A little advice for you

Looking back on this class, I think I would have done a few things differently. First of all, I should have gone through this class with the motive of learning the material instead of getting an A. The material is really useful for our future in helping us to be professional in our letters, resumes, interviews, etc. Now that I am about to start interviewing at medical schools, I wish I had paid more attention to those chapters and reading assignments so that I could remember them in the future!

Overall, my best advice is to:
-Do every assignment given to you... an A is very attainable as long as you just turn in what needs to be done and keep up with your blog.
-Take the mock interview seriously; it will help you in the future.
-Get to know Angie...she will really help you if you need someone to edit and give their opinion on your resumes or cover letters for jobs, internships, and grad school applications!

By sticking to those things, you will definitely do well in the class. Last but not least, have fun with the blogs! Make them creative and fun to read. It will make it easier to write, and definitely remember to post every week! Good luck!

Ethics

When looking for an unethical document, I found a memo from Hitler to be very interesting. It appears to be a normal notification that is nonthreatening, like a suggestion rather than a demand. This memo is to the Nazi party speakers and leaders in Kreis Eisenach. It was delivered to the speakers in Kreis Eisenach by Hermann Köhler, who was the Kreisleiter, which is the county party head. He orders them to "voluntarily" break any affiliation with the church. As speakers, their full loyalty was to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. It is interesting that the word "voluntarily" is inserted, even though the memo itself tells its recipients in the clearest terms that they are to end their church membership. By telling them to do this voluntarily, Hitler was appearing to be a fair leader; however, everyone knew that it was not a good idea to disagree with one's Kreisleiter. They knew they would be punished by the Nazi regime if they did not end their membership to the church.

Clearly, everyone knows that Hitler was not an ethical man. He was an amazing public speaker, though. His manipulative character made a horribly unjust demand seem legitimate. This is why I chose to use this literary piece.

Computer versus Paper

Writing on the web is extremely different than writing on paper. My generation has become dependent on Microsoft Word to write essays, assignments, and papers. We don't realize how much we use spell check and thesaurus until we write an essay on paper. I think that writing on the Web is effective because of the professionalism it comes with, along with the added software programs that enhance the appearance and effectiveness of your work. It is different from writing on paper, however, because when writing on paper, we have to trust our own editing knowledge. It also doesn't allow us to exercise our vocabulary as much as we would writing manually.

Though typing is much different than writing, there are some similarities. Overall, you have to have the same knowledge and skills of writing for both methods of drafting. All grammar and structural aspects of the work must be interpretted through your own skills, something that computers can't give you. Though computers make it much easier to write a document, writing by hand keeps your memory and knowledge active and progressing. The less you depend on your memory and skills, the less you remember and attain. The pros and cons even out for both methods, but as long as one maintains their knowledge of writing and use of vocabulary, writing on the Web will provide a much more professional result.

Favorite Presentations

Unfortunately, I was unable to see a lot of the presentations because, along with 8% of Clemson's students, I was out with the flu. Of the presentations I did see, though, I'd have to say that the ones that stuck out the most were:
The adopting a pet speech- I never knew you could keep a pet for a week or two so that they would have more room in the shelters. I love puppies, but can't have the responsibility and costs of one right now. This was interesting and persuaded me to try out the foster care thing. Her topic was different and she kept it entertaining with cute pictures of different dogs that she has cared for.

The Hershey's chocolate speech- I'm definitely a chocolate lover, but I had no idea there was chocolate tasting etiquette similar to that of wine tasting. She did a really good job conveying a first hand account of her experience with chocolate tasting. It always seems more interesting when you hear information about something that the person has actually experienced rather than just researched.

All of the speeches I heard were great, and I could tell that everyone put a lot of time into preparing them. I wish I had seen all of them; the mule one sounded like it would have been pretty amusing! I enjoyed being able to see what my classmates were interested in and learn a little bit more about them, and I was glad that I was able to share some of my passions as well!

Mock Interview Reflection

My mock interview took place as an interview from the Dean of Admissions for the Medical University of South Carolina. I am applying to become a Physicians' Assistant there, and our interviews will start soon. The interview was enlightening because I was not as aware of certain information that characterizes the program that I am applying to. This interview made me realize that I need to do research prior to my actual interviews. I need to research specific programs and areas of concentration that this school has, as well as opportunities to get further involved other than just being a student. I also feel as though I should be prepared to ask them questions.

I was satisfied with my preparation of planning out my future career goals and educational goals. I was well prepared to answer any questions regarding what I want to do after college and after graduate school. The positive feedback I recieved about that portion of the interview built my confidence in that area.

Overall, this mock interview allowed me to identify my strengths and weaknesses. It made me realize everything that it takes to prepare for an interview, including where to park and giving enough time to find the location of the interview. I believe that it was a great tool in preparing me to have an effective real interview in the future.

Cover Letters

I like the advice given about cover letters in this tutorial because it is being given by a hiring manager. It shows what is going on in the minds of people on the other side of the job hunting process and makes the advice credible. Many of the points were interesting things that I didn't expect. The example cover letter, for instance, seemed very blunt and over-confident to me. I never know where the line is between being confident and being too pushy when going through this job hunting process. I did take the advice in however, and the only part I disagreed with is the handwritten P.S. suggestion. I feel as though a P.S. on a cover letter is unprofessional, and with it being handwritten, it seems like you are scrambling last minute to write down one more thing to make them like you because you don't feel like what you have already typed is suffice.

The part that was most useful to me in this tutorial was the bulleted list of what format to use and what things to include in each paragraph of your letter. I will definitely go back to that advice and use it when I begin to draft my cover letter. I wasn't aware that cover letters are looked at after the person reads the resume, so I will now work on making my resume and cover letter extremely effective, so that when my future employer gets to my cover letter, it will be just as impressive as the resume!

Telling Stories and Mastering the Interview

An Interview Strategy: Telling Stories and Mastering the Interview

I agree with the advice in both articles. Some of the advice seems like common sense, but for the most part it was very useful in preparing for future interviews. I have never prepared stories to bring up during interviews and found that to be useful advice. Sometimes, when I leave an interview I think back to things I wish I had told them about my life. If I came prepared with different examples for different scenarios, it would probably eliminate those regrets. The section of these artices that benefitted me most was the preparation, presentation, perception outlook on an interview. The tips on being prepared physically and mentally are things I will definitely put into use in the future. Asking the interviewer what type of person they see filling the position is a good tip for ending an interview, as well. I think this shows that the person being interviewed is just as concerned with the well being of the company as the interviewer. Overall, I took all of these tips into consideration for preparing for my mock interview.