Students should gain valuable insight into career development and options that will (LO16.8… improve their employment prospects). Students should also be able to apply/write using (LO 5.4 and LO10.2…the AIM planning process for persuasive messages and the basic components of most persuasive messages).
Friendly Reminder: Make sure to practice applying (LO5.5 …positive and other-oriented tone in this expanded two-page letter). Use formal, third-person writing style (i.e., professional language, no contractions, no personal pronouns, no personal references.
Expected Outcome/Deliverable: Two Page Expanded Business Letter/Career Outlook
Suggestions for Gathering Information to Prepare the Two Page Expanded Business Letter
Why Does This Matter?
The current health pandemic continues to have an effect on workforce and academic settings. Given unprecedented changes, currently enrolled undergraduate business (majors) should research their career outlook. To start the process- make sure to complete all of above suggested activities for preparing document. Then, complete the below activities to – Identify your key selling points for the application process (Learning Objective/LO 16.2).
Self-Inventory
Start by writing (2/Two) Career Goals as illustrated. If (you) do not have career goals- Use two sentences to briefly- explain what type of work you would like to be doing in 5 years. Then, use Table 16.1 – to complete the other three Inventory Selling Points: List 3/Strongest Professional Abilities, List 3/ Strongest Professional Attributes, and 2/Areas Where I Need to Improve.
After reflecting on your Self-Inventory – Conduct Research – to determine career outlook and opportunities for your chosen career field based on research from journals within your declared major or government handbooks that project the outlook of your declared major/career.
Research/Documentation
Required: Use UHD W.I. Dykes Library – Business Source Complete to locate (*TWO) secondary sources – credible business journals/articles with specific information about your (declared major) and/or government handbooks that project the outlook of your career. You should focus on scholarly and/or government sources useful for helping to develop a broader sense of your career outlook. *Must select two different secondary sources related to your (declared major). EX. two journal articles from different journals, a journal article and government article, etc.
DO NOT use secondary sources over five years old.
DO NOT use articles discussing information unrelated to your declared BUSINESS major OR random topics/research investigations with demographics NOT related to your declared BUSINESS major OR plausible hiring/employment location.
DO NOT use websites, e.g. companies, organizations, and other such sources.
DO NOT use your personal opinions.
DO NOT use the course’s textbook as one of your sources.
Application Written Exercise
After reading (ALL of the instructions for this assignment) – Based on your Self-Inventory and research findings – Write a Two-Page Expanded Business Letter/Persuasive Internal- to your professor. Explain how (you) plan to address (your) career outlook. Plan and organize your findings using the following.
Framing the Primary Message
Introduction – State the topic/reason for writing the letter. You might want to explain in a brief paragraph findings from your Self-Inventory. AND – How you plan to use your findings, inventory, research, etc. within the scope of your declared major/career outlook? EX. You might want to compose this paragraph (compare/contrast) – Self-Inventory vs. what you discovered after researching secondary sources related to your declared major/career outlook. You should be able to use information from your research to support your explanation/selection (response cites facts/APA in-text citations). This should help you transition (link idea/s) between paragraphs.
Body – Examples include but are not limited to the below.
This is a key section. How will I get there? Detail your plan for addressing/ achieving your goals – i.e., use information from your inventory/research here specific to your declared business major. This section can include both general and specific plans. You should be able to discuss your plan based on your Self-Inventory before/after reading and researching information related to your declared major. For example, findings from one of your articles might discuss (in general) how all business majors/graduates should have an understanding of required specific skills sets within their declared major based on research and employment prospects.
Conclusion – Give a sense of closure/summary. State what was learned or the value of this research within the scope of being a business major. You might also want to mention rethinking academic/career options given the current health pandemic. Make “reality-based comments” that (you) deem to be applicable to professional development. Remember this assignment is not just a document for a grade in BA 3350; it is a customized plan focusing on continuous improvement within the scope of academic- career outlook/employment prospects.
Required: Make sure to use 7th edition APA Documentation Style to format the in-text citations and references. You can review APA formatting (In-Text Citations and References) – See course’s textbook page 410/Table 13.3 OR via the following link: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html
Include in the letter -Two in-text citations- (APA format) from secondary sources within/about your declared business major/career outlook. *Use only “Two” in-text citations in the body. Do NOT use over three lines of the information from each source to complete your in-text citations in the body of the letter. You can ONLY cite each source once in the body. Do NOT use the citations multiple times in the body. Do NOT use other citations in the body. Do NOT use the course’s textbook OR other secondary sources/references as citations.
Format for the Two Page Expanded Business Letter
For VISUAL purposes ONLY – see page 562 -in the course’s textbook- Appendix Figure/B.2/Sample Letter in Block Format Style. In reviewing, you should note, the content is not applicable. DO NOT use the heading (Better Horizons Credit Union) in the example. DO NOT use a Header or lines as illustrated. DO NOT include your personal address on Page 1. DO NOT indent paragraphs. DO NOT use a Microsoft Letter Template.
You will need to make applicable modifications. Examples include the following.
The assignment must meet the formatting of a Letter in Block Format Style – Two Pages ONLY – DO NOT Exceed, Apply the following – MARGINS -1 inch (top/bottom and sides), FONT – Times New Roman-Size 12.
Page 1- START with the current date (spell out the month) – Ex. January 1, 2022
Then – use the following Internal Address. Do NOT use your address in this letter
AFTER THE ADDRESS – use the following Salutation – Dear Dr. Nealy:
After the salutation – start the letter’s body. You will set-up the first paragraph using the SAME format illustrated on page 498-Figure 16.1. You do NOT need to key your name/date. START with: My Career Goals – Single Space- List 2 goals – 1 sentence each. DOUBLE SPACE – My Strongest Professional Abilities – Single Space- List 3 abilities. DOUBLE SPACE – My Strongest Professional Attributes – Single Space- List 3 attributes. DOUBLE SPACE – Areas Where I Need to Improve- Single Space- List 2 areas where I need to improve. THEN- DOUBLE SPACE. *You should still be on Page 1.
When you complete Page 1. Set-up for Page 2 – Insert a header on the second page –Left Top Corner – add the page number 2 and use the following format and information in the header. Page 2 *(Add Your Last Name then Career) THEN- DOUBLE SPACE- AND continuing writing your findings.
