, then we made rough drafts. After that, we received feedback from Ms. McDaniel and peer feedback from a student at Wright State. We revised and got some more feedback on each document until the final draft was crafted. As an individual, I was tasked with drafting the resumes and cover letters as homework. In response, multiple drafts were written and revised. As a partner, I was giving feedback to multiple people, including my partner from Wright State. The feedback was given through emails and premade feedback sheets. As a class, we had some peer-review sessions using the same premade feedback sheets, and learned how to improve our writing together.

 In the process of searching for a job, I learned that it is fairly easy to find jobs in Chemical Engineering, and that people into Art have a harder time finding jobs. In the process of writing the resume and cover letters, I realized that I haven’t had very many jobs. In the interview practice, I learned that keeping a conversation going is a lot easier than I thought it would be. And finally, when composing the professional emails, I learned that high school students can be more punctual than college students.

 I grew in my communication skills through this project. For example, the resumes communicate the information very clearly and easily, which is something that I would not have been able to do before the unit. I define communication as the transfer of information from one person to another. I improved my own communication by making the transfer of information more efficient and easier to read. I also grew in my verbal communication skills. I learned how to get the information across and still stand out above the crowd during an interview.

 When learning about the resumes and cover letters, my classmates and I learned all about different sections of a resume, such as the education, qualifications, and objective sections. We also learned about the spacing involved when writing a cover letter, and how to send a digital copy with a written signature. When writing the resumes and cover letters, the different sections included were helpful when tailoring the resume to a specific job or internship. For example, if applying for a job in the medical field, you probably wouldn’t include a section that has Honors/Awards from environmental work.

Artifacts:

This artifact is my entire Business Communication Portfolio. It includes both my resume and my cover letter for a specific career and internship. If I were to apply for either of these positions, this portfolio would be what I would use in applying. It also includes a reflection about the process of completing the project, which is kind of ironic because it's in this reflection. Not only does it include a reflection within a reflection, but it also includes some of the emails that were exchanged between myself and a Wright State student.