Dear Angie's Spring 2008 Students:

First of all I would like to say that I really learned a lot in this class and actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. That is something to keep in mind throughout the semester.

I really enjoyed working on a real client based project. The client for our class was the American Haitian Foundation. For the client, we first had to prepare a proposal for a new Web site. After a proposal was selected the class collectively created the AHF Web site. Writing the proposal is a task that takes time and thought. My advice to you is to start working on the proposal as soon as you get any information. My group did this. We met once a week to work on the project. At first, I thought I would hate doing this. However, we had our proposal completed a week ahead of time and I was never once stressed out about it. The quality of work was also better since we were not simply throwing the proposal together at the last minute. Our proposal was chosen and is the basis for the new AHF Web page. Even if you do not think you have any computer skills that would be useful in building a Web site, do not worry, I did not either. However, there is a lot of other work that goes on behind the scene to build a Web site and there is something for everyone to do. It is very rewarding to know that you helped build a Web site or do a project that is going to benefit a non-profit organization worthy of support. My advice to you is to be a good group member. Volunteer to do work and have your work turned in on time. This makes everything go smoother.

As far as other work goes in the class, such as your resume and presentation, do the work as best you can when it is first due. If you need to make changes to it, then make changes as soon as you get feedback. If you do it right the first time, it saves you a lot of time and trouble throughout the rest of the semester.

Lastly, my advice to you is to spell Web page and Web site like this: "Web page" and "Web site" not website or webpage. That is immediate points off.

Good Luck and Enjoy Business Writing with Angie! She is a great teacher!

I WILL GO

I love how when you are going through something in your life there is always a song to get you through that time. This song by Hillsong Church London has made my day and week because it is upbeat and continuously reminds me of the Lord's love for me. Here is the song. I hope it is as encouraging for you as it is for me.

I WILL GO

I have found myself in you
Your purpose for my life
I have discovered who I am
As your spirit touches mine

Every step I take
Every move I make
You are by my side
And I will be strong
My strength is in you

I will go where you want me to go
I will do what you want me to do
I will go where you want me to go
I will be who you want me to be
Anything for you

When you ask me I will go
You sure went before me
In your word I find the truth
You lead me on this journey

Every step I take
Every move I make
You are by my side
And I will be strong
My strength is in you

I will go where you want me to go
I will do what you want me to do
I will go where you want me to go
I will be who you want me to be

I will go where you want me to go
I will do what you want me to do
I will go where you want me to go
I will be who you want me to be
Anything for you

Those who trust in you
Ever praising you
Will find their strength in you
Their gonna make it happen

I will trust in you
Never stop praising you
Will find my strength in you
I’m gonna make it
Make it
I will

I will go where you want me to go
I will do what you want me to do
I will go where you want me to go
I will be who you want me to be

I will go where you want me to go
I will do what you want me to do
I will go where you want me to go
I will be who you want me to be
Anything for you

- Hillsong Church London
- Shout God's Fame

This also reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures.
Philippians 2:13 - Because God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases Him. (New Century Version)

Be encouraged! HAVE A BLESSED DAY!

Can You Play Well With Others?

I read an article called "Employers Study Applicants' Personalities." This article was about employers hiring employees based on personality rather than skill. First the article talks about having a group of people interviewing rather than one interviewer. This allows the group of people with whom the candidate will be working with to have input on their new co-worker. Next, the article says that you do not want the image of your company to be a "jerk" because a lot of jerks work for your company. This stresses the importance of personality when hiring employees. The article goes on to talk about one company that gives a 10 hour interview. This gives the company an opportunity to genuinely get to know the candidate. A different company went on to say that before they hire an employee, they test the candidate to see how he or she will handle the stress and pressures of the job by putting them in the field for four days. This ensures that the new employee will enjoy their job before actually hiring them.

I think this type of interviewing is very important. I think personality needs to be balanced with technical skills. One point addressed in the article was that although a group of people may get along personality wise, their work may be compromised due to not hiring based on skill. However, if a group of people do not get along with each other, the work will also be compromised. I think that it is very important to get along with the people you work with. It is important for a person to enjoy going to their job and performing quality work.

If I worked for a large business I would want to be hired based on this type of interviewing and I would want to have an input on my potential co-workers as well. I feel that I would do well in this type of interviewing because I love to talk to people and I feel like I get along with others well because I am a positive fun person who also has technical skills to offer.

Dual Coding Theory

Dual Coding is a method used in which words are used with visuals. Linking words and visuals together will more likely cause the brain to move a concept from temporary memory to long term memory. Dual coding is used by advertisers as a marketing tool so that customers will be more likely to remember their product by linking it with something else. An example, of dual coding is a Verizon commercial. A Verizon commercial is talking about how their company has the largest network, and how everyone in Verizon is networked together because calls within the network are free. In all their commercials, however, there is always this massive group of people (representing the network) following the Verizon user around. This is dual coding because it shows you a massive group of people (representing their huge but close network) while talking about it at the same time in the commercial. I think dual coding is very effective and persuasive. I know this because as I sat down to do this blog, I had not watched any TV for the purpose of looking for dual coding. I simply sat down and started to think about commercial when the Verizon commercial and "network" idea just came to my mind. Therefore, the idea of the "network" and the massive group of people that Verizon offers to link you with has moved from short term memory to long term. Isn't it ironic because I do not even belong to the Verizon network but instead its' competitor, Alltel. I have thought many times about switching to Verizon, and when I think about it, in my head, I see the large group of people (possibly in there hard hats) following around the Verizon user. This is why I am confident Verizon's dual coding marketing scheme is effective.

Mock Interview Reflection

My mock interview was for a dietetic internship at the University of Houston on October 10, 2007 at 10:40 am in Strode tower. The mock DI director was Mrs. Rogers.

First of all, I learned that my very energetic personality magnifies my display of enthusiasm and interest in the internship to the DI director. This was very encouraging. What I learned from the interview coincides with what I would do differently. First of all, I would not have prepared my cover letter 30 minutes prior to my interview, and more than that, I would never turn in an incomplete cover letter. I also would not ever again leave the responsibility of printing my cover letter to a public printer. Instead, I would make sure I had all my materials prepared the night before. I also would never schedule another meeting within a hour of my interview. I had a Tigers for Haiti meeting at 10:00 am and an interview at 10:40 am. I completely got distracted and was running to the interview in my high heels. That will not happen again in the situation of a mock or professional interview. I learned that the 10-15 minute arrive early window is meant for a reason. Furthermore, I learned that I somewhat stumble over words and begin to talk somewhat fast in an interview. If I could do things differently, I would still be energetic and upbeat, but I would try to slow down my words and pause a moment or two after being asked a question. This would give me a moment to calm down, gather my thoughts, and not just blurt out the first thing that comes to my head.

However, there are some things that I would not do differently or that I felt like I knew. The night before the interview, I reviewed possible interview questions, brainstormed answers, and practiced questions with a friend. I felt like this helped prepare me for the interview. I also would not change the fact that I did talk a lot in the interview. I would change the speed at which I spoke at, but I think it is good to have an answer to all questions and be willing to talk about your answers by giving examples. I think this shows your interest in the internship. Finally, I knew that it was expected to have researched the internship and the location of the internship. I was able to answer questions about how I would feel living in Houston, Texas and why I wanted this particular internship because I had done my research.

After the interview, I felt like the interview had went well. I felt very comfortable with my interviewer. I felt like I had answered the questions to the best of my ability and there was nothing that left that I wanted to say. Overall, I felt that the mock interview was very beneficial to me, a student soon to be entering the work world. I learned what I liked about myself and what I need to improve on.

Presentations Review

This week each student in the class gave a 5 minute presentation on any topic they desired. All thought all the projects were interesting and everyone did a really good job. However, to me there was one presentation that stood out above all the rest and that was Joel's presentation on Invisible Children. It actually brought tears to my eyes. He showed a very powerful and emotional video in the begining and just told the facts about the non-profit organization. I think he did an excellent job analyzing the audience. Invisible Children was started by college students and he was correct in the assumption that this is a passionate generation. I feel like his powerpoint appealed to everyone. We want to to change the world and we can. He used powerful quotes and his powerpoint complemented the message. He used fade in on the quotes and fade out which I think was very dynamic. He also used neutral colors (gray) that were very calming but at the same time a little dark. The final reason why I loved Joel's presentation was that it has actually made me want to find out more about Invisible Children and become concerned and involved with the organization. Great Job Joel and everyone else!!!

Resume Tips

I read two articles giving tips to resume writing. One article was named "How to Pinpoint Accomplishments that will make your Resume Shine." In this article it said that displaying results on your resume was 3 times as important as displaying responsibilites. It said that you should intergrate the results into each job listing. The article gave 5 tips for making your resume shine. The tips were as follows: ditch the modesty, review a performance checklist, use job evaluation, measure your results, and cite recognition. What I got most from this articles was 3 questions as a way to determine your accomplishments. Sometimes its hard to think about what your accomplishments are. The three questions are:
What was your impact on your division, company and group?
What would not have happened if you hadn't been there?
What are you proudest of during your time with the company?
I also learned from the article that being appointed to head up a special project or finish projects ahead of time can also count as accomplishments. It is also good to use numbers to quantify your results.

The second article I read was "Finding the Right Keywords to get your Resume Noticed." It gave 6 tips. The tips were to first of all use the job posting to find keywords to use in your resume. I found this interesting. This way you make your resume sound like the perfect fit for the job they are looking for. The article also recommended that you should visit similar job postings and looks for words that are repeated. This way you know what keywords to include to get the job title you desire. The second tip was to use golden keywords such as communication skills, problem solving, team work, leadership, business development, computer skills and other golden key words. A later tip, however, said not to go overboard using keywords that do no technically apply to you and your skills. Another tip said to use keywords that describe your value such as "driving gross" or "increased efficiency." This goes along with what the previous article said about quantifying your results. Another tip was to still use action verbs. Even if a resume is electronice and nouns are supposed to be used, it is still okay to incorporate a few action verbs in the description. This allows your resume to be positive and active. Finally, the last tip says to "Go with a text file" when posting your resume online.

I found it interesting that in both of the articles it referred to online resumes not paper ones. I am a traditonal person and would much rather do things on paper. However, through these articles I found that I am going to have to do things electronically or else I will limit myself from many job opportunities. Needless to say the times are definitely changing.

Leaving September and Moving to October

This weekend was the final weekend in September. It was a very relaxing weekend. The last week of September was the most difficult week of school ever. Therefore, I was so ready to relax. I acutally went home on friday night and went to the high school football game verses our rival. Before the football game I went and got some fried chicken at the Walhalla Steak House, which has the best fried chicken in the world. I went to the game mainly because one of my students/friend plays football and I had told him I would go to his game. Unfortuantely, Walhalla lost the game. On Saturday, I cleaned the house, organizd school work and then watched the Clemson football game with some friends. It was a disappointing game but there was homemade ice cream and cookies involved which made the afternoon a little better. Afterwards, I went out to eat dinner and then watched the movie, ZODIAC. Not to ruin the movie or anything but I would not recommend it. So then Sunday came along. Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I went to church. The message was about living hard. Then I went by my parents house and ate lunch. I relaxed out on the hammock in the warm sun while gazing at the beautiful blue skies. There was a fire in our neighbors woods. It was supposedly started by someone throwing a cigarette out of a car. Then I went and played ultimate frisbee and football for a couple of hours. Ater frisbee and football at the park with some friends, I went to CRAVE. CRAVE is the student ministy provided by our church. I am on the youth staff there. I am in charge of pre-service. Today in pre-service we played spoons and some music and just hung out. I also run the screens at service. We are in a series called WAR! LIVE GOD LOUD! Tonight we talked about the Battle for our Worship. The service was AWESOME and that doesn't even begin to describe it. At the end of the night I returned home and prepared my materials for the new week. It was a great relaxing weekend to welcome the new month of October.

INTERVIEW ARTICLES

I read three interview articles named "Acing a Dicey Interview Question: Why did you leave your last job?", "Abiltiy to Pull an All-Nighter can be as Useful as a B.A." and Four Tips for Acing an Interview by Phone." I found it extremely interesting that interviewers are also interested in the "soft skills" a student learns while in college. I found it interesting that the ability to listen to music, watch tv, instant message and do homework all at the same time shows good time management skills. Another "soft skill" is the ablilty to communicate through new technolgies; a skill learned by using myspace and facebook. The ability to do group projects can be considered team collaboration, which is another sought after skill. I will have to keep these "soft skills" in mind while interviewing and not just technical ones.

In the future I most likely and am almost certain that I will have to have a phone interview. This article recommend four tips for a phone interview. The four tips were:
1. Minimize distraction
2. Sharpen your verbal skills
3. Prepare in Advance
4. Follow up
They also recommended to not use a cell phone, to reschedule the phone interview if there are surrounding distractions and to keep a resume and cheat sheet on hand.

I did not disagree with any of the information I read. I found it very helpful and will probably use this site again to get future advice on interviewing.

Web 2.0

After watching the Web 2.0 video I am still a little confused about the idea. Unlike most people in my generation I am not the biggest fan of the computer. I do use it everyday of my life and know how to use it functionally. However, I am still pretty traditonal in my ways of giving information on myself, gaining information, and even paying bills and what not. I think the title of Web 2.0 pretty much just represents that the Web has been updated to another level. It is a level that we all have access to. Not only do we have access to read the information but we also have the abiltiy to post information. XML has given people like me who are not computer savy the abiltity to use the web in many ways. Web 2.0 can help or hurt a person entering the work force. It does expose your personal information for all to see. However, it also gives you a chance to publicize yourself to any potential employers. The video said that we will have to rethink everything. By this it means that everytime you get information from the web you have to make sure it is credible. It also means that if you were an employer you wound want to make sure the facts someone gives online of themselves is true. As a user of the web you would also want to make sure that you keep your life personal because if you give it any room to be exposed it will be. The main thing I think Web 2.0 means for a person is that if you are not computer savy currently then you will be left behind in this decade because everything in this age of time is web based.

WHO AM I

WHO AM I? My name is Laura Wilson and I am senior in Food Science and Human Nutrition. I had no idea that is what I wanted to do when I came to Clemson but now I truly enjoy it. After I graduate I plan on getting an internship and then taking my registeration exam. After all that I will be a registered dietian. Thats the plan at least. However, if you really want to know about me then I have to tell you that I have plans but I am willing to change them at any minute depending on what direction I feel like God is taking me. That leads me to the number one thing about me. I love Jesus and am willing to do anything for Him. What I desire most is to live a life that is passionate, extreme and unselfish. I give my all in any endeavor. I have been on several short term mission trips to Peru, Ecuador, Jamaica, and the Bahamas and I absolutely have loved each trip and continue to care about all the people there. There is more about me as well but it all follows far behind my number one. I have an amazing family who is more like my best friends now. I also have an awesome church where I work on the youth staff and teach preschool. I love to play and watch all sports with the exception of golf. Frisbee, volleyball, football and basketball are my top favorites. If and when I have free time outside of work, school, and church you can find me hanging out with my friends, traveling, eating, sleeping, going to river, horseback riding, or running. Running mostly because I am trying to run in the Atlanta half marathon in November. Well in this long and not concise paragraph that about sums up WHO AM I.