To: joyce.wu@ubc.ca
From: uzmanzahoor@alumni.ubc.ca
Subject: Re: ENG 301-writing team
September 18, 2019

Hi Joyce,

Brenda has informed me that you have accepted to work with us and I am delighted to hear the news! Your experience as a Human Resources Business Analyst has undoubtedly made you efficient in communication. I believe your analytical skills will be very useful in the team and fit in well with everyone else’s strengths. I am also looking forward to hearing your feedback on how to be more coherent in my communications and will gladly assist you in proofreading. I too find myself more engaged in learning when I am curious and am able to apply what I learn in the real world. I believe this class will provide us opportunities to do just that and look forward to collaborating with you. I have also attached my letter of application for you to look over.

Best,
Usman

301 Usman Zahoor Application Letter

To: brenda.martinez@alumni.ubc.ca
From: uzmanzahoor@alumni.ubc.ca
Subject: Re: ENG 301-writing team
September 17, 2019

Hi Brenda,

I would love to work together! I noticed that you also messaged Joyce which is perfect as I have also messaged one other person, Adrienne. After reading your biography and your letter of application, I agree that our skillsets would be complementary. I enjoyed reading about your amazing experiences in the medical and dental fields and am extremely impressed by how caring you sound about your patients. I look forward to collaborating with you throughout the term and improving our writing together. I have also attached my letter of application. I look forward to hearing back from you!

Best,
Usman

301 Usman Zahoor Application Letter

To: adrienneyap@hotmail.com
From: uzmanzahoor@alumni.ubc.ca
Subject: Re: ENG 301-writing team
September 17, 2019

Hi Adrienne,

I really think that your creative writing skills will complement my scientific and analytical writing skills very well. Based on your letter of application, it seems like you have a lot of writing experience that is very different from mine and I would love to learn more about it from you. I also believe that your mindset of putting your best foot forward is essential in teamwork. Like your learning philosophy, I hope that we can together discover and appreciate the value that ENGL 301 offers. If you also feel that we would make a good team, feel free to reply to this directly or reach out to me at usmanzahoor@alumni.ubc.ca. I have attached my letter of application for your consideration and am looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards,
Usman Zahoor

301 Usman Zahoor Application Letter

Memorandum

To: Dr. Erika Paterson
From: Usman Zahoor
Date: September 17, 2019
Subject: Letter of Application Posted

Dear Dr. Paterson,

Just wanted to let you know that I have posted my letter of application on my blog. I have also attached a copy to this memorandum.

This letter summarizes the following:

• My writing experience from both school and work environments
• My strengths and weaknesses
• My learning philosophy
• What I am looking for in a team and what I promise to contribute
• How I can be contacted

Please let me know if there is anything else you require. You can reach me at usmanzahoor@alumni.ubc.ca.

Best,

Usman Zahoor

301 Usman Zahoor Application Letter

Usman Zahoor

5960 Student Union Blvd

Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1

September 17, 2019

ENGL 301 – Technical Writing

University of British Columbia

2329 West Mall

Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Fellow classmates,

I am writing regarding my interest in becoming a part of a semester long writing team for ENGL 301. I hope to become a part of a well-rounded team that aims to create a positive environment filled constructive feedback and support.

I am a fourth year Biology student with a lot of experience synthesizing complex scientific phenomena and processes through scientific papers, press releases and reports. Scientific writing must not only be concise and well written, but also tactfully presented in order to communicate effectively with the general public. This has allowed me to develop writing skills which are useful not only in communicating with other scientists but also individuals with little science background. In my work capacity as a sales consultant at BestBuy Mobile, I have also developed another unique writing style focused on addressing customer service. Being a senior member of my sales team, I am routinely required to communicate to and for clients. I regularly have to send emails to handle customer escalations as well as communicating with various carrier representatives from Rogers, Bell and Telus. Writing in a work environment where what I say can even be used in a legal setting is more daunting than in science but has enabled me to learn how to communicate professionally through email.

However, some of my weaknesses that I hope to improve on through this course are being even more concise and direct, and further improving my technical vocabulary.

Having played competitive sports growing up, my learning philosophy is to be continuously improving through practice and repetition. I am eager to further develop my writing skills though this class. I hope to learn more from my technical writing team members through their feedback on my work. I also hope to be able to be an asset to the team by providing timely communication and fostering a positive environment.

I look forward to speaking with those of you that would like to embark on this technical writing journey with me and supporting each other along the way. You can reach me at usmanzahoor@alumni.ubc.ca.

Sincerely,

Usman Zahoor

301 Usman Zahoor Application Letter