Harty pg 275-306

Part 5- Resumes and Other Written Materials for a Job Search
difficult audience- experienced recruiting managers
-There is no one way to write a resume or cover letter.
- purpose of writing resume/cover letter: to get an interview
Managers look for:
- written and oral communication skills
- computer skills
- interpersonal skills- as demonstrated by the ability to work as a member of a team
- self-reliance and initiative, as demonstrated by the ability to work alone
- a sense of what the world demands in terms of professionalism and deadlines
- specific skills in at least one business or technical area supplemented by secondary skills in a variety of related areas
- a sense of business and personal ethics
- the ability to manage time, set priorities, and work under stress
Munschauer- Writing Resumes and Letters in the Language of Employers
Why use a resume?
- the convey a message, a way to court employers
- Don't confuse customers by flaunting things that don't speak to their needs
Giving your Message
- example of two letters written by job applicant; "I"
The Importance of Knowing What the Job is All About
- it is important to determine the best way to get a message across
- sometimes there is no substitute for a resume
Letters of Application
- if work history and activities don't support the job that you want, a letter is necessary to get the job
Hard Work and Attention to Detail Make for a Good Letter
- write a letter that sets you apart and is organized, not a literary masterpiece
Don't Delegate the Job of Letter Writing
Resume Preparation
- job objective should not be long-winded
- the reader should be able to take a great deal in with one look
- do not feature information that is not of primary interest
- list skills related to the job
- waitress example
Janet Smith- Proper Use of Headlines
- sometimes description of activity is needed
- Beware of misleading headlines; church example
- highlight names of impressive companies
Mark Meyers- The Functional Resume
- described function of the job wanted and things he had done that pertained to these functions
Preparing a Resume for a Specific Job
- take cues from employer
- use job description
Bruce Gregory Robertson- A Resume Reflecting an Active Mind and Body
- employers are interested in candidates for what they can learn
- high energy level
Michelle Trio- The Curriculum Vitae
-C.V.- course of life
- resume for academic positions
- not just abilities, but prestige
- can be long
The Job Objective
- Career Interest headline
One Page or Two?
- length depends on message
- don't sacrifice headings and white space

Multimedia component

We are considering a variety of video projects for our restaurant database project. We will not be in the videos, as we are to remain anonymous reviewers. We will interview restaurant customers, employees, and managers. Managers may be able to provide additional information about why customers should visit their restaurant over others. We may also interview people that go to the restaurants with us. We have yet to begin filming. We will interview managers, customers, and employees after our reviews are complete so that our ratings will not be swayed by any new information or others' opinions.

Ethics 3: pg 81-121

Nazi Records: The Origin and Use of Information
- will illustrate potential ethical pitfalls
- distinguishing feature of humankind: language and a sense of ethical responsibility
- technical documents are not ethically neutral
1st example: whether information obtained illegally and unethically by Nazi "researchers" should be disseminated and used
2nd example: examine a specific Nazi technical document- illustrates interplay between values and language
Origination, Dissemination, and Use of Information
- purpose: to show that ethical considerations apply not only to the document itself or its content but also to how the informational content was obtained and how it likely will be used
Nazi Past
Nuremberg Trials- held after WWII involving Nazi leaders for war crimes against civilians and soldiers
new term- genocide- Nazi crimes against humanity and Jewish people
concentration camps- meant to isolate undesirables from general populace
Controversy in the Present
- controversy about Nazi "scientific" information collected unethically
- ex: medical specimens of human organs
Medical Specimens
- some skeletons used in universities in Germany had been gathered from Nazi camps
- there was no informed consent
"Research" Information
ex: hypothermia experiment information being used now to develop survival equipment
NEMJ decided to not use any information gathered unethically
- some proposed that the research be used to give meaning to the victims suffering
Values in Nazi Medical "Science"
Traditional View-
- there were 7X more physicians in Nazi party than other professions
in reference to this: Robert Jay Lifton- "The healer became the killer, and healing became killing."
- masked language played an important role in communication about medical killing
- "Euthanasia"(mercy killing) and "special treatment" (medical killing)
Nazi Antiscience
- beyond racism- some believe that the horrible activities can be explained through inhumaneness and unethicalness of science itself
"objectivization"- treating people as objects
Research in the United States
-if evidence was illegally obtained, it cannot be used
- Miranda rights- without proper awareness of one's rigthts so as to allow informed consert to obtaint he evidence, the evidence is deemed inadmissible
Tuskegee syphilis experiment- 1920s- African American patients were given placebos as an experiment
- many tech. communicators will not be involved in Nazi/Tuskegee research projects, but many situations involve the means and ends ethical tainting technical information
- this information should not be communicated
Nazi Technical Memorandum
memo from death camp
- talk about people using impersonal, technical language
ex: 97,000..., subjects, cargo area, load, reduction of volume
- technically excellent
Nazi Germany- distinction between means and ends became blurred and they tried to do anything that was technically possible
- modern high technology is being consumed for its own sake
- documents are written in passive voice, no compassion
- emotional and ethical distance from writer and subject
Graphical Images
- racial purity
- studied facial features of Jews
Ethical Appraisal
- inadequate to call Nazi actions "unethical"
Aristotle- condemn Nazi regime, goodness and doing the right thing; use info- could achieve greater good
Kant- assumes equivalence of all people; not sure about using info
Utilitarianism- seeks greatest good, would use info- communicating to others would only yield positive benefits
Feminist, Ethics of Care- Authoritarianism (Nazi regime is example) is criticized by feminists; also Nazi showed uncaring attitude; Use information because this would display caring concern for those now living

Rough Draft 10/16

http://clemsonrestaurantdatatbase.weebly.com/

Ethics Reading #2 pg 38-81

The Ethics Tradition
3 Theories:
1) Confucianism
2) Emmanuel Levinas
3) Bernard Gert
Aristotle- virtue, personal character
Kant- duty or obligation based on a fundamental universal principle
utilitarianism- weigh consequences of costs of action against benefits
ethic of care- new, nontraditional way, gender-sensitive

Aristotle
- reflective reasoning, prudent judgment, deliberate choice, conscious application of the will, and practical action are all involved
- made Plato's thinking concrete and abstract
- ethics= study of what is involved in good actions
- what is sought for its own sake, not for money or success
- assertion that each person is responsible for his or her own character
- a person is only ethical if they perform ethical behavior for a period of time
- moral wisdom must be combined with practical wisdom to yield ethical action

Kant
- most important European philosopher of period from classical Greece to twentieth century
- based on sense of duty (deontology)
- distinguishing feature as human beings- ability to reason
- categorical imperative: "act in a way that if you had your way, the principle guiding your actions would become a universally binding law that everyone must act in accordance with "
- Kant's theory is duty based in reason
- each person is a rational being that should devise their own rules about how to behave
Kant's theory:
1) emphasizes a sense of duty, doing what is right regardless of competing interests or eventual outcomes
2) it conceptualizes ethics as bot han individual and a social matter
3) amounts for all practical purposes to the Golden Rule
- relevance to technical communication- in order to put this metaphysical principle, the categorical imperative, into practical realization, it must be based on something "the existence of which of itself has an absolute value, which serves as and end in itself."

Utilitarianism
- emphasizes usefulness in the same way that technical comm. does
- highly scientific, can calculate what to do ethically using numbers
- useful in medical field: ex: rank and explain choices
- do benefits outweigh drawbacks of actions?

Feminist and Care Perspectives
-modernism: traditions of rationalism, individualism, logic, analytical thinking, advancement of science and tech., the view that knowledge is single and positive
- postmodernism: challenges authority, challenges what has been taken for granted

Feminist Perspectives on Science as a Value System
- science and tech. constitute value systems in themselves
- critics appreciate essentialism and biological determinism assumed when one says that something is characteristic of one gender
Applied to tech writing:
- terminology
- hierarchal organization- masculine view of society
- feminism: system of values, an ethic
- reveal bias against women and womens' work in much technical communication
- most importantly, it requires that we critically examine roots of ethics and whether men are valued over women

Ethics of Care
- form of feminist ethics
- Nel Noddings perspective used
Carol Gilligan
- focuses on role of language in communication between and about men and women
- women value relationships more
- men base decisions on justice
- if a decision of ethics were determined for women, it would confirm stereotypes

Other Views
Confucian Ethics
- has influenced all of eastern Asia
- immediate realities rather than immutable, timeless absolutes
- human responsibilities constituted in relationships
- also, ignore egos for the sake of social harmony
- ren, li, yi- constitute general ethical virtuousness (te)
- cultivation of morality- paramount importance
- participate in activities that compose "way of virtue- Tao"
- many Asian societies are in a state of change- still, confucianism play important role in shaping relations and communications throughout Chinese society
- tech. comm. between US and China have clash of cultural values
- in China- tradition is prized
- Chinese business- modeled after parent-son relationship

Levinas
- most highly regarded postmodernist ethicists
- challenges powers of language to articulate feelings and thoughts
- ethics is about human nature in relation with others
- cannot be universal or generalizations

Gert
- focuses on morality
- actions rather than feelings, social relations vs. relations with God,
- focuses on avoiding evil rather than searching for good
1) Don't kill
2) Don't cause pain.
3) Don't disable.
4) Don't deprive of freedom.
5) Don't deprive of pleasure.
6) Don't lie.
7) Keep your promises.
8) Don't cheat.
9) Don't committ adultery.
10) Don't steal.
Questions to find morally relevant features of a situation
1) What moral rules are being violated?
2) What evils arebeing avoided? prevented? caused?
3) What are the relevant desires of the people affected by the violation?
4) What are the relevant rational beliefs of the people affected by the violation?
5) Does one have a duty to violate moral rules with regard to the person, and it one in a unique position in this regard?
6) What goods are being promoted?
7) Is an unjustified or weakly justified violation of a moral rule being prevented?
8) Is an unjustitied or weakly justified violation of a moral rule being punished?

Harty pg 207-275

Creating Visuals
Designing and Integrating Visuals with Text
- consider graphics before you begin to write
Ask:
- Why include you visual?- explain why you've included visuals in the text
- Is the information in your visual accurate?- gather info from reliable sources
- Is your visual focused?- eliminate unnecessary labels, arrows, boxes, lines
- Are terms and symbols in your visual defined and consistent?- define anything that is not self-explanatory
- Does your visual specify measurements and distances?
- Is the lettering readable? - position labels.
- Is the caption clear?
- Is there a figure or table number?- Ex: Figure 1. Projected Sales for 2007-2010
- Is there a list of figures or tables needed?-
- Are figure or table numbers referred to in your text?
- Are visuals appropriately placed?- Place illustrations as close as possible and following the text where they are discussed.
- Do visuals stand out from surrounding text? Allow adequate white space.
Tables
- numerical or verbal
- Table number.
- Table title.
- Boxhead. (beneath title) column headings that are brief/descriptive
- Stub. (left-hand vertical column of a table) list all items to be shown in the body of the table
- Body.
- Rules. (lines) used to separate various parts of table
- Source line. (below the table) identify where you obtained data
- Footnotes. (to explain items in table)
- Continuing Tables. repeat column headings when you need to divide table onto multiple pages
Graphs
- numerical data in visual form
- less accurate than tables, usually accompanied by tables
Line Graphs
- relationship between two or more sets of figures
- include enough points to accurately depict the data
- present horizontally if possible
Bar Graphs
- show:
- different types of info during different periods of time
- quantities of the same kind of info a diff periods of time
- quantities of diff kinds of info during a fixed period of time
- quantities of the different parts that make up a whole
Ethics Note: Do not distort or omit the data in your visuals
Pie Graphs
-wedges represent various parts into which the whole is divided
- usually general information, so often accompanied by table
- begin at 12:00 position
- sequence wedges largest to smallest
- labels should be horizontal
- if more than5/6 wedges, looks crowded
Picture Graphs
- Use simple symbols
- Show larger quantities by increasing number of symbols rather than creating a larger symbol
Dimensional-Column Graph
- depict columns a 3D pillars
- clear visual
Drawings
- when reader needs impression of object's general appearance
Maps
- show geographic features of an area
- clearly identify boundaries
- include scale
Strategies of Persuasion
1) Consider whether your views will make problems for readers.
2) Don't offer new ideas, directives, or recommendations for change until your readers are prepared for them.
- more change- slower you should proceed
- if of little personal interest to boss, proceed
- use common sense
3) Your credibility with readers affects your strategy
- communicator's authority with readers determines chance for opinion change
- insert a few lines of biographical data
given credibility- result from position in an organization
acquired credibility- earned through thoughts and facts in the written message
4) If your audience disagrees with your ideas or is uncertain about them, present both sides of the argument
5) Win respect by making your opinion or recommendation clear.
- set clear proposals and conclusions
6) Put your strongest points last if the audience is very interested in the argument, first if it is not so interested.
- if disinterested audience, put strongest point first to draw them in
7) Don't count on changing attitudes by offering information alone
- if viewers already agree, strictly facts can reassure them
8)"Testimonials" are most likely to be persuasive if drawn from people with whom readers associate.
- people's opinions are influenced by the groups they belong to
9) Be wary of using extreme or "sensational"claims and facts.
- only works in journalism- not business
10) Tailor your presentation to the reasons for readers' attitudes if you know them.
11) Never mention other people without considering the possible effect on the reader.
- people's opinions of the other people mentioned can shape their opinion about your proposal
Sizing Up Your Readers
Are they?
- deeply or only mildly interested in the subject?
- familiar or unfamiliar with your views, competence, and feelings about them?
- knowledgeable or ignorant of your authority in the area discussed, your status, and your associations of possible importance to them?
- committed or uncommitted to a viewpoint, opinion, or course of action other than the one you favor in your letter, etc?
- likely or unlikely to find your proposal, idea,finding, or conclusion threatening or requireing considerable change in their thought or behavior?
- included or uninclined to think and feel the way they do about the subject because of identifiable reasons, prejudices, or experiences?
- associated formally or informally with groups or organizations involved in some way with the idea or proposal you deal with?
Proposals
1) Approach writing a proposal as a problem-solving activity.
2) Regard your audience as skeptical readers.
3) Research your proposal carefully.
4) Prove that your proposal is workable.
5) Be sure that your proposal is financially realistic.
6) Package your proposal attractively.
Internal Proposal
- offer realistic/constructive plan to help company
- informal, brief
- be aware of/sensitive to office politics
Organization
-introduction
-background of problem
-solution or plan
-conclusion
Sales Proposals
1) how well it meets audience's needs
2) how well it compares with proposals submitted by competitors
Organization
Intro
1) statement of purpose and subject of proposal
2) background of the problem you propose to solve
Description of Proposed Product or Service
1)Carefully show your potential customers that your product or service is right for them
2) Describe your work in suitable detail- what it looks like, what it does, and how consistently and well it will perform in the readers' office, plant, hospital, or agency.
3) Stress any special features, maintenance advantages, warranties, or service benefits.
Timetable
Costs
Qualification of Your Company
Conclusion
Writing Proposals With Style
What is Style?
- makes is easier to read/more persuasive
Writing plain sentences
1) The subject should be what the sentence is about.
2) Make the "doer" the subject.
3) State the action of the verb.
4) Put the subject early in the sentence.
5) Eliminate nominalizations.
nominalizations- perfectly good verbs and adjectives that have been turned into awkward nouns
6) Avoid excessive prepositional phrases.
7) Eliminate redundancy.
8) Make sentences "breathing length"
Six Steps to Writing Plainer Sentences
1) Identify who or what the sentence is about.
2) Turn that who or what into the subject, and then move the subject to an early place in the sentence.
3) Identify what the subject is doing, and move that action into the verb slot.
4) Eliminate prepositional phrases, where appropriate, by turning them into adjectives.
5) Eliminate unnecessary nominalizations and redundancies.
6) Shorten, lengthen, combine, or divide sentences to make them breathing length.
Writing Plainer Paragraphs
The Elements of a Paragraph (4 Kinds of Sentences)
Transition Sentence- make smooth bridge
Topic Sentence- claim or statement that the rest of the paragraph is going to prove or support
Support Sentence- in body of paragraph, many forms
Point Sentences- restate topic sentence