Minutes for 8/22/08 by Julie

Writing for Environmental Professionals
September, 22th 2008
Taken by Julienne Smith
Attendants: Yumie K., Nicole P., Megan T., Jamie K., Sarah, Don, James M., Bobby P., Chris L., Benjamin P., Daniel, Megan C., Chris D., Owen, Josh, Amanda, Julie.
About last class’s Minutes
• Bigger font
• Okay file types
o .doc
o .txt
o .rtf
• Not Okay
o .docx
• Cover Letters were due today to switch with peers
o People hesitant to say they should have had it
• On Sarah’s Questions on the headings of resume
o Careful of plagerism?
• No, definitely plagiarize the job description in a thematic resume.
• Minutes accepted and seconded
Today’s Minutes
• Parallel Structure in resume
o Lack of it in most resumes
• Proficient in – noun
• Collected – verb
• Created – verb
o Has to do with balance
• # of words
• Kinds of words
• Don’t repeat
o Ex. I have excellent communication and am physically fit.
• When you make these kinds of sentences, make sure the sides are balanced in number of words and kinds of words.
• Put the balance at the ‘and’ in the sentence
• The two objects on either side of the balance should be the same type, not a verb and a noun for instance.
• Cover letters
o Goals of cover letters
• Introduce resume
• Give resume context
• Get an interview – Number 1 goal!
• Sales pitch
• Get a job
o Heuristic- a way to invent things. Informal or “unwritten” rules on things in our society
• Such as the 15% tip for wait staff, 2x the tax
o 1st paragraph
• 1st sentence
• Purpose of letter – to apply for the job
• How you found job
• I write to apply for position- not ‘job’
• Define the position
• When and where you found the job
o Newspaper
o Online
• Date
• 2nd sentence
• Qualifications
o Pick a couple from your resume headings
• education
• leadership experience
o Leads to Paragraphs 2 & 3
o Sentence including the words educational experience and leadership experience
• I qualify for the position because of my educational and leadership experience.
o 2nd paragraph
• Educational experience
o 3rd paragraph
• Leadership experience
o 4th paragraph
• Conclusion
• You want this interview
o Built up to this in paragraphs 1,2, and 3
• Contact- reach me by:
o Email, phone
o When you can be reached
o Parsons Saw
• A saying- tell ‘em you are going to tell ‘em, tell ‘em, then tell ‘em that you told ‘em.
• 1st ¶ - tell ‘em you are going to tell ‘em
• 2nd and 3rd ¶ - tell ‘em
• 4th ¶ - Tell ‘em you told ‘em
o This is a heuristic cover letter, does not have to be exactly like this
o Exchange cover letters with a partner and evaluate each others
• If you do not have cover letter, do it and exchange with someone else before next class.
• If that person does not email you back, email Don
o Went over evaluation sheet- Don read it
• Real signature on cover letter 3 spaces from end of letter
• Praise worth comment on what you learned
• Handed back papers
o No more is’s and what not
o Praise for the class because it is full of good writers! Yay!

Class Minutes: Sept 17, 2008 by Amanda

Writing for Environmental Professionals
September, 17th 2008
Taken by Amanda Giangiobbe

Attendants: Don, Nicole, Yumie, Amanda, Julie, Owen, Josh, Chris D., Benjamin P., Bobby P., Sarah K., James M., Megan C., Daniel, Chris L., Megan T.

Today's Class:
- Cover letter
- Resume
- Narrative

Class Discussion:
What is a narrative?
- a story

Starting a narrative:
-Think of where, who, what, when, and how
-Journalistic questions

Children's stories are surreal:
- They talk about bizarre stuff
- Vivid imagination
- Sequential/ chronological
- They tell how stuff happened

When People get older:
- Stories have more true details
- Content sifts
- Themes are followed
- Point of view changes
- Centered more around facts
- Imagination moves to the background

We looked at three different introductions:
- The first essay started with the person as the subject
- The second essay started with writing as the subject
- The third essay started with the interview as the subject

As scientific writers we are trained to use the passive voice:
"The ball was hit by Don"
- We are trained to use the passive voice over and over again
- Often used in law and government
- Makes writing 30% longer and more wordy


We should try to use an active voice:
"Don hit the ball"
-Makes our writing more interesting
-Try to make your writing 50% active voice

Thematic Resume Assessment:
- Went around the room and asked everyone their job description
- Make sure to have name and contact information on resume

Aspects of the resume:

Education:
- Tell when you graduated or when you anticipate graduating
- List the degree you have
- High school is dead; don’t mention it unless you did something very important
- Put this information at bottom of page

Relevant course work:
- Focus on course work related to the position
- Talk about research not just the course taken

Skills:
- Shows you are unique
- Demonstrate expertise
- Highlight relevant work experience
- What are you bringing to the table
- Demonstrate positive work ethic

Make sure that Resume:
- Is easy to read
- Has a balance of whitespace
- Appropriate for scanning and online distribution

For Next Class
- Look up parallel structure
- Evaluate resume by comparing it to the sheet on the blog
- Read cover letter section online

Class Minutes 9/15/08 by Megan

CLL 410 Minutes
Writing for Environmental Professionals
September, 15 2008
Taken by Megan Todd

Attendants: Don, Nicole, Yumie, Amanda, Julie, Owen, Josh, Chris D., Benjamin P., Bobby P., Sarah K., James M., Megan C., Daniel, Chris L., Megan T.

Assignments for Next Class, 09/17/2008:
• Resume
⁃ One full page
⁃ 12 Pt. font of choice
⁃ Attached copy of job description
• Read section on Cover Letters in the Online Technical Writing Link
• Interview Narrative
⁃ 1-2 Pages
⁃ Important: Do not forget to include a bibliographic reference

Guidelines for Submitting Assignments:
• Email Don a copy to look over ahead of time
⁃ Send in .txt or .rtf formatting
• Bring to class a hard copy for peer-review and discussion

Class Discussion, 09/15/2008:
• Questions to Ponder:
⁃ "What do you see yourself doing 5 years from now?"
⁃ "What do you really want to do in LIFE?"
• A 5 year plan is important to:
⁃ strategically direct your future
⁃ begin taking responsibility for your actions
⁃ understand the consequences of you actions
⁃ make rhetorical and career concerns real
• Challenges to 5 year planning relate to:
⁃ changes in plans, situations, and circumstances
⁃ relative difficultly of reflecting back 5 years when you are young
• Consider:
⁃ An average job lasts 7 years
⁃ Divorce usually occurs after 7 years
⁃ Every cell in the human body is replaced after 7 years

Note: A 5 year plan provides the rocky shore where the waves of ideas and plans may ebb and flow.

• Question:
⁃ "What stops us from doing what we really want to do?"
• Barriers may be:
⁃ Money
⁃ Land
⁃ Time
⁃ Qualifications
• Vocation:
⁃ Gives financial stability
• Avocation:
⁃ Gives spiritual essence and value
⁃ Is a definition of self

Resumes:
• When applying for a position:
⁃ Try to stay in skill level of qualifications
⁃ Include avocational interests
⁃ Use rhetorical (meaning to express in terms intended to persuade or impress) strategies to organize thematically
• Readability:
⁃ Symmetry
⁃ Violations of typographic symmetry catch reader's attention
⁃ Violations of resume structural symmetry are unattractive
⁃ Content
⁃ Bulleted lists are easier to read, advisable if 24 or younger
⁃ Dense paragraphs are too time consuming to read

• Graphics and Design:
⁃ White Space
⁃ Even out white and black space on the page
⁃ Special Formatting
⁃ Bullets
⁃ Italics/Bolds
⁃ Terse Writing Style
⁃ Brief phrases/sentences
⁃ Typography
⁃ Font types
Examples: Arial, New Times Roman, Helvetica, Veranda
No cursive--it's too hard to read
⁃ Point sizes
Signify importance of headings
⁃ Upper/Lower case
Upper case hard to read, unless using small caps
⁃ Rule of Three
Stick to three variations
Too much is too confusing
⁃ Consistency
Stay consistent with variations
Contributes to overall structural symmetry
⁃ Page Fill
⁃ One filled page
⁃ If two pages, fill both
⁃ Grammar Usage

Revisions to Past Class Minutes:
Applause for James and Megan C.
Few changes needed--well done!
Suggested Random Act of Kindness
Turn off the lights of empty class rooms when passing

Class Minutes 9/8/08 by James

CLL410 Writing for Environmental Professionals
Class Minutes
September 12, 2008
Class Facilitator: Don Wagner
Minute Taker: James T. Manzolillo
Attendees: Owen, Chris D., Megan T., Yumie, Nicole, Chris L., Dan, Amanda, Megan C., Sarah, Alyssa, Ben, Josh, Julie, Don, James

• Previous Class Minutes
o Everybody interprets the minutes differently; a way to read the minutes is to use observation, look for the meaning, and evaluate.
o We discussed the use of commas. The two main ways we will use commas is to insinuate a pause or to list a series.
o When preparing a public document read it aloud to yourself before submitting it. Reading aloud points out mistakes in the writing when the reader stumbles or trips up when reading the text.
o Semicolon use versus colon use was discussed. When using a semicolon two independent thoughts are linked together. When using a colon, a list usually comes after the colon use.

• Today’s Class Minutes
o Don proposed questions at the beginning of class for us to answer:
• What did you learn yesterday?
• What do you need to improve on?
• Who did you help out yesterday?
• If you did not help out anybody you need to do a kind, silent act to somebody.
o What is the definition of Twitter?
• Social messaging, micro-blogging with immediate feedback. 140 character blurbs at a time.
• “Welcome to your world, it may be a job qualification in the near future.” – Don
o Resumes
• Selling yourself on an 8 ½” x 11” page.
• Purpose of a resume is to communicate your professional skills and experience to employers or grants.
• It is a competitive world, thus your resume needs to grab the readers attention
• Musical chairs analogy
• A reviewer spends an average of 15 seconds looking at a resume the first time around.
• There are 3 types of resumes: chronological, functional, and thematic.
• We will be focusing on thematic resumes
• Thematic resumes are organized by taking themes directly from job descriptions.
o We read left to right and top to bottom; resumes should be in a kind of hierarchical order. (Professional skills at the top with the duties of the job highlighted and work experience toward the bottom).
o We should take words directly from the job description and put them into our resumes.
o There should be a balance of white space with black space.

o Assignments
• Find a job description for an occupation you are actually interested in and write a draft of a thematic resume using this job description.
• Write a 1 page narrative on the interview you conducted. (No more than 2 pages, 12 point font, 1 inch margins, and 1 bibliographic reference).
• Perform a kind, silent act for somebody.

Class Minutes 9/10/08 by Alyssa

CLL 410 Writing for Environmental Professionals
Class Minutes
September 10, 2008
Class Facilitator: Don Wagner
Minute Taker: Alyssa
Attendees: Yumi, Nicole, Svetlana, Megan T., Chris, Bobby, Sarah, James, Josh, Owen, Megan C., Benjamin, Julienne, Amanda, Don, Dan, Alyssa

Previous Class Minutes
 The difference in meaning by the use of “a few” verses the use of “few” was discussed.
 The terms “kerning” and “leading” was discussed. They refer to the manipulation of spacing between characters or font to make it more visually pleasing.
 When constructing a list it was advised by Don, to remain consistent with your choice of the use or absence of terminal sentences.

Today’s Class Minutes
 The importance of knowing the speed of light and the speed of sound was discussed as it showed our increasing global connection in communication.
 A list of evaluations for the grading contracts were handed out.
 Discussion of qualities which produced successful or unsuccessful qualities including the following; diction, grammar, dialect, and the use of vocabulary.
 The importance of presentation and body language in an professional interview were also mentioned.
 As each class member discussed their interviews, several points comments were noted.
• The explorative writing process varied for my individuals, which for some included outlines, and brainstorming.
• In the event of a writers block, it was suggested to have resources readily available.
• Others felt organization and flow to be a quality of successful writing, and did not use outlines.
• Be aware of your audience so that the material you are producing is translatable.
• It is helpful to engage in interdisciplinary writing, reading and communication.
• The revising habits of Professor Charlie Hall who previously rewrote his work ten times, have now dropped to four.
• On the subject of peer-review Charles Hall was quoted as saying “ friends are those who criticize you before you publish, enemies are those that criticize you after the fact.”

Class Assignments For 9/ 12/ 08
 Define the word “twiter”.
 Read “Business correspondence and resumes” from the Online Technical Writing Online.

Class Minutes September 8th, 2008 by Sarah

CLL 410 Writing for Environmental Professionals

Date: September 8th, 2008
Class Facilitator: Don Wagner
Minute Taker: Sarah Kelsen
Atendees: Chris, Yumie, Nicole, Amanda, Julie, Megan, Owen, Chris D., Benjamin, Daniel, Jamie, Josh, James, Bobby, Svetiana, Sarah

Previous Class Minutes:
• Few changes will be made to class minutes from last class due to typing errors
• Attendee names were checked for correctness
• Don will post the minutes on the class website

Today’s Class Minutes:
• In the beginning of each class, meeting minutes will be read aloud and interpreted
• Technical edits will be noted, including punctuation such as:
o : colon ; semi-colon – hyphen . end stop “beginning quote and end quote” (parentheses) . . . ellipsis etc.
• Don commented that each student will hear and see different things and it is important to consider how interpretations are different
• Don recommends two things:
o All public documents should be read aloud before submission so that we as a class are more conscience of what we write
o Punctuation is crucial and here are some tips:
• Make sure your sentences are complete sentences, which should include a subject, a verb, a capital letter at the beginning and a terminal punctuation mark (.?!).
• Series (i.e. noun, noun, and noun) should have commas between distinct categories i.e. the flag is red, white, and blue
• Conjunctions (and, or, but, for, nor, yet and so) and joining punctuation should be used properly
• a sentence, and a sentence needs a comma between
• conjunctions combine noun and noun, verb and verb, and phrase and phrase
• When submitting work, check your conjunctions (especially and, but, and or) to make sure punctuation is correct
• We reviewed learning contracts as a class and noted that example documents included headings, structure, some sort of narrative

Next Class Agenda Items:

• For Wednesday’s class students should be prepared to talk about their interview and read the website regarding resumes

____
NOTE from Don:

Library offers RefWorks training sessions in September and October

RefWorks is an online citation management tool available to all SU students and faculty. Come see how RefWorks can help to quickly and easily organize your research material. These are hands-on sessions and will include demonstrations of how to import and save citations, generate bibliographies, insert in-text references, and more. All sessions are 80 minutes long and will be held in Room 046 of Bird Library.

There is no registration required. Drop-ins are welcome!

Tuesday, Sept. 16 (11 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.)
Monday, Sept. 22 (12:45 p.m. - 2: 05 p.m.)
Thursday, Oct. 2 (12:30 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.)
Wednesday, Oct. 8 (12:45 p.m. - 2:05 p.m.)
Tuesday, Oct. 14 (11 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.)
Tuesday, Oct. 21 (2 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.)
Monday, Oct. 27 (2:15 p.m. – 3:25 p.m.)

Minutes for 8/29/08 By Chris Luczkowiak

- Welcome to our new classmate, Svetlana!

- Rough drafts of our grade contracts were due by 5:00pm 8/29/08

o Students may want to steer away from essay-style writing in
their grade contracts, and instead make sure that key pieces of info
are easily accessible, including desired grade and attendance/
participation

- Class is canceled for Wednesday, Sept. 3

- Students should make arrangements for their interviews with a
professional by Wednesday, Sept. 3

o “Professionals” include people being paid for the work they
are doing (i.e., Professors, T.A.’s)

o Interview should last for about 15 minutes

o The focus of the interview should be around the question “how
do people in your community communicate?”

- Extrapolating from the quiz recently posted on the blog, we
determined that…

o People often possess a fear of not looking professional

o There are many ways to combat writer’s block, including
thinking about another subject, walking away and doing something
else, and blast drafting

o Blast draft (also known as freewriting) is the process of
writing anything that comes to mind without worrying about spelling,
grammar, context, etc.

o Your writing may be polished by cutting the fat (removing
unnecessary, “filler” content) which often results from straying off
topic or using boring or repetitive works, phrases, or structures

o One key maneuver to make your writing less repetitive and more
polished is to lessen your dependence on subject-linking verb forms
of “is”

- As ESF students we should know the speeds of light and
sound. Look them up!


Present for the day’s class: Don, Chris L., Yumie, Alyssa, Megan C.,
Owen, Josh, Chris D., Bobby, Dan, Julienne, Megan T., Nicole,
Svetlana, Amanda, Ben, Sarah, James

Informational Interviewing

Here’s some ideas you may find useful for conducting your interview with a professional.

One of the best sources for gathering information about what's happening in an occupation or an industry is to talk to people working in the field. This process is called informational or research interviewing. An informational interview is an interview that you initiate - you ask the questions. The purpose is to obtain information, not to get a job.

Following are some good REASONS TO CONDUCT INFORMATIONAL INTEVIEWS:

* to explore careers and clarify your career goal
* to discover employment opportunities that are not advertised
* to expand your professional network
* to build confidence for your job interviews
* to access the most up-to-date career information
* to identify your professional strengths and weaknesses

Listed below are STEPS TO FOLLOW TO CONDUCT AN INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEW:

1. Identify the Occupation or Industry You Wish to Learn About

Assess your own interests, abilities, values, and skills, and evaluate labor conditions and trends to identify the best fields to research. So, for this assignment, you will need to identify communication skills you may need in your profession, and see if those align with what the professional actually does.

2. Prepare for the Interview

Read all you can about the field prior to the interview. Decide what information you would like to obtain about the occupation/industry. Prepare a list of questions that you would like to have answered.

3. Identify People to Interview

Start with lists of people you already know - TAs, teachers, researchers, professionals, present or former co-workers, supervisors, neighbors, etc... Professional organizations, the yellow pages, organizational directories, and public speakers are also good resources. You may also call an organization and ask for the name of the person by job title.

4. Arrange the Interview

Contact the person to set up an interview:
* by telephone,
* by an email or a letter followed by a telephone call, or
* by having someone who knows the person make the appointment for you.

5. Conduct the Interview

Dress appropriately, arrive on time, be polite and professional. Refer to your list of prepared questions; stay on track, but allow for spontaneous discussion. Before leaving, ask your contact to suggest names of others who might be helpful to you and ask permission to use your contact's name when contacting these new contacts.

6. Follow Up

Immediately following the interview, record the information gathered. Be sure to send a thank-you note to your contact within one week of the interview.

NOTE: Always analyze the information you've gathered. This information may help you adjust your search, resume, and career objective if necessary.

QUESTIONS!

Prepare a list of your own questions for your informational interview. Following are some sample questions:

1. On a typical day in this position, what do you do?

2. What training or education is required for this type of work?

3. What personal qualities or abilities are important to being successful in this job?

4. What part of this job do you find most satisfying? most challenging?

5. How does writing, communication play a role in your daily tasks?

6. What types of writing do you do?

7. What are the most difficult things to write?

8. What are the salary ranges for various levels in this field?

9. How do you see role of revising in your writing?

10. Is there a demand for good writing in this occupation?

11. What special advice would you give a person entering this field?

12. What types of training does your profession offer persons entering this field?

13. What are the basic communication expectation for jobs in this field?

14. Which professional journals and organizations would help me learn more about this field?

15. What do you think of the wriitng experience of new people had so far in terms of entering this field?

16. From your perspective, what are the problems you see of writers in this field?

17. If you could do things all over again, would you choose the same path for yourself? Why? What would you change?

18. With the information you have about student’s education, skills, and experience, what communication tasks would you suggest I research further?