6.2.8. Letter of Recommendation

A letter of recommendation should follow the format of formal let­ters. In the upper left corner the address of the recipient is to be placed. Un­der it, there is the date. The letter begins with Dear Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms, or if the recipient is unknown, To Whomever it May Concern.

The body of the letter usually has three paragraphs. In the first one start out by specifying in what capacity and for how long you have know the person whom you are recommending. If the person is an employee or co­worker, indicate the term of employment, the responsibilities of the position, and any significant projects undertaken by the individual. You may wish to include a sentence about the nature of your company and its activities. Here, you can also give a one-sentence summary or overview of your opinion of the recommended individual.

The second paragraph provides a more detailed evaluation of the person as an employee. Describe his or her performance on specific assign­ments and list any important accomplishments. What are the individual's strengths or shortcomings in the workplace? What was it like to interact with him or her?

Finally, to sum things up, you can make a more broad characterisa­tion of the individual and their demeanour. Overall, was the person respon­sible, polite, warm, disagreeable? Finally, indicate the degree to which you recommend the individual for the position she or he is seeking: without res­ervation, strongly, with some reservation. The letter should be concluded with your position and contact address, and signature.

Sample letter of recommendation

ADDRESS OF THE RECIPIENT DATE Subject: Letter of Recommendation for Mr _____________

To Whom It May Concern: Mr _________ has been studying Telecommunications under my supervision almost four years now. During all this time, he proved himself to be an able student, a hard worker, and a multitalented character. I am quite impressed by Mr _________'s ability to complete all work assigned to him on time, if not before it was due. His research is always thorough and comprehensive, and his presentation always accurate, concise, and evocative. All that clearly indicates his mental abilities which are certainly outstanding.

Moreover, the classes allow me to have a thorough insight into his personal characteristics. He proves himself to be autonomous, yet functions equally well as a member of a team. Overall, Mr __________ is a very conscientious and able student. I certainly believe he has what it takes to make a prosperous engineer. I strongly recommend him as a gifted student who deserves being invested into as that would only help further develop his rich potentials.

Sincerely, ______________________,

Title ___________________

Department of ________________

Faculty of _____________

University of _________

Contact address ________________

6.2.9. Resume/ cv

A resume (or curriculum vitae/CV) is a selective and purposefully written record of your background. The focus of the resume assignment is readability, effective design, and adaptation to audience expectations (J.S.VanAlstyne 2001). Here are the main characteristics of a CV. This is only to help you realise what are the most usual sections and information they should contain. Before you write your CV make sure if the organisation you will be sending it to has its required standard and if so, abide by it.

Resumes can be divided into three sections: the heading, the body, and the conclusion. Each of these sections has common contents.

Heading contains your name, phone numbers, address, and other details such as your occupation, titles, and so on. Some resume writers in­clude the name of their profession, occupation, or field. Headings can also contain a goals and objectives subsection and a highlights subsection.

Body: In a one-page resume, the body is the middle portion, occu­pying a half or more of the total space of the resume. In this section, you present the details of your work, education, and military experience. This information is arranged in reverse chronological order. In the body section, you also include your accomplishments, for example, publications, certifi­cations, equipment you are familiar with, and so on. There are two basic ways to present this information:

- you can divide it functionally — into separate sections for work ex­perience and education;

- you can divide it thematically — into separate sections for the different areas of your experience and education.

Conclusion: In the final third or quarter of the resume, you can pre­sent other related information on your background. For example, you can list activities, professional associations, memberships, hobbies, and inter­ests. At the bottom of the resume, you should state who wrote references for you that you enclose, and the date of preparation of the resume. At first, you might think that listing nonwork and personal information would be totally irrelevant and inappropriate. Actually, it can come in handy — it personal­ises you to potential employers.