My Resume

Oftentimes, a resume is the most cherished of all documents a person owns. It is held to high regard and defended from criticism vigorously. Since the information you place in your resume is a direct reflection of who you are personally. And as stated previously it is often difficult to portray and convey your idiosyncrasies in type form. Although the resume would be the last place to write that. It is important in your resume to be comprehensive about your details and aspects that would help you excel and show you in a better light than your peers, but it also important to strike a balance between being professional and boastful. Also, as tempting as the offer may be to 'pad' the resume with few minor details (Peace corp? Volunteer hours? Foreign languages?) it often comes back to haunt you. I have learned that the easy way might get you in, but you'll definitely leave the hard way in that case. However it does not hurt to talior the resume to the application request. If you are applying to a multi-national corporation, by all means list all the foreign languages you speak (even passably).

Docs:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BwyGiU1K4CfUZjhiMzYzY2UtYWYyMi00Y2NkLWJjNTUtODdmYzUzYjFiM2E3&hl=en
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BwyGiU1K4CfUMjZmYWY0MWQtN2I4My00ODQ0LTllMjAtYzJkMzQwY2U5ZmM5&hl=en

Presentation

I have always prided myself on my outgoing personality. I do not consider myself shy. Nor meek or unsure by any standards. However I have recently come to terms with a few uncontrollable traits. My hands (and legs) tremble with excitement when I am engaged in a subject I am passionate about. My voice also waivers and I begin to get nervous and overly excited.  No matter how hard I try to control these 'nervous shakes' I cannot seem to master them. I begin to worry that it is too apparent and that I am making a fool of myself, which only makes matters worse. I believe it would help if I were better prepared and had notes to speak from, but I find them distracting and often time jump ahead of myself only to look down at my notes and become confused. Perhaps with more time, and constant practice, I'll master the art of speaking. I am considering forming a club at the university and calling it "The Soap Box" and having a wooden platform around the Starbucks and inviting people to get up and say whatever they'd like. Maybe next term.

The Recommendation Report

I have learned quite a few lessons since presenting my request for proposal and the final report. Chiefly among them is the notion of teamwork. In the business world we will often be segregated by teams, usually, people who work in the same division. Often times we do not have a say in this matter, and do not get to choose our teams. If the choice was given I have quickly learned that I have difficulty being in a team that is not on the same productivity level as myself. Granted, I am by no measures a high water mark of productivity, I am always sure to be extra diligent in a team environment out of consideration for the rest of my team-mates. I have also learned two other valuable lessons should I find myself in a position that might comprise our performance. People in general seem to shy away from the leadership position often since they are the ones to blame, and communication is the single most important factor in a team. It is a team that does not have a clearly defined leader that often times falls by the wayside. The commonly courteous nature of our upbringing does not easily allow us to be forceful to others, but this is precisely what is needed at times. As well as ensuring and reiterating to team mates the goals and objective of our task. Valuable lessons learned for the future.

Request for Proposal

In my line of work I have often come head to head with the sloppy and poorly managed bureaucracy of the United States Government. It is quite the sight to behold. Most recently, in my work as a private jet charter broker, new security measures were to be implemented by the newly minted TSA on the dynamic private travel industry. This posed a problem for the industry as a whole. How can an industry that is based on the ideals of speed and efficiency (all while maintaining a high level of luxury) be integrated with the austere and plodding pace of governmental security. I was asked to submit a proposal of a recommendation letter to outline the issues involved in the matter and recommend a method by which this could be resolved. I am currently investigating the matter further.

Proof reading

The memorandum (or memo) is arguably the single most important form of written communication in the business world. It all begins with: To, From, Subject, and Date. The context and structure of the memo can derive a dense amount of information in a very small package. It is essential that said information is presented in a concise and clear manner. In the business world, much like the mathematical world, the shortest distance to a point is a straight line. Its imperative than when discussing issues in a memo the subject is always kept in the scope, tangents are cut to a minimum and the presentation of information is organized in such a way to be easily and quickly comprehended.

It is not an easy task to accurately convey this information in such a precise and definitive manner. Due deligence is required and constant fact checking to ensure that the information is correct, and up to spec.

Email in the workplace

Communication in the workplace is usually done in one of two form:

Face-to-face

Technology assisted.

The latter is compromised of communication of the phone or by email. The most cryptic of these would be email. Since 80% of communication occurs non-verbally, you can imagine how much of your point gets across in the form of type. Therefore, it is of utter importance that you are clear and definitive in your email. It is important that your spelling is on point since a mistake of this nature multiples your appearance as an incompetent a thousand fold.

I find it challenging to accomplish this at all times. I pride myself on my sense of humor, and it's my quick smile and friendly joke that usually help smooth things over with co-workers, so having to keep *all* my emails on a professional level will be daunting.  

Memos for Audiences

Lately, I undertook a new task in our communication class:

Writing a memo for a specific audience.

This proved to be a little more challenging than initially figured. I quickly learned that task of changing one's narrative and address the reader with a formal tone can be difficult to achieve. A careful balance between formality and compassion must be struck so as not to see too rude. It is a unique task to be able to sanitize your writing style to conform to a predefined set of rules your not even fully aware of. There seems to be a set of etiquette rules of business communication that is handed to you upon your hiring in a large corporation. Clearly, that's not the case. It is obviously learned painfully on the job, or through such course designed to sterilize your narrative of its mannerisms. I don't know if I care for it.