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 ones 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:
Program:

Education
Business Education

Revision Date: October 2005

Course Number:

BUED 219

Course Title:

Credits:

1 S.H.

Frequency:

Job Search Strategies

Application Letter/Interview
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 ones 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). Rsum/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, SouthWestern Educational Publishing, 2000.
Periodicals-research and job search articles selected by each student form the professional
literature in their individual majors.
Web SitesInternet searches involving sites for all job search databases.