Reflective Portfolio Cover Letter

Yonathan Ayalew

ENGL 2116-007

May 2, 2011

Reflective Portfolio Cover Letter

Over the course of the Spring 2011 semester we had several assignments that we completed as part of a portfolio. The four assignments were a resume essay, a cover letter, a resume and a set of instructions assignment. In this portfolio I have revised all four of the assignments. It is in the order listed above with the original assignments behind all the revised assignments.

The first assignment in the portfolio was the resume essay. In this essay I discussed my ideal job, which is to go back to my hometown of Los Angeles and work with the operations department at the Staples Center. I talked about my experience working with operation at the Student Union at UNC Charlotte and how this job would help me. The jobs are somewhat similar in terms of what is done but it is on a much larger scale. I was a little worried because it might not a job that would be ideal for a college graduate but I think my experience and involvement on campus will show that I am the ideal candidate for this position.

Next I revised the cover letter assignment. My cover letter had a few grammatical errors, which I fixed quickly. I also made the revisions that were recommended. The beginning of the letter was a little to long and not to the point. I fixed it by shortening it and taking out the redundancy. Another major revision I made was splitting the second paragraph into two paragraphs. I took the recommendation of elaborating on my responsibilities as an orientation counselor. I discusses my specific duties as an orientation counselor as well as what I did to enhance the experience of incoming students. I tried to make sure that I was the ideal candidate for the RA position because of my involvement on campus. The main thing I took away from this assignment was how to sell myself to future employers.

The third revision I made was on my resume. My resume was decent to start with. I revised the letterhead by adding bullets. I then added my expected graduation date. There was also an error on my first resume with an overlap with my high school graduation date and college start date, which I fixed. I also added one more leadership position that I held on campus. I assume that this will help me obtain the position as an RA because it shows my leadership involvement on campus. I also used verbs to convey my duties.

The last assignment in the portfolio is the set of instructions assignments. This assignment is one I revised the most. I had a hard time picking a topic and the one I picked was not that great, but I kept the original topic. I went through and fixed minor grammatical errors. Two major revisions I made were to add pictures and steps. The pictures correspond with the steps. Before the revision I had a paragraph that described the steps. I took that out and added actual steps. The instructions were really not organized when I first did the essay. I read through it and made it more specific. I took out the part where I talked about opening the box and installing the printer, and instead focused on the actual maintenance of the printer.

This class was a technical communications class. Going into the class I really did not know what to expect. I though we would be writing email and work on the types of formats that is preferred in the technological community. This class covered almost all aspects of communication. One of the first things I learned in this class is that language is communication. Almost anything can be communication. This was interesting because coming into the class I thought technical communication was simply letters and emails. Technical communication can be presentations, emails, letters, resumes and even web sites.

I was never a great writer especially when it came to longer papers. One thing I struggle with is organizing my thoughts. I know what I want to say but I have a hard time doing so. One thing I have learned from doing this portfolio is to revise papers; when making revision you can see what you have done wrong. It is also easier to have organized though when you have a hard copy to revise because you can make changes and rearrange the paper to make it make more sense.

Based on my work, effort, and participation I think I deserve a C in this class. When it comes to work and effort I have tried completing most assignments in a timely manner. I also put thought into the assignments. I think I have good ideas and topics but had a hard time organizing my thoughts and understanding the assignment. When it comes to participation I feel that I have participated but not as much as I should have. I do try to give a response in class. Overall, this semester, I feel that my work in this class has been average not horrible but not that great.