Assignment: Letter Report

Length: 750 words minimum, not counting Works Cited

Audience: Your supervisor, colleagues, and clients

Purpose: To research and recommend career advice to potential clients

Format: Formal business letter style, including the following elements:

Return Address (or your may use a Letterhead)

Date

Inside Address

Salutation, followed by colon

Letter contents

Closing

Signature Block

Second Page Heading

MLA-style parenthetical, in-text references for any source material used

MLA-style Works Cited List

Writing Situation: You work for a company1 whose mission is to offer advice to college students who are considering their career options. In today's meeting, your supervisor asked you to research the career outlook in one of the Occupation Groups listed in the "Occupational Outlook Handbook" section of the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website.

For example, if you click the Education, Training, and Library link in the Occupational Groups list, you might research the career of High School Teacher. If you click the Healthcare link, you might research the Nursing career. You may select any career from the ones listed on the BLS website.

Assignment Requirements: Write a 750-word (roughly two full pages, single-spaced) Letter Report in which you present your findings about the career outlook for the occupation you have chosen to research.

You should include the following information, in addition to any other relevant material you find in your research:

Employment prospects

Typical jobs

Advancement opportunities

Salary range

Career advantages/disadvantages

Typical responsibilities

Your recommendation (see below for more information about this important section)

To success on this assignment, you will need clear recommendations in your Report. The specific audience for this part of the Report will be the potential clients who seek advice about their careers.

Based on your research, what would you recommend to a college student who is interested in the career you have researched in this Report?

In addition to the BLS website provided above, you might also search for information disseminated by professional societies. These groups will often publish useful statistics on salaries, working conditions, and other information about the field.

For instance, the NSA and AICPA are both professional societies for Accountants. Whatever sources you use should be credible and professional or academic-based.

Do not consult sources such as Wikipedia, Ask, or other sites whose information might not be reliable.

You might also consider interviewing someone who currently works in this field although that is not a requirement of the assignment.