CMN 3V Final

Resume and Cover Letter 

(FYI - because you were already assessed in this area, with your cover letter/resume project, there are not too many questions on the exam about this section).

What is a resume

summary of your experience and skills relevant to the field of work you’re entering

what is a cover letter

it introduces you as a candidate, it clarifies the position for which you’re applying for, it enables you to highlight your strengths further, asks an employer to take a specific action, and should be job centered NOT self-centered

·  What elements should be included in an effective resume?

1. A Heading

   1. include address, phone #, and email address

2. Summary of Qualifications

   1. qualifications are relevant to the position sought

   2. summary includes 3 to 4 bullet points

   3. make it an accomplishment statement

3. Education

   1. school name, location, date of graduation is included

   2. degree and GPA emphasized in bold

   3. list GPA if 3.0 or higher

   4. list any credentials, certificates, or training if they meet the criteria

4. Experience

   1. section title is in bold and dates are included

   2. title is bolded → company name and location are provided

   3. job duties are bulleted, detailed, and in the proper tense

   4. each sentence starts with an action word statement

   5. avoid terms they wouldn’t understand

   6. can add honors, skills, and relevant achievements

   7. generally, don’t include refrences

·  What elements should be included in an effective cover letter?

• 1st Paragraph

  • include info of why you are writing, specifically mention the position you are applying for and how you will follow up

• 2nd Paragraph

  • describe what you have to offer to your employer

  • you’re interpreting your resume, NOT repeating it

  • provide info that highlights further who you are in the way you’ve written the info that’s a little less standardized

  • mention how your qualifications match the job you are applying for

  • do some research on the position

• 3rd Paragraph

  • thank the employer for considering you for the position

  • includes specific info on how you will follow up

• Complimentary Close and Signature

  • keep it fairly professional

  • “Respectfully yours,” “sincerly,” “Best”

  • include a hand written signature if you’re mailing the letter; typed if online

Crucial tips for your resume

1. Really, it’s not about you

   • provide clues abt what you have to offer to the employer

   • let them know you have the ability to meet their needs and solve their problems

   • know/research your audience

2. Present yourself in a way it makes you relevant to a future employer

   • can you quantify your achievements and experiences

   • emphasize the results and benefits TO the organization

   • align w/ industry/position

   • how have you helped past employers succeed

   • how do your achievements impact your employer in a positive way

   • emphasize!! to highlight the essential qualifications

3. Resumes are reviewed for ~45 seconds

   • work to highlight important info

     too much info= risk drowning out the important aspects of your skills

   • too little info=doesn’t convince the reviewer that you have the skills and experience they need

4. Format

   • be consistent w/ formatting to help guide

   • use templates to get you started, but don’t need to fully follow it

   • Name of Organization → same format → use 11-12 pt font → margins 0.5 to 1 inch

·  What elements should not be included in an effective resume and cover letter?

• don’t have inappropriate /unprofessional emails or voicemails

• don’t go over 1 page

• don’t go over 14 pt font or not use Ariel or Times New Roman font

• don’t use too many bolds and italics

• don’t use many types of accents or formatting bc read as gibberish

• leave out 1st POV

• avoid slang and abbreviations

·  What word choices can maximize your experience descriptions?

• Begin w/ action words

• highlight the most salient points of your past positions

• use START

  • Situation

  • Tasks

  • Actions

  • Results

  • ex: “Maintained accurate account of income and expenditures for 150 member chapters. Allocated funds to projects and activities w/ in budgetary constraints. Increased fundraising for philanthropic

·  Your instructor disagrees with ICC on specific resume elements. What are these?

• An objective

  • eats up valuable space & instead the details should be in cover letter instead

  • considered old-fashioned

Interviewing for Success

·  Describe feature types for various interview formats (i.e. phone/video/in-person, etc.).

1. Phone Interviews:

   • know your audience

   • quiet location

   • Landline → identify yourself first

     • ex: “Hellow, this is Alex Smith. Jason asked me to call. Is he available?”

     • or when receiving calls, don’t anwer quick

     • smile and say, “Good morning, this is Alex Smith. It’s nice to meet you”

   • Avoid distractions

   • Voice → project professional, positive, alert, and speak clearly, be slightly more formal, and avoid filler words

   • end call professionally, thank them, and allow them to hang up first

2. Video Interviews

   • create a professional profile

   • select an appropriate background

   • look at the camera

   • good body language → focus on camera, not computer, and good posture

   • Practice: tone, attire, voice volumes

3. In-Person:

   • have a good first impression and professional image

   • prepare

   • arrive early

   • Question and answer

·  What is meant by “first impressions”-

• pay attention to body language

• be professional and courteous to everyone

• 20 second decesions → for interviewer to decide to hire you

• don’t let guard down if interviewer does small talk

• Practice handshake

• wait until the interviewer to sit first and wait for them to start talking

·  What is meant by “professional image”?

• Neat “adult” hairstyles

• Conservative business suit (formal)

• business casual attire (less formal)

• limited jewelry (men especially)

• no visible tattoos or piercings (mostly)

• clean

• silence your phone!

·  What is the “two touch” that should take place after an interview?

• a type of “thank you” after interview

• immediate email and handwritten card (comes days later) to remind them of you

·  What is appropriate interview conduct?

• Question and Answer

  • Let them lead

  • listen

  • if asked questions, pause and think before answering

  • don’t just say yes/no

  • be aware of interviewer questions

• What to Ask

  • demonstrate interest

  • don’t ask questions you can look up

  • avoid asking questions that are more relevant once you have been offered a position

    • ex: benefits and retirement plan

• The close

  • Graceful exit: thank and express interest

  • if receive option, let interviewer talk first about salary

  • if asked salary requirement, say that you expect to receive the standard for the job in question but ask you can review a written offer before making a decision

  • don’t negotiate salary until you have the job offer written down

  • keep notes

• After Interview

  • anytime you here from a company during application/interview process, respond quickly w/ in 24 hours

·  How can you best prepare for an interview (employment)?

• do research

• think ahead:

  • Typical questions

    • what’s the hardest decision you’ve made

    • what’s your greatest weakness

    • where do you want to be in 5 years

    • what didn’t you like about your job

    • tell me something about yourself

    • how do you spend your free time

• Confidence

  • focus on how you add value

  • emphasize positive attributes

  • highlight strengths

  • know how you can be an asset

  • prepare by thinking “what would the employer want?”

  • more prepared = more confident

• Polish it Up

  • Practice

  • Note nonverbal → posture, eye contact, facial expression, gesture

  • improve speaking voice/language use

  • practice more lively voice

  • avoid “you know,” “like,” or “umm”

·  What can you do if you’re asked an illegal question?

• employers can’t ask unlawful/inappropriate questions

  • age, children, religion, marital status, medical status cannot be asked

• try to change the topic to something work related

• think if this is a company if you want to work for

·  Describe the seven body language tips.

1. Adopt an Engaged Posture

   • don’t slouch or fold your arms or cross legs

2. Appear calm and relaxed

   • don’t move a lot in chair or play with anything

   • slow your breath to be less nervous

3. Use the Right Hand Gestures

   • keep steady

   • don’t clasp hands

4. Mirror the Interview

   • wait 10 seconds

   • vocab, jargon, rate of volume

5. Get Your Eye Contact Right

   • don’t avoid gaze/look down

   • show confidence by looking at interviewer

6. Avoid Lying Signals

   • don’t touch face

7. Give Perfect Handshake

   • no too firm or too weak

   • ½ second rule

·  How do you figure out what to wear to an interview?

keep a professional image

• Neat “adult” hairstyles

• Conservative business suit (formal)

• business casual attire (less formal)

• limited jewelry (men especially)

• no visible tattoos or piercings (mostly)

• clean

Negotiation Guidelines

what to do to prepare for negotiations

• do your research

  • find out what you might be able to negotiate

  • know what salary range you can expect

• Cost of Living

  • research so you know what’s acceptable based on position, experience, and location

  • ask how amount was determined if needed

• Consider all parts of an Offer

  • determine the value benefits bring to your salary

  • ex: health insurance, flex time, retirement plant, pto

• determine if Negotiation is possible

  • it’s ok to ask if there’s room to negotiate

  • shouldn’t be confrontational

  • know value you bring

• Tips on When to Negotiate

  • have written offer

  • can legitimately show what value you’ll bring to the employer. have examples

  • know amt offered will not set well for the short or long term

  • you’re going to decline offer unless it’s higher

tips on when to think twice abt negotiating

• you already accepted at a lower salary

• employer tells you it’s their best offer

• you have no justification

·  What are effective negotiation strategies?

1. Be Professional

   • Be prepared to accept the best alternative

   • only negotiate what is really important

   • develop talking points

2. How to start

   • Determine what to negotiate and reasons

   • develop talking points

   • be confident

3. Commitment

   • acceptance is commitment to employer

   • renegotiating may have negative consequences

   • communicate honestly

4. See it in Writing

   • ask for terms in writing

   • don’t be pressured to accept over phone

   • ask for time to consider if needed

Leadership and Decision Making in Groups

·  What are the sources of power? Describe these.

5 Main Sources of Power

1. Knowledge/expert power

2. Referent power

3. Legitimate power

4. Reward power

5. Coercive power

3 additional Sources of Power

1. Information power

2. Affiliation power

3. Group Power

1. Knowledge/expert power

• having expert knowledge abt a subject that others value and do not possess themselves can give someone the upperhand

• in work spaces, a person w/ valued knowledge is a person ppl respect and often refer to for help

• doesn’t mean knowledge alone helps moving ahead, takes other skills

1. Referent power

• a person’s received attractiveness or worthiness

• attractive means inner and outer

• right to be respected

• derived from interpersonal relationships that a person cultivates with others

  • possessed when others respect and like them

  • arises from charisma → admiration, respect, and trust

• derived from personal connections that a person has with key ppl in the organization hiearchy such as a CEO or in other organizations important to that particular area

  • perceived of the personal relationships that the person has that generates their power over others

1. Legitimate power

• belief that this person has formal rights or formal titles such as manager, owner, parent, teacher, coach

• known as “positional power”

• the effectiveness depends on how the person uses it

  • if authority is abused, lose legitimacy and will become less effective

  • if used power for good & help, power will be enhanced and become more effective

• can be unpredictable and unstable

  • if you lose position/title, power can be taken disappear with it

1. Reward power

• supports legitimate power and results from a person’s ability to compensate another for their compliance

  • ex: employee likely to respond to orders and directions if they receive a tangible award like pay raise

  • rewards can be intangible like verbal approval, encouragement, and praise

• can greatly motivate

• but if supplied thru favoritism, can greatly demoralize those that work for you or in the organization and diminish their output

• may not have the rewards necessary to have enough power

1. Coercive power

• ability to punish someone for non-compliance with an order or direction

• it compliments legitimate power but in a negative way bc compliance is achieved not out of respect but out of fear

  • ex: labor union strikes, denial of promotion/pay raise, & litigation

• can be problematic & cause unhealthy behavior

• extensive use is not appropriate

Information Power

• short term power

• a person knows something that is wanted/needed

• someone may have info abt a particular change in the organization but once that change occurs, they’ve lost that power of info

• only holds until the info has reached a wider audience

Affiliation Power

• when a person gains favor or is connected to someone in power

  • ex:family member of powerful politician

• can be enhanced if person works to build other types of power and builds other coalitions

Group Power

• can be very influential and is a shared power

• shared with the group that is looking to solve or address problems collectively

·  What are the various types of leadership? What are some of the approaches?

1. Vision

   • ability to picture a new or different reality from what currently exists for the group or organization

2. Initiative

   • views change, adaption, and growth as a means of group survival

   • transformative

3. Charisma

   • ability to generate a positive image that motivates members

   • have excellent communication skills

·  There are a lot of definitions of leadership, but what do they all have in common?

have the ability to direct or influence other’s behavior and thoughts towardsa productive end

·  Describe ethical leadership tactics.

honesty, integrity, and respect for others

·  Describe unethical leadership tactics.

• bullying

• harsh criticism

• name-calling

• gossiping

• slander

• personal attacks

• threats

• Machiavellian: uses deceit, flattery, and exploitative measures in a strategic way in order to achieve desired ends

• can also use positive qualities for unethical reasons

  • use charisma and vision like cult leaders

·  What is groupthink?

• group members strives to maintain cohesive and minimize conflict but do so by refusing to examine ideas, analyze proposals, or test solutions

• group sacrifices moving forward and growth in order to maintain status quo

cognitive forces

• group members beliefs and thoughts

• consider how members perceive, interpret, evaluate, store, and receive info

psychological forces

• refer to group members emotions, attitudes, motives, and values

social forces

• group standards for what behavior influences decision making

• what are the norms of the group

·  Describe the problem-solving steps.

• identify

• analyze

• generate solutions → brainstorming

• evaluate options

• implement

• assess the results (often overlooked)

·  What are the common components of the problem? Problem characteristics?

·  Describe specific decision-making techniques.

1. group think

2. cognitive forces

3. psychological forces

4. social forces

·  Describe the influences on decision making.

leadership styles based in communication style of person and/or organization

style adapts to organization’s mean/culture

what type of behavior is incentivized

Effective Feedback

•  What are the tips to delivering bad news?

1. prepare yourself emotionally

2. identify solutions

3. consider the setting and timing of your messages

4. ensure you’re genuine

5. try to focus on the positive

•  Describe the best ways to respond to bad news.

1. we’ve all been there

2. learn from this

3. excuse yourself if needed

4. take time to respond

5. make a plan

•  What are the elements of constructive feedback/criticism?

clear, direct, honest, and easy to implement

•  Describe upward, horizontal, and downward communication.

• upward- flows from lower to higher organizational levels.

• horizontal- flows across the organization, among personnel on the same level

• downward- flows from higher organizational levels (supervisors) to lower organizational levels (subordinates)

Tips for Managing Conflict

·  Describe conflict management strategies (text).

Maintenance roles are the behaviors that individuals exhibit in a group that help the group preserve its cohesiveness; maintenance roles help the group members feel good about being a part of the group

• Supporter: affirms and compliments the contributions of others

• Harmonizer: reconciles conflicts among members

• Tension Reliever: uses humor to maintain a relaxed group atmosphere

• Gatekeeper: controls the flow of communication for equal participation

·  Describe the five types of toxic employees.

1. the hot mess
-offer extra training, improvement plans, awareness, support

2. the slacker
-give clear expectations, demand accountability, reward effort

3. the martyr
-foster collaboration instead of competition, stress management

4. the socialite
-redirection, be clear about appropriate behavior

5. the sociopath
-safe and supportive environment, strtict antibullying

What strategies were given to overcome toxic employee challenges?

1. set limits

   • distance yourself when necessary

   • to set a limit, turn it around on the complainer

   • ask them how do they intend to fix the problem

   • they’ll stop bothering you bc you won’t lend an ear

2. rise above it

   • try not to get sucked into it

   • mental strategy is to practice emotional detachment

   • only respond to the facts, not their mess/chaos

   • if someone is mean to you, probs mean to others

3. stay aware

   • think of what makes sense to you

   • stay aware of YOUR emotions

   • don’t react in the moment

4. set boundaries

   • think rationally

   • ppl struggle with this

   • have to set boundary consiously and proactively/ don’t let things unfold naturally

   • decide when/where the boundary should be to control the mess

   • helpful to surround yourself w/ friendlier ppl and avoid being physically near toxic ppl

5. manage your own happiness

   • self worth comes from w/ in and your accomplishments

   • don’t let anyone limit your joy

   • when your sense of pleasure and satisfaction are derived from opinions of other ppl, you are no longer in control of your happiness

   • don’t let others bring you down

6. focus your attention

   • create a sense of personal efficiency

   • don’t focus on problems, only solutions

   • emotional state is determined by where you focus your attention

   • when you fixate on problems you’re facing, you create and prolong negative emotions and stress

   • don’t fixate on toxic ppl bc it gives them power over you

   • focus on how you’re going to handle them

   • makes you more effective by putting YOU in control and reduce stress

7. forgive don’t forget

   • protect yourself from future harm

   • forgiveness means to let go of what to move on

   • doesn’t mean you’ll forget what they’ve done

   • successful ppl won’t allow them to hurt them again and tread lightly

8. avoid negative self talk

   • intensify the positive

   • don’t absorb other’s negativity

   • don’t allow negativity to intensify your self-talk

   • it’s unrealistic, unnecessary, and self-defeating

   • avoid at all times

·  According to the lecture, why is conflict so difficult?

one person has a need of another and that need is not being met

·  Why is denial a problem when resolving conflict?

when confronted w/ a tense or difficult conflict, too many ppl smooth it over, bury their head in the sand, and the conflict goes on for a long time

·  What steps do most people bypass when trying to manage conflict? What usually happens instead?

• sulking

• withdrawing

• getting sick

• silent treatment

• being aggressive

• backstabbing

• gossiping

• shouting blocking

• getting angry

• most conflicts start at small levels/ as very small upsets and grows into a full scale battle

·  What is the first step to conflict resolution?

1. Express the Need

2. Find out if the need can or cannot be met

• if need can be met, then you have resolution

• you can not then we negotiate to resolve the conflict or we go into management of conflict

• bypassing Step 1 & 2 and don’t talk to the ppl who can do something abt it

If conflict has escalated where it’s too tough or sensitive or difficult to handle, need to think seriously abt involving a neutral 3rd party to help

how to know you’re with a toxic worker

• if someone is making you feel stressed and unmotivated, you’re dealing with a toxic coworker

• toxic ppl can affect your productivity and health

• control what you can eliminate and what you can’t

• remember you are in control more than you realize