MEMO
To: C. Clem
From: Fatemah Al Khamees
Date: July 16, 2013
Subject: Cover Memo for Job Application Package
The purpose of this memo is to analyze the Job Application Package of the Armstrong World
Industries Engineering program, and Aerotek job position. The memo includes the job
description of each position along with the audience analysis to help forming the resumes and
cover letter to each company.
Job Description
Armstrong Engineering Program:
The Engineering training program that is provided by Armstrong World Industries is a great way to
learn more about the company. The program helps the candidate in proving their qualifications to
be a member of their staff. Armstrong training program is looking for people with electrical
engineering background. In order to succeed in the training program and become a member of their
community, strong electrical skills along with leadership and teamwork skills are needed. People
applying for their training program should be able to work with control systems along with
performing circuits using programmable logic controllers. People applying for this training program
should also have some great teamwork skills. They are expected to perform specific tasks with their
team members in a given amount of time. They should be able to know how to communicate with
different team members coming from different backgrounds and cultures. Working in a team is also
knowing how to respect other member’s ideas, and listening to different perspectives. They should
also learn how to listen to other people solutions when a problem in their design is faced; this is one
of the important skills in team working in order to accomplish the task professionally in the given
time period. They must also have some leadership skills. Getting into this program, you should also
know how to lead your team members, assign different tasks to each member, listening and
respecting different ideas, and taking the right decision that is best for your design. Along with
teamwork skills, you should also be able to take some independent decisions when necessary.
Aerotek Company:
Aerotek Company is looking for a person with Electrical skills along with some chemical skills that is
related to electrical engineering. To be qualified for this job position you need to have some
electrical power background; since most of the work and projects are related to electrical power
distribution and electrical grounding systems. Some basic electrical skills are also needed for you to
be qualified such as circuit wiring and cabling. Also, in order to succeed in this job position you need
to have some great designing skills. Since designing electrical systems is one of the tasks to complete
in this job. People applying for this position should be able to know how to start designing any
system given. The start of designing any system along with the brainstorming is one of the
important steps since the whole system depends on the design itself. In order to complete this task,
you should have some experience with designing electrical systems. People getting the job position
should be able to brainstorm, taking the time to think about the design and visualizing it before
starting the building process, taking the right decision in solving the problems faced, and
troubleshooting it for any errors before handing it in.
Audience Analysis
Armstrong Program:
Armstrong world industries is considered one the multi-billion dollars global leaders in the design
and manufacture of floors and ceilings. The Industry operated 34 plants in eight countries with
8,700 employees worldwide. The industry also focuses on innovation, and design. The 2012
revenues were approximately $2.6 billion. Armstrong is also considered the world largest
manufacturer of hardwood flooring and one of the major producers of hardwood cabinets. *
Armstrong Industries were also awarded several times; one of the awards was “Best Manufacturing
Social Media Campaign” award. ** Three of Armstrong’s major commitments are recognizing that
the best workforce is diverse, welcoming all people opinions, and appreciating the different styles
and approaches that can be valuable so that they ensure the best solutions for their business. *
Aerotek:
Aerotek is considered one of the leaders in the recruiting and staffing industry. It operates from
more than 200 non-franchised offices in US, Canada, and parts of Europe. **** Diversity and
inclusion are the two main values of Aerotek business. They are mainly looking for people that
value, respect, and learn from the differences that can make their workplace and marketplace
unique and successful. In their workplace, they create an environment of inclusiveness where all
their employees are respected for their differences. One of their main goals is that they aim to build
diverse teams that are reflective of the communities they serve, so that they can succeed in the everchanging multicultural world. ***
Rhetorical Analysis
Armstrong Program:
Throughout my resume for the Armstrong World Industries, I highlighted my electrical engineering
coursework. I included some of the electrical core classes that I completed to highlight my
knowledge working with AC/DC circuits, and programmable logic controllers circuits. In my resume,
I also highlighted some of my design classes I took during my coursework that taught me some great
teamwork/leadership skills. On the other hand, I mentioned some of the electrical skills I’m capable
of performing and further discussed them in my cover letter. In my cover letter, I mentioned some of
my designs achievements that were completed with team members since it taught me great team
working skills that can help me succeed in this training program.
Aerotek:
In my resume to Aerotek companies, I mentioned all of the different courses I completed related to
electrical engineering as well as the different chemical courses I took that can qualify me for this job
position. I also highlighted some of the designing experiences that can help me in designing the
systems that were part of the job, and further explained them in my cover letter. I also mentioned
some of my computer and programming skills that were learned throughout my coursework since
that can have a huge effect in designing a successful system. My cover letter also included some of
my basic electrical skills such as circuit wiring in my designs, since it is mentioned in the job ad.
* Armstrong World Industries official website. http://www.armstrong.com/corporate/
** “Armstrong wins 2 IAC awards for online advertising campaigns”, Floor covering news,
May10th, 2013. http://www.fcnews.net/2013/05/armstrong-wins-2-iac-awards-for-onlineadvertising-campaigns/
*** Aeritek official website. http://www.aerotek.com/about-aerotek/
**** Hoovers website.
http://subscriber.hoovers.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/H/company360/fulldescription.ht
ml?companyId=110661000000000
Armstrong World Industries
2500 Columbia Ave. (17603)
P.O. Box 3001
Lancaster, PA 17604
10 Vairo Blvd
State college, PA, 16803
Fka103@psu.edu
July 16, 2013
Dear Hiring Management Team:
I am a senior in Electrical Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University, graduating in the
December. I am very interested in applying for your engineering training program, I learned of this
job opportunity through my online job research. I am specifically interested in participating in
projects that include problem investigation, and equipment installations. I am also interested in
working hand in hand with your subject matter experts and production managers to gain more
experience for the upcoming job after the training program. The position requirements match my
educational background and interests in both, circuit analysis and teamwork.
I have learned many circuit analysis skills throughout my coursework. In my sophomore year, I
took two classes both DC and AC circuit analysis. I also had the opportunity to work with
programmable logic controllers through my computer engineering class. I also worked with logic
controllers in one of my electrical engineering classes, which is designing a traffic light.
Furthermore, during one of my EE design classes we were given a task to build a whole security
system within a team of 4. We had to build a security system that included taking pictures of the
users, ID swiping, and pin identification. We had to design/build this system with a 5-week span.
Throughout this experience, I learned some great teamwork and leadership skills that can help me
in your job position. Working in teams to design and build a specific task given to us taught me great
teamwork and leadership skills.
During my design courses, I went through the experience of building a traffic light finite state
machine using programmable logic controllers. This experience with logic devices have given me a
better understanding of designing a circuit using logic devices and programming them using C++
language. We also had the opportunity to troubleshoot our traffic light circuits. We wired up the
circuit using different programmable chips, and its one of the great experiences in wiring since we
wired about 10 chips. One of the great skills were learning how to finish a specific task within your
team in a given specific time period.
I would like the opportunity to interview for the engineering training program. I have enclosed my
resume, which further details my qualification. Feel free to contact me via email at fka103@psu.edu.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Fatemah al khamees
Enclosure: Résumé
Fatemah AL Khamees
Home:
10 Vairo blvd,
APT 208
State college, PA 16803
(814)-441-8814
fka103@psu.edu
Objective:
Seeking entry into the engineering training program in Armstrong World industries.
Education:
The Pennsylvania State University
B.S. Electrical Engineering, graduating December 2013
“Design Tools”: A working knowledge of electrical engineering
design tools and hardware realization of electrical engineering
systems.
Education
Coursework
“Circuits and Devices”: Introduction to electrical circuit analysis,
electronic devices, amplifiers, and time-domain transient analysis.
“Electronic Circuit Design”: Properties of fundamental electronic
devices, analysis of DC, AC small-signal and nonlinear behavior,
analog and digital circuit design applications.
“Design Process”: Introduction to the electrical engineering design
process, project teaming and management, and technical
communication.
Experience
Skills
Designing an Auto tuned Theremin.
Experience with designing a security system and communicating
over a CAN bus.
Experience in working with Finite State Machine in building a Traffic
Light.
C++ programming
Lab View programming
Team working in designing projects.
10 Vairo Blvd
State college, PA, 16803
Fka103@psu.edu
July 16, 2013
Aerotek Inc.
7301 Parkway Drive Hanover,
MD 21076.
Dear Elam, Elizabeth:
I am writing to apply for a job position at your company. I am a senior in Electrical Engineering at
Penn State, graduating in December. While searching about your company, I was pleased to hear
that the National Association also recently named the company as one of the best and brightest
companies to work for in Atlanta for business resources. I was also pleased to read that your
company creates an environment of inclusiveness where every employee is valued and respected
for their unique differences, and this is precisely the type of company I look forward to be a part of
it. My qualifications for this position are further discussed in this letter.
My academic skills and interests is what led me to apply for this job. I have a good background in
working with circuits and analyzing them. Many of the courses I took focused on analyzing circuits
and working with them. I also took some courses that focused on electrical power distribution.
Furthermore, I have some chemistry background through the chemical electives I took. They were
classes that taught the chemical principles and related to circuits and electricity. I’ve been also
taking design classes throughout my coursework that taught me electrical cabling and wiring.
Although I didn’t get the chance to work in the field that is directly related to the available position,
going through my different design experiences throughout my coursework would qualify me to the
job position. I have been working on designing circuits that required a lot of wiring and cabling. I
designed a traffic light the included the use of 10 programmable chips along with the traffic LED’s. It
had a lot of wiring in it along with different coding for each chip. I also designed a Theremin in one
of my EE classes with the use of diodes. This design gave me a better understanding of the electrical
power distribution. Throughout my designs, I also learned how to program using C++ language and
Lab View language.
I would be honored to further discuss my qualifications and interests. A copy of my resume is also
included with this letter. Please feel free to email me with any concerns via email at
fka103@psu.edu. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Fatemah al khamees
Enclosure: Résumé
Fatemah AL Khamees
Home:
10 Vairo blvd,
APT 208
State college, PA 16803
(814)-441-8814
fka103@psu.edu
Objective:
Seeking a full time position with Aerotek Inc as an Electrical Engineer.
Education:
The Pennsylvania State University
B.S. Electrical Engineering, graduating December 2013
Relevant Course Work:
 Electromagnetics
 Circuit Analysis
 Circuit design
 Energy conversion
 Programming
 Chemical principles
Computer/programming skills:
 C++ programming
 Matlab coding
 Lab View programming
 Programming using NI myDAQ
 HDL coding
Experience:
 Designing/ wiring up a traffic light machine using programmable logic design.
 Wiring up a security system and programming the sub parts using C++ and labview.