Quality Manager: Cover letter and job interview COVER LETTER 1) Put the different elements of the cover letter where they should be a) David Novak b) 1669 Lakeview Court/Eagan, MN 55123 c) April 1, 2011 d) Brian Supinski/Bennington Firearms/1200 Notsack Drive/Duluth, MN 58009 e) Dear Mr Supinski f) Yours sincerely _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ It has come to my attention that Bennington Firearms is currently hiring for the position of Assistant Product Quality Assurance Manager, a position for which I am ideally suited and trained. I believe that this is the perfect opportunity for me to join a dynamic firm where I can develop my skills and talents. I think you will agree that I am an excellent candidate due to my qualifications and experience. After graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering, I joined the Armed Forces. In the Army, I was responsible for packing parachutes and had a flawless work quality record. This was a position of responsibility with no room for error, and my perfect record speaks for itself. I was discharged honorably after 5 years of service. Upon rejoining the civilian sector, I began working at the Jolt bottling plant in Minneapolis. This was a fantastic opportunity, and although I enjoyed my job as a Quality Control Management intern, I am seeking employment at Bennington for professional as well as personal reasons. Bennington is a growing company and has been recently voted as Minnesota’s Best Place to Work. Also, I have long wanted to relocate to the Duluth area. Enclosed please find my resume. I will be following up during the second week of April to see if you have any questions regarding my application. I will then be happy to answer any questions you may have. _______________ _______________ 2) Vocabulary: Find in the text words corresponding to the following definitions to begin to employ someone:_________________

army:____________________________________

to be right for someone or something: _________

but:_____________________________________

the ability to do a job well, especially because you to move to a new place:_____________________ have practised it:__________________________

sent in the same envelope:___________________

because of:______________________________

a document which describes your qualifications

with no mistakes:_________________________

and the jobs that you have done:______________

to allowed to leave an organization such as the

about:__________________________________

3) Right or wrong: say whether the following statements are right or wrong Brian Supinski is applying for a job. R/W _________________________________________________________________________________ The applicant has a business degree. R/W _________________________________________________________________________________ He has already used firearms. R/W _________________________________________________________________________________ He made a huge mistake with parachutes. R/W _________________________________________________________________________________ He wants the position for more than one reason. R/W _________________________________________________________________________________ He’ll be waiting for the firm to call him back R/W _________________________________________________________________________________ 4) Comprehension questions Which expressions does he use to show that he is the perfect candidate? _________________________________________________________________________________ Which expressions does he use to show that he appreciates the company? _________________________________________________________________________________ Why was the Army such an important experience? _________________________________________________________________________________ Has he had many jobs since his discharge? _________________________________________________________________________________ THE JOB INTERVIEW David Nowak is being interviewed for an Assistant Product Quality Assurance Manager position at Bennington, a small but successful firearms producer. Although rather young and fresh out of university, David is a solid worker with a fair amount of relevant experience, including some experience in the Army. Brian Supinski: Hi, come on in and have a seat, Mr. Nowak. I’ve been reviewing your application, it’s good of you to come in. David Nowak: Thank you for seeing me (shakes the hand of BS and sits), I’m looking forward to hearing more about the position. I spoke with HR earlier. BS: Good, I’ll tell you some more about our production facility. I see you went to Minnesota State, that’s where my daughter goes to school, but she signed up for the nursing program. I see you got your degree in Mechanical Engineering in June, last year. DN: Right, I graduated last year and have been interning at my dad’s plant ever since. He works as a quality control manager at the Jolt bottling plant in Minneapolis. I worked under another quality manager. BS: Right, otherwise it’d be nepotism, eh? (Short silence ensues). Just kidding. DN: (Feigning a smile) No, it was an in-company program where senior and middle managers could bring in their kids and they would get either college credit and be paid for the hours put in, and there is a post-graduate internship program too. People are encouraged to bring their kids in to see where they work and the internship program has been up and running since the nineties. BS: So most of your actual experience comes from the internship. DN: My best experience was gained in the Army. I was in an airborne unit, and one of my duties consisted in inspecting chutes after packing. It was a tough job, full of responsibility and it was a job where an error on my part could have cost the life of a fellow soldier, so you could say that’s where I learned to focus.

BS: I’ll bet. Good for you! I really admire you guys in uniform, I kind of wished I had joined when I had the chance. DN: I’m still in the reserves, as I mentioned in my resume, so I’d have to go to drill for two weeks every year BS: That’s not a problem, in fact I’ve got a few more guys at the facility that are in the same boat. Now, let me tell you about the position, after all that’s why we’re here. DN: Excellent, I know a lot about the company already. BS: Right, so you know we’re one of the biggest firearms manufacturers in the country, third biggest in fact. And ninth biggest in the world, in fact. Most of the handguns are made in Nashville and outside Denver, but here we make our most popular sporting rifle, the best-selling Buckmaster. DN: I’m familiar with it, I know people who hunt with them too. BS: So the process is complex, as you know, production is concentrated here and you would have to deal with internal and external construction, deal with outside suppliers, and even deal with all the ISO 9000 issues. DN: Do the stocks still come from Wisconsin? BS: You’ve been doing your homework! Right, the stocks come in from a small plant outside of Manitowoc, they only do wooden rifle and shotgun stocks, and it’s been a long partnership, they’ve been with us since the beginning. And most of our other components come from all over - triggers from Tucson, shoulder straps from Mexico, the list is quite long. DN: 28 different pieces, so I heard. BS: Exactly. Now, back to our expectations - I know you know our production process, but as I told you on the phone earlier, you’ll have to go through a short certification course upon starting, and that’ll include a few in-company courses on work safety, company history, it’s just a formality but everyone has to go through it, hell - I did! DN: Is that paid? BS: It sure is! Your salary and benefits package would kick in right away. 5) Comprehension questions: Would you say the interview is formal or informal? Give examples. ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ What seems to impress Brian Supinski the most? ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ What could a sporting rifle be? ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ Explain what ISO 9000 is. ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ Where do the different parts come from? ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ What does David have to do before he starts? Can you explain why? ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ Will he be paid right away? ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________

6) Vocabulary quiz 1. Nepotism is best described as a) cruel treatment of employees; b) lack of motivation; c) favoritism. 2. I had 20 employees working ____________ me while I was production manager. a) under b) below c) on 3. School programs or courses for recent graduates are referred to as a) undergraduate course work; b) graduate course work; c) post-graduate course work 4. If your benefits package kicks immediately, it means that your benefits a) are cancelled without warning; b) are available right away; c) will be on hold until you need them. ROLE PLAY Game: Production of a maple leaf souvenir Goal Each team simulates a manufacturing company making a souvenir of a maple leaf. Each company strives to produce as many good quality products as possible to achieve the maximum profit. Constraints The maple leaf should be made of simple and cheap materials such as paper, cardboard, plastic, wood, etc. Only human-powered tools are permitted in manufacturing. Participants One customer group and presumably 3~4 manufacturing companies participate in this game. Each company consists of a CEO, a designer, a marketing representative, a process and production engineer, and an inspector. The responsibilities of each role are as follows: 1. CEO: be responsible for all final decisions and chair his/her team 2. Marketer: be the liaison between customers and team members 3. Designer: be responsible for the design of the souvenir; all team members can participate in the design process. 4. Process and Production Engineer: be responsible for the manufacturing; the person can invite all team members to work together on the job. 5. Inspector: to determine which products to be rejected / reworked. The customer group represents the body of customers. It is comprised by students, preferably, with industrial experience. For management purpose, it should have a chair, cashier, and recorder. The rest of the group can be quality evaluators to determine the payment for each batch the team receives. Collectively, the customer group should determine: · What are you going to use the leaf for, e.g., bookmark, room decoration, air refresher, etc.? · What price are you going to pay? · What do you like it to be, e.g., shape, texture, weight, etc.? The group should also · Set a penalty / reward system for poor / good quality. For example, 10 cents more for good quality products and / or 10 cents less for poor quality products. · Make bills to pay the companies · Record how many products it purchased from each company and keep a record of cash flow. It is assumed that the customer group sets no limit on the total amount of purchase. Though it might be rare, customers may return extremely poor quality products to companies. The customer group should exercise its power collectively, not individually, through a voting process. It should be fair to all companies. Unless interviewed by marketers, the customer group should keep all the decisions in confidence. Marketers from each company are encouraged to find out customers’ decisions by interacting with the customer group.