Part 5: How To Land the Job You Want

5 course series

This specialisation will help you develop the English language strategies and communication skills you need to advance in your professional career. Whether you already have a successful career and are looking to move forward, whether you’re looking to change careers, whether you’re starting out in the world of work, or whether you’re coming back into the world of work after some time away – if you believe in working for more than a paycheck, then this specialisation will help you. The core courses cover preparing for a successful job search, including self-research and research of the job market and industries of interest; strengthening your interview skills by recognising what hiring managers are looking for and taking steps to prepare for the types of tough questions today's premier companies use; and preparing a resume, cover letter and supporting business documents. The capstone will allow you to apply the skills you learn in this specialisation to your own job search.

A key benefit of this specialisation is the opportunities you'll have to practice your interviewing skills with other job-seekers from around the world. You’ll give them feedback and they’ll give you feedback. In this process, you’ll gain new insight into what makes a speaker successful and you’ll gain confidence in your English interviewing skills.

In the capstone project, you will combine the skills you’ve learned in the prior four courses of the specialisation to polish your elevator speeches, complete your CVs - including multiple versions for different targets - complete your story file, identify possible jobs or careers, perform the research you have learned to do, write suitable cover letters, and ideally land a job!

You will:

• Develop a personal marketing plan and campaign for getting interviews
• Identify at least three organisations with open positions for which you want to apply
• Research those organisations and positions
• Prepare pitch sheets and J.I.S.T. cards (mini-CVs) targeting those positions
• Complete your CV, and if necessary complete multiple versions to target each position
• Write appropriate cover letters for the positions
• Record and evaluate responses to a set of standard interview questions
• Record and evaluate responses to a set of predictable behavioural interview questions
• Record and evaluate a response to one situational interview question
• Record and evaluate a response to one wild-card question

As the specialisation has focused throughout on the real-world skills you need to research yourself, the market, and a company and has given you strategies and tools to prepare for and succeed in an interview, the capstone project should align with what you have been trained for and position you to land the job you want!

There are 8 modules in this course

The University of Maryland, College Park is the state's flagship university and one of the nation's preeminent public research universities. A global leader in research, entrepreneurship and innovation, the university is home to more than 40,700 students, 14,000 faculty and staff, and nearly 400,000 alumni all dedicated to the pursuit of Fearless Ideas. Located just outside Washington, D.C., we discover and share new knowledge every day through our renowned research enterprise and programs in academics, the arts and athletics. And we are committed to social entrepreneurship as the nation’s first “Do Good” campus.