Extra Credit and the MCOM Mini-Con

Well I thought I posted my last post on here, but just saw my group's grade for our big report we turned in last week.  It's not bad, it just doesn't reflect the massive amount of time and effort that we put into it.  I'm curious to get the actual paper graded copy back to see exactly where we could have improved.

In attempts to recoup some points, I think I'll go ahead and take advantage of some of the extra credit offered through this blogging assignment!  So without further adeiu....

*For 2 points I'd like to share this high-quality photograph with you of the Greek Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion:

*For 5 whole points I'd like to share this video that I shot of my nephew opening his Headless Horseman Lego man that we got him for Christmas.  So cute:

*And for one more point, here are links to my awesome MCOMrades blogs:
http://cameronhomer17.blogspot.com/
http://cliffordtheblog.blogspot.com/ 

As a side note while I'm on here, I've really enjoyed the MCOM mini-conference so far.  It was very helpful to get  immediate feedback, and to try and implement it right away. 

Wrapping Things Up--Blog Post #12

Well, this is my twelveth weekly blog post, so unless I do any of the extra credit stuff, I think this might be my last one!  It's hard to believe how fast this semester has gone by.  It's almost over!  But when I look at what's left on the syllabus, I still feel like there's a lot left!  I'm so glad to have our mammoth group project behind me, though.  I don't think I've ever been assigned that involved of a project with such a limited time to complete it in.  I'd estimate our group put somewhere around 60-70 man hours into that thing.  The night before our presentation I got about 1/2 hour of sleep.  I was honestly worried I might fall asleep during our presentation. 


I just finished watching it, though (through REACT), and all in all, I thought we did a very good job.  I thought we were very professional looking and we sounded like we had good ideas and knew what we were talking about.  You could tell we were prepared.  We had smooth transitions.  I think I could do better with projecting my voice more when I present.  I need to learn what to do with my hands when I’m just standing there and am not the one presenting.  They were just hanging there like sausages, but I didn't want to fig-leaf-it.  And we could have had better contrast on our slides.  All in all, though, I was very pleased with our performance. 

5 Common Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

Since enrolling in this class, articles titles such as this tend to pique my interest.  Here is the link to that full article, but below I will summarize the key points.

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-3631-Interviewing-5-common-interview-questions-and-how-to-answer-them/?SiteId=cbmsn43631&sc_extcmp=JS_3631_advice 

5 Common Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

1. Tell me about yourself
You know this question is coming.  Don't ask them what they want to know, tell them what you want them to know about you.

2. What do you know about the company?
Do your research ahead of time.  The resources that were shown to us on our library day would be very useful in preparing to answer this question.

3. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Focus on 2-4 key strengths and then limit yourself to your one biggest weakness.  Focus on what you're doing to overcome that weakness or in what circumstances it may be seen as a strength.  

4. Why do you want to leave your current position?/Why do you want this job?
 Do not bash your current employer.  Focus on what assets you can bring to this potential employer.

5. Where you see yourself in 5 years time? 
The right answer, if it's the truth, is still with this company you are interviewing with.  Emphasize anything that illustrates your long-term commitment.  If you have a history of long-term employment with previous employers, point this out.  If you stay in one place for a long duration before moving, draw attention to this.  If you desire to advance within the company, this is a good opportunity to indicate that.

I found this article very relevant and it reiterated many of the things we've learn in class recently.

MComrades Chapter 9 Presentation Analysis

Overall I thought our group did pretty well with our presentation.

I think I did fairly well with how I moved about the floor and remembering and using people's names as I called on them.

I think the biggest thing I can do to improve my presenting skills is to speak up more clearly and not trail off at the end of my sentences.

Our group did well with keeping our classmates engaged in the game.  The candy seemed to be a motivating incentive. 

Our group could improve with creating more visually interesting Power Point slides.

I get so nervous when I present, but I thought the overall delivery of our presentation went pretty seamlessly.

Boolean Logic

I must confess that was not the first time my hand shot up to have my research subject be the guinea pig during library research days.  Have someone else do my research for me?  Yes please.

I really enjoyed our time in the library today.  Mrs. Camacho was so knowledgeable and helpful.  I've already had many experiences with this type of research and yet I still learned so much from her today.  I had no idea so many resources were available through our library's website.  I particularly was impressed with all of the background data and company information available on just about any company.

The next time I interview for a job, I'm going to be all over that site.  I'll come prepared with a basic understanding of the major issues that are currently facing that industry and perhaps even their specific company.  And through the occupational outlook handbook I'll already know the anticipated salary range to negotiate.   

Online Interview Assignment

One of the first things I learned from this assignment is to do a trial run using the same agreed upon software with someone  you know well BEFORE attempting to interview with your actual potential employer.  Felicia and I encountered all sorts of problems between dysfunctional mics and cameras and slow internet connections, etc. 

All in all, though, I learned a lot from this assignment.  I felt like I did a good job in presenting myself in a professional and friendly manner.  I think I did a good job in thoroughly addressing Felicia's questions in a concise manner.  

I think I could improve on becoming more articulate with my responses--being quicker to respond and finding the best words to use in my response.  Another thing I could do to improve is to focus on answering the interviewer's questions in a manner that will also highlight one of my personal skills.  Sometime I focus so much on concisely answering the question when perhaps sometimes I should make a small detour in a direction that will also highlight some of my applicable characteristics.

Felicia was both professional and helpful and I give her a 5/5.

Separate People From the Problem

I was browsing classmates' blogs looking for inspiration for this week's post and Sarah won!  I also enjoyed Grammar Girl's tips from class the other day.

I agree 100% that even when someone else, or some company, is completely in the wrong, it is still important to keep the channels of communication open with them--especially if you are in need of their help.

I used to take customer service calls for a variety of different companies.  I was always more eager and willing to go the extra mile for customers who were calm and level-headed as opposed to customers who came on the line shouting or swearing.  You would think this would be common sense, but I am shocked at the number of individuals I have come in contact with that feel that the best way to get what they want is to forcefully demand it.

Even if you are in the right and the other person has screwed up, you'll see more progress in resolving the issue if you separate the people from the problem and attack the problem together as a team instead of attacking the other person.      

Mock Interviews

I really enjoyed our mock interview activity from the other day.  I thought it was very helpful and has practical application.  Although my interviewers didn't ask me anything about having children, if I were being 100% transparent, then some of the answers to their questions, though would involve information about when I plan to have children.  I asked Professor Middleton about this after class and she suggests not to disclose that information.  Even if your plan is to only work for a short period of time and then have children and leave the company, it really is best to avoid commenting on the subject.  You never know if you'll end up needing to be a working mother, even if your plans are to be a stay at home mom.  Or there could be infertility issues, or a wide array of other circumstances that could cause your Plan B to become Plan A.

I really appreciated this advice.  I think it would be best to think about possible questions that a potential employer could ask that would cause me to want to disclose my parental plans, and then come up with an alternate, but honest answer to those questions.   

Public Speaking Tips

I recently stumbled upon this article:

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-3584-Career-Growth-and-Change-9-ways-to-sound-like-you-know-what-youre-talking-about/?SiteId=cbmsn43584&sc_extcmp=JS_3584_advice

The title of the article is "9 Ways to Sound Like You Know What You're Talking About."  I found that it goes hand in hand with the concepts we have been learning in class about what makes a good public speaker.  Below are the nine tips from the article:

1. Record yourself and play it back.
2. Identify and break your bad habits.
3. Be aware of your body language.
4. Find your "optimal pitch."
5. Speak at the "rate of no mistakes."
6. Take advantage of pauses.
7. Focus on continuity of phrase.
8. Remember to breathe.
9. Let your enthusiasm show.

Most of these are self-explanatory, but for details on the specifics of each item, you'll want to check out the original source from the link above.  I found these tips very helpful, though, so I just thought I'd share!  Especially since I just got assigned to speak in church on Sunday, I will be able to implement these sooner than I prefer.

On that note, if anyone has any amazing references or insights on faith and/or hope, feel free to pass them along!            

Visual Design Inclined

Even though it wasn't worth any points, I really enjoyed the challenge Professor Middleton gave us to revamp that crappy Valentine's Day poster.  It reminded me how much I really enjoy graphic design. 

When I get going on a project like that, I just have to keep going and going until I have it just how I want it.  My fellow MComrades and I had it looking really good during our meeting, but once I got home, I just couldn't stop myself from adding a few things here and there.  So there I was, with a million things on my to-do list, and how was I spending my time?  Tweaking a project, that likely already exceeded expectations, that's worth nothing more than a shot at winning a mystery-treat.

Maybe I should change my major--or at least take a few graphic design electives.

 

Social Skills: My Confessions

My disposition seems to fall into the "slow-to-warm-up" category.  I have some shy tendencies but when I'm with people and in a situation where a feel comfortable, most people are surprised to hear that I'm naturally shy.  Standing in front of a group with all eyes on me is not usually a situation where I am feeling in my element.  

Some advice that Professor Middleton gave yesterday that stood out to me is to just have a conversation with the audience. For some reason that perspective caused me to relax a little about the idea of public speaking.  We'll have to see if that will help me relax in the moment when my palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy (you gotta lose yourself in the music, the moment, you own it, you better never let it go...sorry...I digress).  Seriously, though, I shake so bad I''m afraid people think I'm having a seizure.  I just need to relax a little!

So anyway, the conversation thing is a good idea; however, I honestly don't feel I'm all that great at that, either!  I'm better than I used to be, but I think sometimes I'm too busy to make time for just casual conversation, or I'm too wrapped up in my own world to really make time to care about someone else's, or sometimes when there is a situation where I have plenty of time with someone then I overly worried about what we could possibly talk about for so long.

So what now?  I think just like we learned in class, that sometimes you have to rehearse your presentation many times to make it look unrehearsed, I might just need to make more time to practice my conversation skills.  Instead of shying away from the large group of people shooting the breeze at work, I can jump in and contribute.  Instead of working on homework at the beginning of class, I could chat with the classmate next to me.  I think I'm gonna do it.  At least for a little bit.   

LinkedIn

Our class the other day got me curious about the LinkedIn website.  I've heard of it before and I've received many invites to it; however, I have never had the desire to join.  I only have so much time for social networking and I guess I didn't really see the point in signing up for another site when I already have Facebook.  However, the more I hear about it, the more value I see in having LinkedIn in addition to Facebook.  I visited a lady in my ward today that found her last job because a potential employer saw her profile on LinkedIn and could see my friend had the skill set he was looking for.

If my long-term goals were more career oriented I think I'd jump right on the LinkedIn train.  Where my goals are more family oriented, I still see the value in it, I suppose I just don't feel much of a sense of urgency to sign up.  Professor Middleton made a good point, though, that the time to make connections is now--not after your job search is underway.  

My Native Language

From doing my reading I've learned that I know next to nothing about the English language.  How is it that I can speak fluently, and yet not be able to explain why a sentence sounds correct or not?  Honestly, I feel like I have a lifetime (or at least a semester's-worth) of information that I need to learn and memorize in order to do well on this upcoming grammar test.

I think what I'll have to do is re-do all of our in-class quizzes, and study the answer keys to understand why I missed what I did.  I'll probably need to re-read several sections of the reading, take the practice test, and study that for a long time.  I may also need to pay a visit to the TA's office.  It looks like I have my work cut out for me.  But with one sister in the ER as I type, another sister mourning the loss of her mother (we had the same dad, but not the same mom), and all of my many siblings headed this way for the funeral, I honestly am not sure how I will fit all of that in alongside working and my calling responsibilities.

This is why I take one to two classes a semester.  I don't know how you full-timers do it.  It seems like there's always something.      

I See What She Did There...

I really enjoyed the exercise we did in class today where we wrote down 3 questions and then mingled with our classmates to discuss them.  It hit me, after we were done, that Professor Middleton was teaching us about networking!  

I think our culture, in general, trains us to associate asking questions with appearing weak or unintelligent.  This is unfortunate because there is so much we can learn from those around us.  The people we come in contact with, each specialize in a variety of different areas of interest.  Pretending we already know what we need to know on any given topic, hinders ourselves from gaining useful information.

This activity inspired me to be better about viewing my friends, family members, and even acquaintances, as resources of valuable information.  It also reminded me, as discussed in chapter one of our text, of the importance of being willing to be that resource for others.       

Who's with me?

          Am I the only one that hasn’t seen this sentence structure stuff since literally elementary school?  Perhaps it is because I intentionally avoided “real” English classes and opted for Mythology classes or “Whodunnit” where we just read mystery books and played Clue on Fridays.  Perhaps I would not have encountered it since then, anyway.  Since I can’t go back, I guess I’ll never know.  For whatever the reason, though, I now struggle even determining the “subject” of a sentence!  Hopefully this is just one small unit of this class.  Or, better yet, maybe I can actually learn this stuff in a way that will stick this time!

          So, I’ve learned (or had it reiterated to me) that English is not my thing.  So what?  Now I’m paying for it.  Now what?  I’ll be spending a lot more time over the next few months with my sister who majored in English.