English for Professional and General Business

This section aims to cover the following:


 * 1) Preparing to get a job (developing professional skills and experience that will augment your CV)
 * 2) Applying for a job (CVs, personal statements, application forms, cover letters)
 * 3) Professional writing skills (emails, reports, formal letters)

Professional Skills
Professional skills, or competencies, tend to be those transferrable skills such as team work that employers look for in addition to technical skills such as computer programming or knowledge of particular software.

It is important to analyse job specifications in adverts, paying particular attention to skills they require e.g. confident communicator. You then need to analyse those skills to identify micro-skills. You would then want to ensure you can think of examples from your life e.g. studies or work experience to demonstrate the most important micro-skills as you see them. The following websites can be useful in analysing skills:

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/general/employability-skills.html

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/employability-skills-list-and-examples-4143571

Analysis of team work

Applying for a job (CVs, personal statements, application forms, cover letters)
NB It is important to be aware of national and cultural differences. For example, you can find some comparisons of USA and UK style for business letters [https://www.dailywritingtips.com/yours-faithfully-or-yours-sincerely/#:~:text=Yours%20truly%20is%20the%20American,it%20with%20%E2%80%9CYours%20truly.%E2%80%9D&text=Now%2C%20of%20course%2C%20Sincerely%20is,close%20for%20American%20business%20letters. here].

Cover letter examples
https://www.grb.uk.com/careers-advice/graduate-cover-letter

https://www.reed.co.uk/career-advice/free-cover-letter-template/

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/cover-letters

Reports
Reports are common in business, are usually addressed to someone e.g. a manager and follow a clear structure with headings, bullet points, numbered lists etc.

https://www.lexico.com/grammar/structuring-a-business-report

Reflective writing
Reflective writing is increasingly used on educational courses and also in professional contexts such as vocational training. It broadly involves

1 Looking back at something (often an event, i.e. something that happened, but it could also be an idea or object).

2 Analysing the event or idea (thinking in depth and from different perspectives, and trying to explain, often with reference to a model or theory from your subject).

3 Thinking carefully about what the event or idea means for you and your ongoing progress as a learner and/or practising professional.

Some links for further information

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/learning-by-thinking-how-reflection-improves-performance

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1080569913478155

https://student.unsw.edu.au/examples-reflective-writing

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studyingeffectively/writing/writingtasks/reflective.aspx