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Self-nom

757 bytes added, 08:46, March 10, 2007

rewrote opener to start from a definition. categorized

~~==Self~~[[Category:Williamspeak]] A self-nom ~~Uses==Self~~, short for self-~~noms are used by various organizations to select students. They usually consist of~~ nomination, is a short statement ~~written~~ that a person composes to describe his fitness for an advertised position that will be filled by ~~the student describing why they would make a good choice~~selection or election. Self-noms ~~can broadly be divided into two categories: those for~~ are either published to voters to help them decide on a ~~general election~~ candidate (~~think~~ as in the case of elections to [[College Council]] ), or ~~class elections) and those for~~ are furnished to members of a small selection committee (that will decide among candidates, such as ~~for the~~ College Council's Appointments Committee, in deciding on appointments to [http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/cc/committees.php Student-faculty committees]. Calls for self-noms always have a deadline by which the nomination must be submitted (College Council's bylaws specify that solicitation must occur two weeks before the deadline), but frequently contain few other guides for writing them. This is a problem, as it is certainly an unusual form of writing, and the unfamiliarity of the request has definitely hampered applicants newer to Williams and the process in the past.

==Tips for Writing Good Self-noms==

* Contain the name, year and possibly major, dorm, background, study abroad plans, etc.

* Present relevant experience on campus and off

* Be written for readers who do not know you or your accomplishments already

* Convince the reader that you want to do this job

* Convince the reader that you are qualified and competent enough to do this job

'''A good self-nom should ''not'':'''

* Begin with the phrase: "This is a very important time for Williams college", or "I'm really excited to be ______". Everyone says these things and they don't mean anything.

* Exceed the allotted length.

* Tell the reader irrelevant experience such as how you taught scuba diving (unless you're applying to the lecture committee because you really think we need more scuba-related talks. In that case, good luck!)

* Use obscure or overly intellectual language. Remember your audience is your peers.

* Use fancy formatting. What you say is more important, and any fancy formatting is likely to be screwed up when the self-nom is republished in a booklet or on the web.

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