1 1 Writing A job application
CURRICULUM VITAE
SPEAKING
1
Work in pairs. Read the two quotes and
Antonia Piper
answer the q u e s t i o n s .
0156 233784
A:
I've travelled widely in a number
B:
I've been abroad a few
countries outside the
of
UK.
times.
[email protected]
Personal Profile
A n enthusiastic, energetic undergraduate, I a m experienced i n coordinating a n d
supporting the w o r k of others as well as motivating myself to w o r k alone. 1 a m
Which p e r s o n , A or B, is probably
exaggerating the truth?
Which answer w o u l d it be best to give
when applying for a job? Why?
2
Think of an exaggerated truth for
each of these sections in a CV.
1
Languages spoken
2
Computer skills
3
Job responsibilities
4
Personal qualities
5
W o r k experience
currently looking for a short-term placement within the sports a n d leisure industry.
Education
2007-present
2000-2006
BSc Sports S c i e n c e N e w h a m University
International Baccalaureat: N e w h a m Girls G r a m m a r S c h o o l
Work Experience
Part-time editor, N e w h a m University, 2007-present
As part of m y degree in Sports Science I a m currently w o r k i n g ten hours a week
as sub-editor of the sports page for The Word, the N e w h a m University weekly
newspaper. M y duties include writing articles, editing the w o r k of fellow students,
and liaising with local a n d national press agencies.
Secretary, N e w h a m University F i l m Society 2007
A s secretary of the film society I initiated a student discount system with a local
D V D rental firm a n d organized l o c a l sponsors for a student film p r o d u c t i o n w h i c h
READING
I
Look at the job adverts and the CV.
Which job do you think Antonia is
interested in? Why?
Professional footballer
seeks personal assistant.
Duties w i l l include accompanying h i m
o n t r i p s a b r o a d . K n o w l e d g e of at l e a s t
was subsequently s h o w n at the local film festival.
Retail assistant,
The Corner Shop 2005-2007
Initially I w o r k e d as a part-time cashier a n d following a brief training period 1 was
promoted to shop assistant. M y duties i n c l u d e d o p e n i n g the shop, arranging the
w i n d o w display a n d informing customers about promotional campaigns.
Skills
Fluent Spanish, conversational French, intermediate Italian
Webpage design
Full driving licence
three major w o r l d languages essential.
Interests
P r e v i o u s e x p e r i e n c e of a s i m i l a r p o s t
Independent film: I try where possible to attend both l o c a l a n d national film
preferred. A p p l y w i t h C V a n d covering
festivals.
letter to [email protected]
A m a t e u r dramatics: I was an active m e m b e r of my s c h o o l drama c l u b prior to
entering university
Football: captain of the university women's football team.
S m a l l , d y n a m i c TV production c o m p a n y
References
s e e k s y o u t h f u l , enthusiastic office
Ms Gill Stallcott
assistant. The s u c c e s s f u l candidate will
Senior Lecturer
have a d e g r e e in media or film s t u d i e s ,
Faculty of Sports Science,
and a keen interest in sport. A p p l y w i t h
N e w h a m University,
C V and covering letter to j o b s @ T V 3 . c o m
Newham
[email protected]
0156 257889
A job application
2
Look at the CV again. Which of the
following pieces of information 1-6 has
Antonia included in her CV? In which
section?
1
2
3
4
5
6
her university studies
voluntary w o r k
the k i n d of job she's looking for
the languages she speaks
date of birth
the sports she's interested in
3
Read the information sheet about writing
a good CV. Has Antonia followed all the
advice given? Answer Y (yes), N (no) or D
(don't know).
How to write a good CV
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Use headings and bold to make your CV
easier to read.
Use bullet points to make lists more
attractive.
Write your education and work
experience with the most recent events
first.
Include a brief description of any work
experience, highlighting your
responsibilities and achievements.
Include the names of at least two
referees. One should be your present
employer or tutor where possible.
Never tell lies or exaggerate on your CV.
You will get caught out.
Remember to check your spelling and
punctuation.
LANGUAGE FOCUS
1
Find examples in the CV for each of the
rules for using capital letters.
Use capital letters
to begin a sentence.
for names of people and their job
titles.
for names of places (street names,
towns).
for names of organizations,
for languages, nationalities and
countries.
for titles of books, films, etc.
for headings and subheadings.
2
Writing 1
Add capital letters to the CV extract where necessary.
skills
fluent german and w o r k i n g knowledge of hungarian
full driving licence
interests
journalism and writing
i w o r k as a voluntary reporter for the newsdesk at n e w h a m fm
radio station one or two nights a week, filing reports on local
news and events.
i have contributed articles to the arts and culture section of the
n e w h a m gazette, a local weekly newspaper.
references
dr j.k. smithers,
professor james tann,
the old vicarage
n e w h a m business school
12, orchard lane,
n e w h a m university
newham
newham
3
Find ten spelling mistakes in the CV extract below.
E x t r a Information
I w o r k e d as a v o l u n t a r y s e e r e t e r y for a l o c a l c h i l d r e n ' s
c h a r i t y f o r a b r e i f p e r i o d , s u p o r t i n g the w o r k of f i e l d
w o r k e r s a n d child carers alike.
I have attended various web design courses a n d have m y
o w n web p a g e a n d b l o g w h i c h I u p d a t e w h e n e v e r posible.
I w a s a s i s t a n t to a l o c a l i n d e p e n d a n t c a n d i d a t e d u r i n g the
recent local goevernment election campaing.
I hold a full d r i v i n g lisense.
4
Find words or expressions in the CV that mean:
1
2
I have experience of . . .
helping other people w i t h
their w o r k
M y job i n v o l v e d . . .
M y aim is to find . . . .
3
4
5
5
6
7
8
I took an active part i n
at the moment
at first
after that
Look at the CV again and underline any other useful phrases or
expressions.
WRITING
1
Write a CV for yourself. Look back at the information sheet about
writing a good CV. You can invent information if you like.
REMEMBER TO ...
•
•
•
•
•
use capital letters where appropriate.
check your spelling.
use bullet points, underlining and bold to make your C V
attractive and easy to read.
use formal language (eg no contractions).
include short, concise descriptions of w o r k experience and
interest where necessary.
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A job application
Developing methodology (27)
Writing in the world; writing in the
classroom (part 1)
• It used to be a truism that younger people write far
less than they speak. Interestingly new technology
seems to have changed that. Nowadays, people write
quite a lot, e.g. They text on their mobile phones. They
post opinions on internet forums. They use instant
messaging services and email. They create their own
web spaces and websites. They write daily blogs (i.e. a
web log or online diary). There is a whole new world
of writing out there, but it may seem very different
from the traditional writing that students are asked to
do in the classroom.
• The new world of writing is international. It is
concerned with communication rather than accuracy.
Writing is instant, quickly written and quickly read.
Mistakes are forgiven because everyone is making
them, from the managing director in his email to the
heavy metal fan posting his views on a band's new
album. Mistakes are forgiven because everyone knows
that the writing was done quickly, without drafts.
• So, more than for a long time, writing is once again
an important part of everyday life. But as well as
these new-technology writing skills, students do still
need to be able to cope with more traditional writing
demands. And the skills needed are quite different.
The kinds of writing that Straightforward focuses on
require thought, planning and accuracy. They require
attention to layout, punctuation and spelling. More
than in the past, you may need to remind students
why they need to focus on these things. The reasons
will be different for each class but might include some
of the following:
a) Students who hope to go to college, university or do
other courses that use English will need to be able to
write well.
b) Good writing is still important for work and
business. Although the email is now preferred to
the letter, there are many other writing tasks that
retain their importance, e.g. writing reports, writing
descriptions of items, writing publicity materials,
writing minutes of meetings, writing text for
presentations, and so on.
c) Even if you are not going into work or study, having
better written English will help you express yourself
more clearly in all kinds of online
communication
(and help you to do it faster).
• It's also worth pointing out to your class that writing
really helps you improve your general English. Because
formal writing tasks are slower and more accuracyfocussed, they require you to really think about your
language, to research grammar and vocabulary
points, to re-read and check what you have written,
fine-tuning what you want to say in the best possible
language. This has a knock-on effect to the quality of
your English as a whole.
SPEAKING
1
Pairwork. Students read the quotes and answer the
questions. Tell students to read the quotes out l o u d so
that they can get the feeling of w h i c h sentence is being
exaggerated, and ask them to underline the words w h i c h
suggest the sentence is exaggerated.
Person A is probably exaggerating the truth.
• Go through the list of headings with the class and elicit an
example of an exaggerated truth for one of headings, to
check that students k n o w what to do.
• Students w o r k w i t h their partner and discuss what they
could write i n a C V to exaggerate the truth.
Possible answers:
1 Fluent French, G e r m a n , Urdu and English speaker
2 Excellent knowledge of a wide range of programmes
(Word, Explorer, Outlook Express, etc.)
3 I was in charge of all the cleaning operations i n the
restaurant.
4 I am extremely honest, hard-working and reliable. 1
am respected and liked by all my colleagues.
5 1 have extensive retail and catering experience.
READING
• Students look at the job adverts and the C V . They then
choose w h i c h job they think A n t o n i a is interested i n , and
explain their reasons w h y .
Probable answer:
Job advert 1.
She's looking for short-term w o r k , she's studying Sports
Science and she speaks three foreign languages. She's
also captain of the university women's football team so
has a strong personal interest in football.
• Students look back at the C V a n d tick the information 1-6
that A n t o n i a has included i n her C V . They then write the
name of the section that they are i n .
1
3
4
6
her university studies - Education
the kind of job she's looking for - Personal Profile
the languages she speaks - Skills
the sports she's interested in - Interests
Students read the information sheet about writing a good
C V and say if A n t o n i o has followed all the advice given; Y
(for yes), N (for no) or D (for don't k n o w ) .
Y, N , Y, Y, N , D, Y
178
A job application
L A N G U A G E FOCUS
• Students look back once more at the C V and underline any
phrases or expressions that they think are useful.
A s k students to look back at the C V and find examples for
each of the rules for using capital letters.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
to begin a sentence: A n enthusiastic
As part of m y
degree
M y duties . . . ; As secretary o f . . . ; Initially I
worked . . . ; M y duties . . . , etc.
for names of people and their job titles: A n t o n i a
Piper; Part-time editor; Secretary; Retail assistant; M s
G i l l Stallcott; Senior Lecturer
for names of places (street names, towns): N e w h a m
for names of organizations: N e w h a m University;
N e w h a m University F i l m Society; The Corner Shop
for languages, nationalities and countries: Spanish;
French; Italian
for titles of books, films, etc: The Word
for headings and subheadings: Personal Profile;
Education; Work Experience; Skills; Interests;
References
• Students read through the C V and add capital letters to it
where necessary.
• They could then check their answers with a partner before
y o u check w i t h the class.
Skills
Fluent German and w o r k i n g knowledge of Hungarian
Full driving licence
Interests
Journalism and writing
I work as a voluntary reporter for the newsdesk at
N e w h a m F M Radio Station one or two nights a week,
filing reports on local news and events.
I have contributed articles to the Arts and Culture section
of the Newham Gazette, a local weekly newspaper.
References
Dr J.K. Smithers
The O l d Vicarage
12, Orchard Lane
Newham
Writing 1
Professor James Tann
N e w h a m Business School
N e w h a m University
Newham
• Students read through the extract from the C V and
underline the nine spelling mistakes in it and correct them.
• They could then check their answers w i t h a partner before
you check w i t h the class.
secretary; brief; supporting; possible; assistant;
independent; government; campaign; license
WRITING
Students n o w write their o w n CV.
Refer students to the information sheet on h o w to write
a good C V i n Reading exercise 3 and the Remember to ...
box at the bottom of the page to help them organize their
work.
Tell students that if they haven't had m u c h or any work
experience to invent the information. You should advise
them to think of a particular job they w o u l d like to have,
and write the information for their C V to suit that job.
Students could write the C V in class or for homework.
Sample
answer
A n t o n i o Piper
24, H i g h Street,
N e w h a m N H 1 2CJ
0156 233784
[email protected]
SKILLS AND ABILITIES
•
•
•
•
Excellent communication skills
Fluent Portuguese, Spanish and French speaker
Experience of working under pressure
Enjoy finding solutions to difficult problems
ACHIEVEMENTS
•
•
•
Captain of college football team
W i n n e r : Young Driver of the Year (Under 18), Round
Britain Rally
M y blog was short-listed for the Top Blog Prize
EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS
2004-2007 N e w h a m Road Institute
J T E C National D i p l o m a Web Design (to be completed)
Subjects studied:
Basics of design
Scripts
Site architecture
Intermediate web design
html
Virtual design
Games and gaming
1999-2004 N e w h a m Gate School GCSEs:
Portuguese (A)
Art (B)
Spanish (A)
PE (A)
IT (B)
English Language (C)
EMPLOYMENT
2005-present: Catering assistant, N e w h a m Stadium.
Part-time post
INTERESTS
• Students look back at the m a i n C V and find words and
expressions that mean the same as the ones listed 1-8.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
I am experienced i n
supporting the work of others
M y duties included
I a m currently looking for
I was an active member of
currently
initially
subsequently
•
•
•
•
Football
Web design
Formula 1
Travel
REFERENCES
Ms J Plumb
Director
N e w h a m Road Institute
N e w h a m Road
N e w h a m N H 3 7PP
M r A Oliveira
Catering Manager
N e w h a m Stadium
Great East Road
N e w h a m N H 1 9 4RT
179