Chapter 15 Using Communication Skills As You Enter the Workplace

25. According to Chapter 15, approximately how many people in the United States have earned a bachelor's degree? A. Almost all B. A little less than 20% C. More than half D. Less than 1%

B

37. Which item below is NOT one of the suggestions Chapter 15 offers for an informational interview? A. Come prepared with 5 to 10 questions as your guide. B. Prepare by learning as much as you can about the person you are going to interview. C. Use the company website and other sources to learn as much as you can about the company. D. Be prepared to criticize at least one aspect of the company's policies or practices.

D

Chapter 15 recommends all of the following for job seekers EXCEPT A. improving the quality of your résumé by consulting websites like those from Boston College and Purdue University. B. finding an online résumé that is close enough to yours to use in job applications. C. visiting your school's career center. D. asking friends and colleagues to review your résumé.

B

30. Which item below about cover letters is FALSE? A. Human resources divisions, personnel departments, and selection committees often reject applicants who have typos or grammatical errors in their letters. B. A poor cover letter can prove to be a block to advancement in the employment process. C. Human resources divisions, personnel departments, and selection committees rarely read cover letters because employers place the most emphasis on your performance in an interview. D. Your cover letter needs to demonstrate competence and desire for the job very concisely.

C

1. While communication courses may be helpful in your career, a degree in communication is relatively worthless.

FALSE

4. By using informal language in a résumé, you communicate to a potential employer the sort of person you actually are. Employers appreciate this kind of honesty.

FALSE

10. One way to organize your credentials on the résumé is to list them in chronological order.

TRUE

2. People in hiring positions prefer hiring people with communication skills training.

TRUE

3. If you want to make a positive impression in your résumé, pay attention to the style you adopt.

TRUE

27. A résumé that is organized according to your experiences and skills rather than the places where you worked is called a(n) __________ résumé. A. functional B. chronological C. experiential D. serial

A

35. What is the most significant DOWNSIDE of using social media? A. Professional networks can connect you with a very large number of other professionals. B. Human resources professionals can use social networking sites to explore the personal lives of applicants. C. A large number of prospective employers have access to your credentials. D. You may get unsolicited feedback from other professionals.

B

36. Internships offer many benefits. Which of the following is NOT typically one of them? A. Recommendations from professionals in your field B. A welcome source of income for struggling students C. Professional job experience D. An opportunity to see which aspects of your field you prefer

B

24. Which item below would NOT be good advice for you as you prepare a résumé? A. Keep in mind the prominent functions of the job for which you are applying. B. Quantify information—for example, by saying "supervised nine employees on the night shift." C. List every job you have had so employers do not see suspicious gaps. D. Keep your résumé to one page unless you have more than seven years of experience.

C

28. Chapter 15 lists the top 10 attributes employers look for on a résumé. The top attribute is A. computer skills. B. verbal communication skills. C. leadership skills. D. teamwork skills.

C

21. According to Chapter 15, when looking for job candidates, employers express the most interest in those with strong A. information-processing skills. B. decision-making skills. C. teamwork skills. D. verbal communication skills.

D

26. Which of the following is BAD advice for preparing your résumé? A. Include the previous jobs that are most closely related to the one for which you are applying. B. Use key words from the job description in case the employer is using electronic databases to sort applications. C. Carefully proof for errors because sloppiness can be grounds for elimination. D. If necessary, exaggerate your position descriptions to make them align more closely with skills needed for the new position.

D

31. Which item below is NOT good advice about interviewing? A. On a phone interview keep track when the selection committee members say their names so you can try to identify them by voice and name. B. On a video interview be sure to wear appropriate clothing and position yourself so the selection committee has a clear view of you. C. Learn as much as you can about the company and the job before the interview. D. Do your video interview in your own room so the selection committee can see your pictures and posters and get a real sense of who you are.

D

32. Chapter 15 has tips for interview preparation. These include all of the following EXCEPT A. thinking of something specific you like or admire about the company. B. being ready to describe a situation or experience that demonstrates skills relevant to the position. C. thinking of a brief story about your work history or your life that reveals what kind of a worker or a person you are. D. preparing yourself to reveal personal information about your family.

D

34. Chapter 15 includes guidelines for answering behavioral-based interview questions. Which item below is NOT one of those guidelines? A. Be concise: get to the point of your story quickly so you can explain what it means. B. Select examples that highlight important information about you—for example, your ability to solve problems in the workplace. C. Explain the moral or lesson learned from your experience—for example, "By finding that information for the company, I learned how important thorough research can be." D. Make yourself the hero of the story—for example, "If I had not stepped in, the company would have lost customers and possibly gone bankrupt."

D

5. Potential employers appreciate résumés in which you place yourself at the center—for example, by beginning many sentences with the personal pronoun "I."

FALSE

A basic rule about the résumé is the longer, the better. Short résumés indicate that a person has little or no experience.

FALSE

According to Chapter 15, style refers to the way you format your résumé—the font, the color of the ink, the color of the paper, and the graphics you use.

FALSE

Basic information that should be included on the résumé includes your contact information, education, marital status, and parental status.

FALSE

You have been contacted by a potential employer who wants to schedule a phone interview with you. If you were a serious candidate, the employer would have asked for a face-to-face interview.

FALSE

You need not include your educational credentials on your résumé; most employers are not interested in facts about your schooling.

FALSE

In a functional résumé, you organize your experience based on the roles you served—for example, your experience with finances and budget matters in one section, your leadership roles in another.

TRUE

Just like a public speech, the cover letter serves a number of functions: gaining the reader's attention, arousing his or her interest, demonstrating desire for the position, and suggesting the next steps or action you would like to see.

TRUE

The purpose of the cover letter is to show the relationship between your experiences and the requirements of the job.

TRUE

To learn about a potential position, you should study the job description.

TRUE

You may go through a series of interviews before you are offered a position or told that you are no longer being considered.

TRUE

33. Which item below would be a good story to include in an experience inventory? A. My most significant accomplishment was when my employer needed five temporary workers fast, and I found such good helpers that most of them still work for the company today. B. My real objective in life is to travel. I consider work as a means to that end. During college, I traveled to almost every state and every national park in the United States. C. Supervising the evening shift is perfect for me because I'm not a morning person. In fact, I don't usually get up until noon on most days. D. You asked what I would spend my first check on, and the answer is that I would pay off my car loan and get a new sound system for my apartment.

A

38. According to Chapter 15, the weak ties who may be most helpful in your first job searches include A. co-workers, previous internship partners, neighbors, and general acquaintances. B. close friends and family. C. former employers, former supervisors, and former bosses. D. the CEO, the CFO, and the human resources director

A

Chapter 15 makes a number of recommendations about the use of language on your résumé. Which of the following is NOT one of them? A. Use informal language so you don't sound pretentious. B. Use action verbs like planned, supervised, and conducted. C. Use present-tense action verbs for current employment. D. Avoid complete sentences starting with "I."

A

29. Which item below is NOT one of the recommendations for how to write a cover letter? A. Achieve the reader's attention, interest, desire, and action. B. Repeat the information you have listed in the résumé. C. State basic facts—for example, the position you seek, how you heard about it, and your general qualifications. D. Describe your major experiences and strengths as they relate to the job.

B

6. It is traditional to use clauses rather than full sentences in a résumé.

TRUE

7. In a résumé, when you are describing positions or jobs that you had in the past, use past-tense verbs; when you are describing current positions or jobs that you now hold, use present-tense verbs.

TRUE

Although you will need technical skills on the job, employers do not rank them among the top five factors in their hiring decisions.

TRUE

Functional résumés work best for people who have served in a variety of roles.

TRUE