Competitive Job Market

Writing in Action Portfolio

Overview

The Writing in Action portfolio is the culminating document for Part II of this semester.

The portfolio will consist of three primary documents:

1. Final (Unsolicited) Proposal

The (unsolicited) proposal draws from the planning outline and annotated bibliography

to argue for a (re)solution to a specific issue, problem, or opportunity. The proposal

should consist of at least 6 sections: Introduction, Current Situation, Project Plan,

Qualifications, Cost and Benefits, and Conclusion.

1. Introduction. Begin framing the issue/problem/opportunity in the introduction,

ensuring the intro addresses the following questions:

• What is the issue/problem/opportunity?

—the extension of a product in a saturated market, please explore it by talking the USA jewelry market

• What is the purpose of the proposal?

—to offer an effective way that can helps the decision maker expand company.

• What is the scope of the proposal?

• What is the organization of the proposal?

2) Current Situation. Offer readers historical context for the issue, ensuring the current situation

addresses the following criteria:

• Identify and define the issue/problem/opportunity.

• Discuss the causes of the issue/problem/opportunity and how these causes led

to the issue/problem/opportunity.

• What is the background of the problem/issue/opportunity?

• What are the sources of information that support framing of the current situation?

• Discuss the effects or impact of not doing anything about the

issue/problem/opportunity.

 

3) The Project Plan. The project plan details a step-by-step plan for resolving the

problem/issue/opportunity, following the below criteria:

• Identify your overall solution. Provide an overview of your plan and what it will do,

and briefly discuss the major steps of the plan.

• Provide a detailed step-by-step plan. Partition each step into its minor steps (e.g.

What needs to be done to complete each step?).

• Summarize the final deliverables or outcomes of your plan. What will be created

or achieved when your proposed plan is completed? How does it address the

problem/issue/opportunity?

4.) Qualifications. Persuade readers that you are qualified to resolve the

issue/problem/opportunity, by addressing the following questions:

• What makes you qualified to address this issue/problem/opportunity?

• What experiences do you have that relate to the project?

5) Costs and Benefits. Costs and benefits include financial aspects, but they also

include other resource use, as well as positive outcomes not associated with money.

This section should address the following criteria:

• Provide any necessary budget required for completing the project.

• Provide information on any other required resources (time, environmental, labor,

etc.)

• Discuss the positive benefits that justify the cost(s).

6) Conclusion. Conclude the proposal by thanking the readers and offering contact

information for any questions.

The proposal should also follow these other important considerations:

• Draw from your sources, when appropriate, to support claims and/or frame your

project.

• Be between 1250-1500 words.

• Written as concisely as possible—balance need to know vs. want to tell.

• Addresses the primary reader-users you identified in the reader-centered

analysis chart.

• Include at least two images, charts, maps, graphs, etc.

• Adhere to document design principles: e.g. contrast, repetition, alignment, and

proximity.

• Utilize headings, subheadings, and other organizational elements (e.g. bullet

points and table).

• Written in single-space, 11 or 12-pt. font

• Free of surface-level errors (such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar)

• Include a cover page, table of contents, and works-cited page (these documents

are not included in the word count)

 

*A note on images: please only use images to which you have copyright permission to

use. Use public domain images or take/create your own. Using copyright-protected

material without permission will negatively impact your grade.

The Professional Profile

Following my feedback and feedback from your classmates, revise your professional

profile and adhere to the criteria below:

• An appropriate heading that includes your first and last names.

• Three to four keywords below the heading that help to describe your professional

identity—keywords should be professionally relevant (avoid platitudes).

• A professional-looking headshot photograph appropriately sized.

• Three sections:

o The first section introduces your professional identity and frames the

document—establishing your professional identity.

o The second paragraph helps show readers your experiences–supporting

claims with detailed examples and/or anecdotes.

o And the final paragraph ties the document together and ends on a positive

note—what’s the primary takeaway with which you want to leave readers. •

Approximately 300-350 words.

• Free of surface-level errors (such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar).

The Resume

Following my feedback and feedback from your classmates, revise your resume. The

Resume should adhere to the following:

• No Templates! If you use an MS Word, or similar, resume template, so are

thousands of other folks. In a competitive job market, you want your resume to

stand out and be different from the competition. So, do not use a resume

template.

• Use action words. Page 406 has a great list to get you started, and you should

also check out the LifeHacker article in Module 2 for an additional list.

• Follow the chronological format. Note: I disagree with our textbook when it comes

to Summary Statements on resumes. Other documents–such as the one-page

professional profile–are better places to present this information.

• When listing your work experiences, you want to emphasize your position or job

title, not the company/organization for which you worked. Similarly, list and

feature your degree before the institution.

• Design is important. Follow the principles of design (contrast, repetition,

alignment, and proximity)

• Create a header. Your header should allow your name to stand out–either

through color, font size, or both, and include your contact information.

• Free of surface-level errors (such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar).

 

Final Deliverable

The documents should be organized in the following order: 1. Portfolio Cover Page (Name, Date, Course)

2. Writing in Action Statement (foregrounds the Writing in Action portfolio, especially focusing on how writing is being used to solve the issue/problem/opportunity in about 75-100

words.)

3. Portfolio Table of Contents with page numbers

4. Proposal Cover Page

5. Proposal

6. Proposal Works-Cited Page

7. Optional: Appendices