Education Department

Education Department Business Education Program New Course Proposal for BUED 219 – Job Search Strategies: Application Letter and Interview

A. Provide a description of the course: 1. Description of the Course as it will appear in the WSU Catalog.

219 Job Search Strategies: Application Letter and Interview (1 S.H.) An examination of job search strategies with emphasis on the written and oral communications necessary to market one’s potential. Special focus is placed on developing effective application correspondence, follow-up correspondence and interviewing techniques.. Offered each semester.

B. Rationale

Currently this class is in the catalog as Job Search Strategies (1-2 s.h.). Business Education has always offered this class by splitting the class and offering it as Job Search Strategies: Resume 1 S.H. and Job Search Strategies: Application Letter and Interview 1 S.H. It has come to our attention that it is not compatible with DARS and Registrars’ when all classes are coded into the system and recognized by the number (i.e. 218). To conform to the system, Business Education is creating a new number (BUED 219) and name (Job Search Strategies: Application Letter and Interview 1 s.h.)

Note: A notification will be sent to A2C2 changing 218 to 1 credit course and deleting the part of the course description that pertains to the application letter and interview.

C. Provide a statement of the impact of this course on other departments.

None will be impacted.

D. This course will not be submitted to University Studies Program. Course Syllabus Business Education Program Education Department - College of Education Winona State University

Department: Education Revision Date: October 2005 Program: Business Education

Course Number: BUED 219 Course Title: Job Search Strategies— Application Letter/Interview Credits: 1 S.H. Frequency: Every semester

Prerequisites: None Grading: P/NC Option

A. COURSE DESCRIPTION

1. Catalog Description and Focus

219 Job Search Strategies: Application Letter and Interview (1) An examination of job search strategies with emphasis on the written and oral communications necessary to market one’s potential. Special focus is placed on developing effective application correspondence, follow-up correspondence and interviewing techniques. Offered each semester.

2. Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, each student will

a. Demonstrate career development and transition skills, including the ability to understand and apply career development theory, the job procurement process, and all forms of communication used in the successful pursuit of a career. b. Understand organizational procedures and policies as related to how the employers process and use employment documents. c. Use self-assessments to identify strengths, weaknesses, transferable skills, and prime marketable characteristics. d. Organize and write an effective cover letter and application letter. e. Exercise judgment and logical decision making in selecting from alternative techniques for producing written job search documents. f. Understand the comparative advantages and disadvantages of using the electronic portfolio, employment data bases, and internet. g. Understand current employer preferences concerning written job search procedures, content, and techniques as revealed through current research.

3. Course Outline a. Overview: A Marketing Strategy 1). Self-Audit: Knowing the Product 2). Job Audit: Knowing the Market 3). The Person/job fit

b. Self-Assessment Basics 1). Functional/transferable skills checklist 2). Major strengths identification worksheet 3). Dimensions of occupational needs checklist 4). Professional goals 5). Selecting traits, skills and abilities for emphasis

c. Job Analysis 1). Position Requirements 2). Employment opportunities 3). Current employer-emphasized job requirement 4). Other variables

c. Application Letter / Cover Letter 1). Types: solicited and unsolicited 2). Résumé/application letter relationships 3). Organizational patterns 4). Criteria for content selection 5). Evidence and interpretation 6). Writing/readability guidelines on style 7). Format considerations

d. Follow-up Correspondence 1). Types and functions 2). Content 3). Organization

g, The Job Interview 1). Five stages 2). Types of interviews 3). Forms of interviews 4). Pre-Interview: what employers look for 5). What applicants need to find out 6). Eight deadly sins of job interviews 7). Negatives leading to rejection 8). Professional image guidelines 9). Ten most frequently asked interview questions 10). Handling the “suicide question” 11). Handling illegal or inappropriate questions 12). Elements of interview etiquette 13). Salary negotiations 14). Interview close 15). Post-Interview debriefing

h. On-line Searches 1). Employer databases 2). Electronic portfolios 3). Salary databases 4). Current research among employers

B. APPLICATIONS AND ACTIVITIES

1. Critiques – Using the criteria checklists developed, analyze and critique sample application letters and cover letters. Summarize the strengths and weaknesses of each example.

2. Follow-up – Write interview follow-up letters according to the content and organization guidelines studied. 3. Job Search Documents – Write an application letter and a cover letter for a position that you believe you will be interested in upon graduation.

C. TEACHING AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES

The following seven principles of good practice provide general guidelines for the design of this course and for class participation; your learning experience will encourage: 1. Time on task. 5. Faculty-student contact. 2. Active learning. 6. Cooperative, collaborative learning. 3. Prompt feedback. 7. Respect for diverse talents and 4. High, attainable expectations. ways of learning.

D. EVALUATION

1. Objective exam.

2. Feedback on resume’ and application letter writing.

E. TEXTBOOK AND RESOURCES

Textbook: Dahlstrom, Harry, THE JOB HUNTING HANDBOOK, Dahlstrom & Co. 2003.

Resource: Barksdale, Karl and Michael Rutter, ONLINE RESUME AND JOB SEARCH, South- Western Educational Publishing, 2000.

Periodicals-research and job search articles selected by each student form the professional literature in their individual majors.

Web Sites—Internet searches involving sites for all job search databases.