Business Communications Term 1 Syllabus
General Communications and Job-Getting Skills
- A basic calendar made on a spreadsheet showing when each assignment for Term 1 will be completed (20 pts.)
- A memo informing your classmates that they must submit their yearbook photos by October first. You are the editor of the yearbook. (20 points)
- An email to me in which you explain which career you are interested in and a list of three of your strengths as an employee and three weaknesses that you will try to improve upon. If you don’t have a precise career that is fine, but please choose a general area like business, art, criminal justice, education, the trades (plumbing, electrical, automotive, etc.) the military, etc.. You will not be graded on the content of what you know, but rather on how your email is formatted and your proofreading. (20 points)
- A perfect college essay, even if you don’t plan to apply. (150 points)
- An Excel spreadsheet which depicts your class schedule for this semester. (50 points)
- A home page for the career you chose in assignment 3. Make it appeal to people who might be interested but undecided. I want you to think very deliberately when you choose font styles, images, sizes, colors and content. I suggest that you use wix.com. Be sure to include items like daily responsibilities, education needed, salary ranges, types of work environments, etc. (50 points)
- An email asking an employer or recruiter from a field in which you are interested to interview you. This should be done at their place of work, and it must be completed before the end of the term, so be sure to have this assignment approved by the teacher very early in the term. (25 points)
- A PowerPoint presentation that serves as an advertisement about you to a potential employer (me). Pretend that you are on a job interview 5-10 years from now and the employer asks you to describe yourself. How would you depict your family, personality, work ethic, work experience, education/training after high school, big setbacks and/or accomplishments, hobbies/interests and three short- and long-term goals? It must include a cover and closing slide. (100 points)
- A cover letter to a potential employer. You must find a real job opening that you might like to have five years after high school. Devise some skills and experiences that you would likely have had by that time. (100 points)
- A realistic resume to accompany the cover letter. (150 points)
- A mock job interview with the teacher in which you convince him that he should hire you, or you must do it again until you do convince him. (25 points)
- A list of ten good questions for you to ask your interviewer at the end of the interview. (25 points)
- An interview with the person to whom you wrote for assignment 7. He or she will grade you according to a rubric that I will give you to bring on the interview. Prerequisites–#7, 8, 9, 10 (100 points)
- A thank-you letter to your real interviewer. (50 points)
Assignments 1-7 must be completed by the end of class on Friday September 23rd or they will earn a maximum of half credit if submitted by the end of the term. All other work must be perfected and submitted by the end of class on Friday October 28th or it will not be accepted or graded.