Careers Guidance Workshop 2003

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Careers Guidance Workshop 2003

• Co-organisers
• Education and Manpower Bureau
• The University of Hong Kong

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Writing Persuasive Recommendationsin Englishfor
School Leavers

• Nicole Tavares and Leo Hoye
• Faculty of Education
• The University of Hong Kong

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Whats the challenge?
3 minutes!
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Objectives of the Workshop

• To enrich your knowledge of and expand your
  language use in writing (letters of)
  recommendation
• To enhance your writing skills in writing student
  recommendations
• To share with you some tips on writing persuasive
  recommendations
• To inform you of general admission criteria of
  local universities and institutions and
• To inform you of general expectations of
  employers.

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Writing Persuasive Recommendations

• JUPAS applications
• Applications through JUPAS
• sub-system
• Employment

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Programme

• What goes into a (letter of) recommendation?
• How can the recommendation be made more
  persuasive?
• Group Task in Writing an Effective (Letter of)
  Recommendation

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What goes into a (letter of) recommendation?
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Involvement in Community Services
Other Special Attributes
Skills Acquired
Personality Traits
Participation In Extra-curricular Activities
Related Experiences
Academic Qualifications
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Academic Qualifications

• level attained
• internal results
• external results
• awards
• scholarships
• intellectual ability

• language proficiency
• English
• Chinese
• growth potential
• industry
• diligence

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Academic Qualifications

• level attained
• internal results
• external results
• awards
• scholarships
• intellectual ability

• language proficiency
• English
• Chinese
• growth potential
• industry
• diligence

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Skills

• Thinking Skills
• logical
• organisational
• analytical
• critical
• problem-solving
• decision-making
• Power of Imagination

• Creativity
• Innovation
• Originality
• Communication
• Cooperation
• Interpersonal
• Leadership

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Skills

• Thinking Skills
• logical
• organisational
• analytical
• critical
• problem-solving
• decision-making
• Power of Imagination

• Creativity
• Innovation
• Originality
• Communication
• Cooperation
• Interpersonal
• Leadership

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Personality Traits

• Adaptability
• Assertiveness
• Creativity
• Diligence
• Emotional Stability
• Energy
• Independence
• Interpersonal Sensitivity

• Initiative
• Leadership
• Motivation
• Numeracy
• Patience
• Self-confidence
• Trustworthiness

NETmatch, CEPC, HKU
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How can we make the recommendation more
persuasive?
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How effective is this letter?

• What problems can you find?
• Format
• Content
• Language
• Tone
• Persuasiveness
• How would you suggest these areas be improved?
• Can the letter be made more
  persuasive?

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Let's share our responses!
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Put Yourself in the Shoes of the Recipient
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?

• Who is Dora Wang exactly?
• Does Dora know why she is writing?
• How well does she know Rebecca?
• How good is Rebecca?
• Is Rebecca really a suitable candidate for the
  course of study?
• How reliable is the letter?

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FORMAT

• Opening
• I have known Rebecca for three years, having
  taught her Mathematics in Form 3 and Physics in
  Form 4 and 5.

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FORMAT

• Block Form
• Dear Mr. Chan, ? Yours
  sincerely
• Paragraphing
• Organisation
• Coherence
• Letter?

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CONTENT

• More
• Specific
• Informative
• Relevant
• Substantial
• Concrete

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LANGUAGE TONE

• good
• She is
• Redundancy
• Repetition
• People like her and she has a nice
  personality.
• Too informal
• As you can see,
• Not forceful
• I think

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Some More Tips

• Show how well you know the student
• Student Profile Sheet
• Be evaluative
• Weaknesses ? Strengths
• Eye-witness accounts
• No mismatch
• Add force to the language

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Task Project

• Based on the student profile you are given,
  write a persuasive (letter of) recommendation for
  the student.

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• LEE
  A double degree in BBA (Laws)
• through JUPAS
• LEUNG
• A degree in Physical Education and Sports
  Science
• through the JUPAS sub-system
• CHAN
• A post as Kindergarten Teacher

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5 minutes
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Lets wrap up!
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What have you learnt about writing
recommendations?
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ositive
P E R S U A S I V E
vidence
elevance
tructure
nderstanding
ccurate
pecific
nformative
ocabulary
valuative
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Thank You!
Contact Nicole and Leo if you need any advice
or assistance.