The Pennsylvania State University
English 202C – Section 023
MEMORANDUM
To:
From:
Subject:
Date:
Paul Zajac, Instructor
Matthew Brewer, Student
Rhetorical Analysis – Boeing Electrical Engineer Job Advertisement
4 February 2014
This memorandum evaluates a Boeing job advertisement for an Electrical Design
and Analysis Engineer. The criteria for evaluation are the six characteristics of
technical documents as outlined by Mike Markel in his book, “Technical
Communication.” Elements of the document that satisfy Markel’s characteristics as
well as those areas in which the document fails to meet the standards are discussed
and recommendations for overall improvement will be made.
Summary of Job Ad
The job advertisement outlines the requirements for the position of Electrical
Design and Analysis Engineer. The ad contains a graphic at the top, which features
some of Boeings most well known aircraft. Overall this document is well organized
and easy to navigate. The core competencies that the company is looking for in their
applicants are outlined and a general description of the job is given. At the end there
is a box that summarizes all of the vital information that applicants would need to
know.
Analysis
The title of this job advertisement clearly indicates that the position being offered is
an “Electrical Design and Analysis Engineer 1/2” so right from the outset the reader
understands that this document is addressing someone who may be interested in
the position. The paragraph under the heading labeled “Position Description”
reveals that this is an entry-level position. This portion also outlines more of the
general qualities and personal interests that the company looks for in a candidate.
The document is particularly effective because it completely describes the position,
and the characteristics that the company will look for in its candidates in the first
paragraph. This allows readers to decide if they want to continue reading before
they become too invested in it.
The main purpose of this document is ultimately to aid readers in deciding whether
or not they want to apply for the position being offered. The advertisement does an
excellent job in giving a thorough description of the position and creates a character
profile of the ideal employee. A full description of duties such as, “design, simulation,
synthesis, and layout of digital integrated circuits” help the reader gain insight into
the day-to-day activities that the job encompasses. The document offers other
information such as location of the job, whether or not a security clearance or US
citizenship is required, and typical education to further help the reader decide if
they are qualified and desire the position.
Key information that this document neglects to include is any substantial insight
into the culture and goals of the organization. At the top of the document is a small
strip of pictures that contains the caption “Working together. Doing amazing things.”
Although it may seem as though the reader is gaining some knowledge about the
company’s values, this statement is vague and is the goal of most organizations.
Throughout the rest of the document the only knowledge we gain about Boeing is
that they highly value teamwork, stating that engineers will work in a “teamoriented environment.” If the text were replaced with a section from Boeing’s
mission statement such as, “A Tradition of Innovation, Imagination, and Aspiration,”
it would allow the reader to better understand Boeing’s goals as a company.
It appears as though this document has indeed been produced collaboratively. It is
likely that a graphic artist created the banner of photographs overlaid with the text,
“Working together. Doing amazing things.” Although it is hard to determine it also
may be assumed that a higher-level engineer and a more skilled writer worked on
the text portion of the document together. The “Technical” section of this document
has clear input from an engineer, which is evident from the list of different circuit
parameters that are described. Input from both sources ensures that the
advertisement is well written and contains all of the technical information necessary
to accurately describe the position.
The author made clear design choices that enhance the readability of the document.
There is a significant amount of white space, which helps to break up the text and
make particular sections of the advertisement easy to navigate. All of the section
headings are colored blue, bolded, and a much larger font while subsection headings
are only slightly larger than the body text and bolded, but remain black. All text is
left justified which gives an organized look, and appeals to the intended reader, an
engineer. The author makes use of bulleted lists to outline the competencies that an
applicant for this position should exhibit. At the end of the advertisement there is a
box that contains all of the vital information relating to the job in as few words as
possible. The only design recommendation I would make is to move this box to the
very beginning of the ad in order to make it easier for the reader to decide if they
are qualified enough or interested in the position.
In addition to the text portion of this document there is a small banner of pictures of
various aircraft as well as satellites at the top of the page. This banner contains a
good amount of information that is not specifically stated in this ad. One of the
pictures contains the 747, which is one of the most recognizable aircraft in the
world, another contains a military jet, and also included in the banner is a satellite.
These pictures reveal that Boeing does work on civilian and military projects as well
as space projects, and alludes to the worldwide prestige that this company has. This
is a great method for getting many promising young engineers to join the company
and partake in something great.
Conclusion
This document effectively adheres to the six characteristics that define a technical
document according to Markel. One recommendation would be to include more
information about Boeing’s goals and culture in order to give further insight into the
company, which would attract more young engineers to apply. Nonetheless this
document is attractive, well organized, and an effective job advertisement.