Play To Your Competitive Advantage!

On Thursday, we had a special guest come into class. Joe Bodily, a former student of Professor Middleton shared his experience of MCOM & where it has gotten him today. He mentioned how important it is to rely on our competitive advantage in the business world. This reminded me of Martin Seligman's Signature Strengths. We each possess skills that can be used to our advantage. But we first must be able to identify them. Some of my signature strengths include: social intelligence, persistence, vitality, humor, love, & kindness. I work hard to finish what I start, but I am also aware of other's feelings and value close relations. I like to laugh and I approach life with enthusiasm and energy. I have included some of these signature strengths on my resume so potential employees can see where I stand out. As I strive to maintain and develop these signature strengths, I know I will become a positive asset to any company I work for.

Online Interviews...practice makes perfect.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time interviewing & being interviewed by the one & only Mr. Seth. He maintained a professional manner the whole time & did a good job of making me feel comfortable as an interviewee. I appreciated the questions he had prepared for me & felt I learned a lot from the experience.

I interviewed Seth first. He is hoping to land an internship with Nike. Here were the questions I came up with...
-tell me a little bit about yourself.
-why do you want this internship? What makes you excited about working for Nike?
-what do you have to offer to the creative board here at Nike?
-tell of a time you successfully lead a team or project?
-what are 3 of your strengths?

Seth had an experience and story to back up each question I asked. He kept his answers clear and concise and answered each question with confidence. I was hoping to see more of his personality show through the interview, but it is sometimes tough via Skype. Overall, Seth earned my vote for landing that internship (:

As an interviewee, I appreciated how Seth came up with questions directly from my resume. I was happy to elaborate on what I have currently been involved in. On his final question, I did find myself a bit stuck. However, with a bit of encouragement from his end and collaborative brainstorming, we worked together to improve my response. I now have the perfect PAR story to share for my next interview!

Interviews will always be a bit scary, but taking the time to practice & prepare NOW will help me go in with confidence when the real deal comes around.

Seth Chatterly: 4.89...ps- you should all go check out his blog! http://sethchatt.blogspot.com/2014/04/its-all-about-ethos-baby.html

Do you want to be right or do you want to be effective?

Sometimes the best way to vent is to pour it all out on paper. Whether its in a journal, on a word doc., or a scratch sheet of paper, I write. And before I know it, my frustration turns into an amusing rant.  My entries are not always structured & are often one-sided. Which is why I prefer to keep these thoughts to myself. If some of these entries were to fall in the hands of those I had written about, I know damage would be done.

In the business world, mistakes will be made and feelings will be hurt. Are letters appropriate to draft? Absolutely. And they should even be sent.  However, CAUTION should be taken. It's definitely not a time to rant carelessly. In class we listened to Grammar Girl's podcast on complaint letters. She shared some insightful tips on how to organize such a letter.
1. think of it as a negotiation
2.separate the people from the problem (true that...people aren't perfect & we all make mistakes)
3.state the facts & leave out the emotions
4.request assistance...everyone loves to be the solution
& 5. use statements such as "My preference is...." &/or "I would love to continue using your services, I have been a loyal customer..."

My grandpa once shared a thought with my mom when she was growing up. He asked her whether she wanted to be "right or effective?" We cannot always be "right" but we can be effective through our motives and using the right words to come to an understanding.

TMAY

This week, we worked on marketing ourselves. We covered resumes and interviews. I have always been intimidated by creating the perfect resume. I definitely have life experiences and past jobs I can expound on, but getting it all out on paper just seems a little overwhelming. You've got one chance to impress. How can I make sure I stand out?!

We discussed the importance of having a master resume. This is where you throw out everything you've done on paper. It should include your education, experience, involvement within the community, skills, awards and interests. Once you've created this log of what you're all about, you're only supposed to include the things that specifically pertain to the job you are applying for.

The interview: The main point I got out of this week's lecture is to BE YOURSELF. All I have done and been involved in has shaped me to be the person I am today. This is a time to show off my personality & passion for life.

"Oh, A Baby Cheetah."

Grouping- this is a memorization technique I learned to use back in High School. This week, this technique popped up again & certainly came in handy during an in-class challenge of memorizing a list of words. It was interesting to see the group who had been given the grouped list memorized the most words. We related this back to our writing. When we group similar content together, we become more efficient as well as more effective.

We can use grouping in our writing through O.A.B.C.

Opening: prepares reader to receive what is in body of message; an attention getter, or hook

Agenda: preview of or bridge to the body of the message.

Body: the "meat" of your message. Should be clear, correct, complete & compelling.

Conclusion: reaffirms the main message.

 This format organizes the writing for the reader so it not only increases the chances of  it actually getting read but also increases the probability of it being remembered. 

I will use this technique in order to clarify & strengthen my writing in business. 

Team Support

This past week our team taught the class how to effectively enhance visual elements using HATS: headings, art, typography & spacing. The main point I took away from putting this presentation together, was to "think visually, not just textually."
Sometimes it's the picture that conveys the message the best.

Stand & Deliver!

It's time. You have been preparing for days, maybe even weeks for this big day. The plan? You will stand and deliver, to the best of your ability, all you have prepared. Your slides are up & all your notes are memorized. The time to worry & prepare is long gone. You look out, take a deep breath, and begin your presentation. It's not about you anymore. 

Grammar Confessions

The Grammar exam is right around the corner. So what?? I haven't mastered all the rules yet. Which means, I still have a lot of studying to do. Since we spent this week reviewing for the test, I thought I should go ahead and publicly confess my grammar weak points. Maybe if I try & make sense of these tricky rules in writing, I'll be better prepared than I was before publishing this post. Ladies & gents..it's grammar go time.

"Fake it till you make it!"

  No matter how many times I do it, I always get the butterflies when presenting in front of a crowd. Even if I am completely prepared, I still manage to get nervous. I am convinced this curse will never go away. But it does help to have a little support. That is why I am proud to be part of such a stellar team-Straitlaced. I think we managed to pull off a great first presentation. However, my motto for this course still stands, which is to "fake it, till I make it."

Good Advice

Today, we were given the assignment of writing down three questions about life. They could be related to our education, dating life, or anything else we felt we needed advice on. Here were the three questions I came up with...

1. What is the best way to get involved in Experience Management (my major)?

2. Should I give up competing solely because it is SO expensive?

3. Is it OK to keep saying "yes" to a guy I'm not interested in, ALTHOUGH I enjoy being around him? Or am I completely wasting his time?

With these questions in mind, we were then given the task of sharing our questions to the class. As we went around asking for advice, we were encouraged to jot down any advice that stuck with us. Here were some of the responses I received...

Grammar & Me...Grammar & I??

    This semester I'm taking an introductory class to how to effectively communicate in the business world. I have to admit, after class on Tuesday, I raced over to the bookstore. I could not wait to see what everyone was raving about. I've had several friends tell me not only how great this class is going to be but also how much I'll  use the book afterwards. As I stood in line for check out, I even had strangers telling me how much they enjoyed the class.  After making my purchase I began skimming through it's pages. I could tell I would be learning quite a bit this semester. Then I started on the HW. Dangling modifiers what?