COM 510 Strayer University Business Communications Essay

Week 8 Assignment – Written Communication: The Proposal

Overview

Business managers and employees use  written communication every day. Opportunities for written communication  in the business world include everything from reports, memos, and  documentation to emails, instant messaging, and social media. Effective  written communication can help build and grow business relationships,  accelerate results, solicit input and feedback, rally personnel toward  shared goals, and improve personal lives. Your ability to write messages  that are clear and concise, while positioned strategically and  presented professionally, will distinguish you in your field and  personal lives.

In this assignment, you will develop a  written communication for the targeted audience you identified in the  outline for your business pitch, workplace problem/solution, or mini TED  Talk. The written proposal needed to fulfill this assignment will  depend on the information you developed in your outline, and your  further research and writing. Take the ideas from your outline to turn  your plan into a written proposal. Use subject headings and write  paragraphs that give full detail and support from your sources, urging  your audience to take action based on your proposal.

Instructions

Step 1: Begin Drafting the Assignment

Review the Feedback Template to make a list of your instructor’s  feedback from Assignment 1, as well as feedback from the discussions to  revise your outline. Incorporate the feedback into all parts of the  outline. You will write about the feedback in Part II of the assignment.

Do additional research to convince your audience that the proposal  will be successful and fulfill the five sources required for the  assignment.

Use the tell style to inform and the sell style to persuade.

Use the join style to collaborate with members of the audience.

Part I: This is where you write the plan for your target audience. What will you communicate to them?

Provide the necessary information and build credibility to build  your case for your audience. This section of your proposal might  include background information and include some of your five sources.

The subject heading might be “Background Information.” Again,  match your subject headings with the main point of your content. The  length of this section will depend on how much background information  your audience needs to understand what you are proposing.

Key Message:

Continue writing your proposal by presenting your key message  with three or four supporting points or reasons. This is where you will  bring in some of your sources, to back up your ideas and gain  credibility with your audience. Subject headings will help guide your  audience through reading your supporting sections of your proposal.  Again, how many paragraphs you will need to write depends on what you  have to provide for your audience to understand and what you are  proposing.

End your proposal with a clear call to action for your audience.  Now that you have given enough information to your audience members to  convince them that your proposal is a good one, tell them what to do  with your information. Make sure that you are direct and passionate  about your request for action and that it is clear and actionable.

Feedback to Learner 3/5/23 11:06 AM
Antoine: Thanks for resubmitting this, but you still do not understand the assignment. You are
not writing an email. How could a 3-5 page plan with 5 intext citations and sources be an email.
You need to pretend as if you are applying for a job, and you then write your interview. You
have given no specifics about who you are and what you have done here. No one would hire you
reading this, much less in an interview.
I sent you Kane’s model, and you didn’t look at it. You need to look at it and see how an
interview is done.
You need to get a job description from Indeed.com and pretend that you are applying for that
job.
I have attached a handout on how to get a job. You need to write the interview directly to the
people who will interview you. This is your script for the final video you make in W10. Without
doing this properly, you will not be able to do your final video, which is worth 250 points!!!
I hope this helps. You will have to redo this for a higher grade. All best, Dr S
Job Search / Internal Promotion Preparation Check List
☐ The first step in your career journey is to clarify your goals. Use this link to start this
process: https://careercenter.strayer.edu/channels/clarify-your-goal/
☐ Explore your degree programs Career Exploration Guide:
https://careercenter.strayer.edu/channels/career-exploration-guides/
☐ Create/update LinkedIn account. For a tutorial, use this link.
☐ Create an account with Strayer University’s Job Search platform.
☐ Go to Career Connect, indeed, and LinkedIn to find a job description for the kind of
job that you want. With the job description, you’ll know the skills you need to do have for
the new job. Then you can address the skills that you have from your current job that
transfer into the new job. Typically, the top 3-5 skills on the job description are key skills
that are being sought in candidates.
☐ Knowing the job description gives you the ability to go into LinkedIn Learning and do
some certificates in the skill areas that you lack.
☐Grow your network by making connections on LinkedIn. For additional networking tips
and ideas check out this link: https://careercenter.strayer.edu/channels/networking/
☐ Consider a building a mentorship relationship with someone in your industry through
LinkedIn or Strayer University’s mentorship program. For more information about
building a mentor relationship please visit this link.
☐ Use this resume writing guide to improve or create your resume:
https://careercenter.strayer.edu/channels/resume-writing-guide/
☐ Prepare a cover letter with the Career Center’s writing guide:
https://careercenter.strayer.edu/channels/cover-letter-writing-guide/
☐ Developing a 2-minute “Tell me About Yourself” statement. It will be good for you to
create that as part of the introduction of your written plan.
☐ Prepare for an interview with this link. Specially prepare and practice behavioral
interview questions.
☐ For additional career assistance, reach out to the career strategy team at Strayer
University. Here is the link to be send career resources, schedule an appointment, or
submit your resume and cover letter for review: https://careercenter.strayer.edu/contacta-career-coach/
Additional Tips for Job Search / Internal Promotion Preparation
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Behavioral questions use the The Star Interview Method, which enables you to:
Situation: Set the scene and give the necessary details of your example.
Task: Describe what your responsibility was in that situation.
Action: Explain exactly what steps you took to address it.
Result: Share what outcomes your actions achieved.
It is extremely important to know what to anticipate in an interview. That includes
reviewing and being-up-to date on a company’s website and looking at some of
the people who are hired in the field. You can find people in the company on
https://www.linkedin.com/ (another reason for a good LinkedIn profile). Also, be
familiar with the news pages of the companies, look at their future directions, and
do some research on those directions. You will come off as proactive and
knowledgeable.
If you’re taking any HR or business classes, ask your professors how to find a
mentor, network, and advance in these industries.
Consider joining the Facebook Business Career Community group.
As for preparing for job interviews, you need to assess your fears (How to NOT
Get Nervous Speaking in Front of People) and strengths and build your
confidence.
That will include making sure how to present yourself both online and face-toface (How to get comfortable on camera), including the technology, lighting,
sound, and overall impact of your professionalism in any interview space (How
To Look Good on Video Calls for Zoom FaceTime Skype).
Consider what Transferable skills you will bring to a new position when you are
interviewing. These are great skills to make in a resume, cover letter, and during
your interview.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate your salary. For more information about this, click this
link.
Review this resource on professional communication to improve your
communication skills. This will come in handy when you are reaching out to
mentors, hiring managers, recruiters, etc.
For additional information about becoming a thought leader, check out this link.
INTERVIEW FOR TOYOTA OF
CEDAR PARK
AMANDA KANE
DR. SUMMERSKILL November 28th, 2021
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Introduction
Good afternoon, my name is Amanda Kane, and I want to sincerely thank you for considering
me as a candidate for the Finance Manager position. I am grateful to be here (Canavor,1). Let
me tell you a bit about myself. I have been in the Finance industry for the last 5 years, and I have
proven successful in both generating profit for the store through the sale of insurance products
as well as timely funding processes via good standing relationships with bank representatives and
proper execution of paperwork. On average I have been able to produce about $2500 gross profit
per deal, and I know how to get the difficult contracts bought, such as those with poor or limited
credit (Lok,2). My real strength is my ability to draw on my education in Sociology to understand
and build rapport with clients, banks reps, and coworkers and utilize that knowledge to both
mine and the company’s benefit (Lok,2). I am passionate about the work that I do as I enjoy
helping customers process and protect their large financial investments while also benefiting
your bottom line.
Background Information
I graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a B.A in Sociology in 2014 and
began working in the marketing department at Sam’s Club selling and upgrading memberships.
It was there that I discovered I have a natural talent for sales. I was quickly promoted from an
entry level position to a managerial role within a years’ time and decided then that I wanted to
take my skillset to a commission-based line of work as to maximize my potential for profit. I
began my career selling cars at a Volkswagen dealership and earned top sales month after
month. I was able to secure the finance position at the same Volkswagen store within 10
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months’ time and really began honing my skillset of selling products, customer service, and
knowledge of financial regulations there. Within that Auto Group, Volkswagen was the lowest
performing store when I was promoted into Finance. Using my knowledge of financial
regulations, and my ability to build trust with my clients to offer financial protection products, I
raised the profit margin on the finance side by 97% within my first year and was then moved to
the Auto Group’s highest performing store, Toyota, shortly thereafter. While earning my
commissions and moving up in the company, I have been able to maintain a sense of integrity.
Many people in this industry are so focused on the almighty dollar that the importance of
“fostering relationships through trust and integrity” are lost, and I believe the value I place in
this due to my interest in Sociology matches your company’s values and sets me apart from
other candidates. (Toyota Of Cedar Park,3). I believe my history of success in this business
shows that I work hard to always do better, and I am highly qualified to offer the same benefit
of excellent customer service and financial growth to your establishment.
Common Interview Questions
1. “Tell me about how you worked effectively under pressure” (Doyle,4).
One busy Saturday, there was a call out in our department at work, so we were short-handed.
We had a gong in our showroom floor that customers would hit when a deal was made to
create excitement. My counterpart and I were both with customers, and were the only finance
managers in the store, when we heard the gong was being hit over, and over, and over again
with enough pause to indicate they were all different customers. We realized we were about to
be swamped with customers, and each deal not only required, but deserved our time and
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attention. The Sales Managers were stressed and calling every few minutes asking if we were
ready for the next. I placed the customer as my priority and chose to push all other processes to
be handled after I attended to my customers. I did not immediately scan, input, or process the
new files as those could be done after the fact. I pulled my customers in, explained their
options and contracts, and answered any questions they may have, and proceeded to the next
with a smile on my face, and we made it through to rush without panic and had satisfied
customers.
2. “Have you handled a difficult situation? How?” (Doyle,4).
During the peak of the global pandemic, the dealership I was with before never closed its doors
for even one day. We were lucky to have remained gainfully employed during an economic
crisis, but it did come with its own set of challenges. I had to navigate a new world of constantly
changing news and guidelines, make sure I stayed protected while also ensuring my customers
were safe, and move forward as usual while the world was falling apart around us. I was
regularly tested on my own time, kept my positivity through the craziness, and still managed to
get my job done through major banking shutdowns and other out of my control situations. I
even managed to increase my per deal average profit during the disarray.
3. “Give an example of a goal you reached and tell me how you achieved it” (Doyle,4).
I have an interesting story for this question…
A Story to Convey Key Message
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During my time in sales at the Volkswagen store, I took on the role of TDI Ambassador during
the TDI buyback program after the Volkswagen emissions scandal. It was my first year in the car
business and in a sales position, and Volkswagen was caught cheating on diesel-emissions tests
and promoted clean diesel when it was not actually clean. This caused a lot of panic at the
dealer level. The brand launched a program that gave TDI owners 2 options. They would
buyback the TDI vehicles from owners for a profit, or customers could get the repairs done to
fix the issue when it became available. I did duties above and beyond the requirements of a
saleswoman by taking this role on and worked to heal the brand name by hosting customer
question nights at the store, writing and sending marketing letters regarding the program, and
worked alongside Volkswagen representatives to remedy customer concerns. While taking on
this enormous project, I still managed to earn top sales at my store each month that I was
there. I kept the VW customer base happy and worked through the bad press to keep our VW
drivers driving VW. Even though I had little experience, I was the only female salesperson at the
store, and I was up against a big roadblock, I succeeded in doing my job well and was rewarded
by earning my position in the finance department (Dumas,5).
Call to Action
I believe that I am the best candidate for this job. I have the skillset required by your listing,
such as “selling finance and insurance products to customers, building rapport with customers
to build a base of referrals to establish customer network, maintaining impeccable reputation
with lenders, and producing and submitting paperwork for title work and securing funding from
finance sources in a timely manner” (Penske Automotive, 6). As someone coming from a
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finance position at a different Toyota store, I have the knowledge about the product already
and need little to no training on the dealer processes. I am particularly interested in being a
part of your company due to my admiration for Dealer Principal Julie Herrera and the success
she has afforded this business. It is wonderful to see a female leader produce so much success
while maintaining core values of honesty and integrity. Julie has a BA in Psychology, whereas I
have mine in Sociology. She began her career working for Audi, whereas I began mine at Audi’s
parent company Volkswagen (Herrera, 7). I respect her successes and would love the
opportunity to learn from her and work for her while I mirror her career path working my way
up my own. My working history shows my ability to learn and adapt quickly and succeed at any
given task and go beyond what is expected. If you’ll have me on the team, then I look forward
to going on this adventure together, so “Let’s Go Places” (Toyota,8). Thank you for your time
and consideration.
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Sources
1.
Natalie Canavor. 2018. Business Writing Today. p.
192. https://strayer.vitalsource.com/reader/books/9781506388311/epubcfi/6/
44[%3Bvnd.vst.idref%3Ds9781506388342.i1462]!/4/2[s9781506388342.i1462]/14[s
9781506388342.i1502]/6[s9781506388342.i1503]/2/1:37[vie%2Cws].
2. Dan Lok. December 25, 2019. Tell Me About Yourself – A Good Answer To This
Interview
Question. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vwyR5emRw&t=444s.
3. No author. No date. Toyota of Cedar
Park. https://www.toyotaofcedarpark.com/about-us/.
4. Alison Doyle. March 17, 2021. 10 Common Behavioral Interview
Questions. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/top-behavioral-interviewquestions-2059618.
5. Michelle Dumas. May 23, 2016. Storytelling: The Secret Formula For An
Engaging
Resume. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2016/05/23/sto
rytelling-the-secret-formula-for-an-engaging-resume/?sh=47f07a565d13.
6. pagjobs. No
date. Penske
Automotive
Manager. https://pagjobs.com/leander-tx/financemanager/DC27BE77B6E149119966C41EB5BF5159/job/.
Finance
7. Julie Herrera. No date. No title. https://www.juliemherrera.com/.
8. No author. No date. Let’s Go
Places. https://www.toyota.com/brandguidelines/tagline/#:~:text=Let%27s%2
0Go%20Places%20is%20the%20verbal%20expression%20that,tagline%20Let%2
7s%20Go%20Places%20with%20intention%20and%20integrity..
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Part II
My communication style as of now is being done through writing something
like a resume, though it is a little more in depth than a typical resume might
look like. When presenting this to my intended audience (my interviewers), I
would likely be doing this via Zoom, or possibly in person. I will be utilizing the
sell style of communication. I would need to watch my tone; ensure I am
presenting myself professionally but friendly and approachable. It will be
important that I portray excitement and passion in what I am saying, as I
have tried to do in my writing.
Week 8 Assignment: Feedback Template
NAME: Amanda Kane
DATE: 11/28/2021
List 5 feedback comments about your outline that you received from your professor and/or the
class discussions. Also, explain how you used them to improve your communications proposal.
Copy the answers below to Part 2 of your Week 8 Assignment.
1: Feedback: “You are at a disadvantage for this plan since you are not certain what type of job
you will be looking for”
How it was used: I found an open position in Texas where I am looking to move to be close to
my family. It is also in a company I am excited to work for run by a leader I would be eager to
work under. Having a clear audience analysis was detrimental to succeeding with this project.
Without it, I would have been using too many generalities which would have undermined the
idea behind writing in business.
2. Feedback: “Take a look at all the job skills required and begin to think about times when
you’ve been in other jobs that you’ve used these skills.”
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How it was used: I focused in on the skills listed in the job post and discussed how I am well
versed in the requirements of the position. I used examples of real-life work situations in which
these skills were utilized. Being that I am applying for the same position I currently hold in a
new company, it was easy to say I knew how to do it. Coming up with examples and ways I
went above and beyond the bare minimum was the important part of stepping up a level.
3. Feedback: The weakest parts of your outline “are the description and the goal. In both of
these two sections, you merely reiterated the questions without answering them”
How it was used: I believe I have addressed this concern. I think the description of the job has
been made clear, and my goal to obtain the position is concise. Just telling an interviewer that I
would like the position is not going to get me the job. I have to sell myself, and sell why I
deserve it over other candidates. My goal was to present myself as the best option, and I
believe I have done so here.
4. Feedback: “I particularly like your mention of the CEO of Toyota and how you will leverage
what you know about her to help you get a job there”
How it was used: Leveraging the audience was important in the feedback, and even if I do not
interview directly with the Dealer Principal herself, it is likely that the manager I am
interviewing with will be familiar with her and hopefully impressed that I have done my
research. If Julie Herrera has earned a position of respect and regard, then mirroring her
attributes and proving I aspire to be like her would make me appear to be a good candidate to
join the team and create familiarity.
5. Feedback: “Also, the audience will be the interview team—not you or me. Don’t write
anything in your plan such as “In this plan I will discuss how I am going to interview for this
position.”
A good way to start is the 2 minute ‘Tell me about yourself.’ Watch this video:
https://youtu.be/5v-wyR5emRw. You can follow that with behavioral questions. Read this
article:
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/top-behavioral-interview-questions-2059618”
How it was used: I wrote as though I was facing an interviewer, not my professor. The Dan
Lok video “Tell me about Yourself” really helped me to get the intro started. I very closely
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followed his guidelines in my introduction, and it helped me to navigate the rest of my paper.
After my intro, I followed it with behavioral questions as recommended. Thank you!
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