Professional Home Page
Stage 1 due Fri. January 26
Create a simple homepage using the tags we learned in class. Create an “about me” page, which contains select information from your interest survey that you choose to share with the class. You can use the template(s) below provided for a start.
Name your homepage file for this page index.html and post it in your public_html directory on RCS. Keep in mind that anyone can read what you post in your public_html directory (even if you have not linked to it), so do not include any information in this directory that you do not want accessible to the public. Name your “about me” page, about_me.html and post it your public html directory on RCS. These pages should link to one another.
A sample W4 web page is posted at http://www.rpi.edu/~zappenj/WWWW/wwwwddm2.html. Some sample page layouts (with tables) are posted at http://www.rpi.edu/~zappenj/WWWW/wwwwtbl1.html, http://www.rpi.edu/~zappenj/WWWW/wwwwtbl2.html, and http://www.rpi.edu/~zappenj/WWWW/wwwwtbl3.html.Some Rensselaer logos and images are posted at http://www.rpi.edu/~zappenj/Rensselaer/. Some Troy and Troy-area photographs are posted at http://connectedkids.sbrl.rpi.edu/TroyArtHistory/TroyPhotoArchive/tpa.html.
Stage 2 due Tues. March 1: Two parts
First Submission of Resume and Professional Background Statement
Resume
You will create two documents for this part of the assignment. The first document is a print resume. You should follow the guidelines in your handbook, Faigley p.134-138. As Faigley describes it, your resume is an “advertisement for yourself,” so you’ll want to think carefully and consciously about the audience you’d like to reach. Ideally, you’ll rewrite your resume for each job you apply to in order to make sure it appropriately caters to the needs and specifications of the job. For this assignment, you’ll want to consider an audience of potential employers in your field. Think carefully about the kind of internship or job you might find yourself applying for.
http://www.rpi.edu/~zappenj/WWWW/pbs_template2.html
Professional Background Statement (adapted from Professor Jim Zappen)
Create a well written and attractively formatted prose statement of your professional background, competencies, and interests suitable for a prospective employer, post it on the web, and link it to your W4 web page. Include in your professional background the kinds of information that you would include in a professional letter of application and resume, but present this information in readable prose paragraphs, with formatting (such as white space, bulleted lists, etc.) as appropriate. Begin your professional background with a brief introduction, including a statement of your short- and/or long-term professional objectives and a summary of your primary competencies and interests. For example:
I am a senior biomedical engineering student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute seeking a challenging position in a research and development lab. My Rensselaer education, my work experience in several biomedical engineering positions, and my knowledge of laboratory techniques and procedures have prepared me to contribute productively in such a position.
In the body of your professional background, present details that support your claims in your introduction and reflect your record of professional accomplishments, following the order set forth in your introduction. Include details about your educational background, work experience, and other relevant skills. Put separate ideas in separate paragraphs, and begin each paragraph with a topic or main-idea sentence. Support your main idea with factual data such as your educational institution, class standing, job titles, and the like. Present parallel ideas (such as lists of jobs or skills) in grammatically parallel sentences or phrases.
Use the following Writing Guidelines and check your work carefully for clarity and correctness.
Guidelines:
1. Create a presentation of your professional background suitable for presentation on your own web. Include the kind of information you would ordinarily include in your letter of application and resume, but present this information in readable prose paragraphs. Include your education, experience, and other relevant skills, in order of importance from most to least important (usually, therefore, in reverse chronological order). Put separate ideas in separate paragraphs, and begin each paragraph with a topic or main-idea sentence.
2. Begin your professional background with a brief summary of your professional goals or objectives. Emphasize your audience's goals rather than your own, that is, organizational rather than personal goals. Indicate what you think you can contribute to the fulfillment of these goals. Include a brief overview of your principal competencies, in the order of the presentation that follows.
3. Present your information in order from most to least important. List individual items in reverse chronological order.
4. Use headings and subheadings to emphasize main ideas.
5. Use formatting (white space, bulleted lists, etc.) to clarify content and organization.
7. Use action words to emphasize productivity. Use grammatical parallelism in logically parallel items, such as lists. (Note: The following list is parallel: "Designed," " Created," "Produced," "Maintained," "Supervised," "Managed." The following list is not parallel: "Designed," "Familiar with," "Produced," "Responsibilities included.")
8. Check your text carefully for accuracy, clarity, and correctness.
Produce your professional background statement as a web page in standard XHTML (not as a .doc or .pdf file), post it to your RCS public_html directory, and make a link to it from your Writing to the WWW web page. Include a link to the print version of your resume, and title the link “Printable Resume.” Design your statement in conformity with the current W3C XHTML 2.0 standard and the Web Design Specifications for this course. Use the W3C MarkUp Validation Service to validate your code. Once you have established that your code is valid, display the W3C validation icon at the bottom of your page.
Prepare a draft of both documents for Mar. 13 as we will peer review them in class. Title them with: firstnamelastinitial_resume.doc and firstnamelastinital_profstate.html and put them in the appropriate parts of the Teacher folder.
Stage 3: Revised Professional Home Page Due Fri. March 16
Using the skills we’ve learned in class, you will upload a new and improved version of your professional homepage. It should include links to your “about me” page and your “professional background statement” (which will include a link to your print resume). You should include some kind of visual self-representation. It may include the logo you designed for class, but it may be another visual representation. I caution against including a photo of yourself, but if you choose to incorporate one, make sure it is professional.
You also may include other projects or work samples that you think potential employers will want to see; i.e., you may include some photo-editing you did in Photoshop or you may want to create a web-formatted resume. You can include whatever materials are appropriate for your field.
The site should have a clear and consistent navigation path, and it should follow the design criteria set forth by Williams and Tollet.
Stage 4: Final Professional Home Page Due Tues. May 1
You may continue to improve and expand your Professional Home Page throughout the course of the semester, adding new features as we acquire additional skills in class. If you make additional changes after the mid-term, you will have a chance to resubmit your individual project on May 1 or anytime beforehand.
It is my hope that this professional home page is something you will maintain and update throughout your career at Rensselaer, so that you will always have an updated resume ready to be sent off. If you find yourself applying for a job, feel free to visit me or the CCP to get additional feedback on your job materials.
