English 311

Future English 311 students, pay attention because this course has a lot to offer. Unlike your previous writing courses wit long essays, this course entails much shorter documents like emails, memorandums, resumes and reports. There is still a great deal of research but the primary focus is on creating professional and effective documents for good communication in the workplace. Utilizing the skills you learn in this course with benefit you in you job hunting and getting ahead in your desired profession. Knowing your profession is one thing, but looking and acting the part is most important.

Service Learning Outcome

Working with the Baker Donora Center has been a challenging experience. I have become much more familiar with Microsoft Publisher in which I had very little experience with prior to this project. It is a very useful tool that can be used with various types of applications. I have learned how important communication with others is in the real world. Communication with your partners is very important to ensure that you are both on the same page. It is not something you can start and simply not finish; it has a purpose and your partners are counting on you to provide a professional document. It was challenging and I did not receive all the information needed, but I had learned that sometimes you need to take control do what is needed in order to meet your deadlines.

The project has allowed me to make progress on my long-term goals by stepping outside of my comfort zone. I had to meet with people I was unfamiliar with and take on responsibility. It has been a stepping stone toward giving back to the community. My community has given me so much and it is only fair that I give back in return.

My Community

Though my sevice learning project I have learned a great deal about my community and myself. There are many great non-profit organizations located right in our very one neighborhoods that are dedicated to helping others. Before this project I had not realized how busy not-profit organizations were. They tackle many activities at one time and can use all the help they can get. I have done community service before but I had not thought about the option of volunteering the knowledge I have learned in school to benefit the center. It is a great feeling knowing that my hard work is paying off, not money wise, but by creating a great service to others in my very own community. Even though it was hard work, I plan to volunteer my knowlege as much as possible because it was such a great experience.

Virtual Collaboration Project

Virtual collaboration is a way for campanies to develope an online identity and create areas for their members to contact and work with each other over the internet. There are thousands of ways to accomplish this; including blogs, wikis, websites and networking sites. Recently I was teamed up with my fellow classmates Brice and Damian for a virtual collaboration project. My group developed a pretend night club that would use various types of collaboration. Brice created a twitter account, Damian created a WetFeet account and I created a blogspot. We worked very well together. We utilized our time in class to discuss what needed to be done and contacted each other various times through email and the discussion board (both are types of virtual collaboration). The project was very productive and all our samples were great for advertisement, however if we had more time we could have created more in depth samples. The project taught me how cheap yet effective virtual collaboration can be. There are so many options out there that a company can benifit from and should take advantage of. It is a great way to allow employees to communicate with each other, as well as communicating with the public.

My Service Learning Partner

I am partnering up with Baker Donora Center for my service learning project. The center is conveniently located on the corner of Baker St. and Donora St., one block west of Pennsylvania Ave. The mission of the center is, "improving the quality of life in our neighborhood". They partner with public and private sectors, as well as community residents, to improve the quality of the neighborhood. They are also involved in a Health Outreach to inform and help residents with many resources, such as: Plan First, Quit Smoking, Child Immunizations, Food Resources, My Child, Parenting Resources, Homeownership, and several others. The center also provides and "Extreme Street Makeover" every year, in which they improve the curb appeal of several homes along a particular street.

Baker Donora has asked me to provide them with their next newsletter. Their newsletter typically covers the months activities and services; however, the upcoming months have several important events planned. Therefore, they would like to cover the next couple of months in one newsletter. This will create a good challenge, but I am always willing to tackle a challenge. My partners plan to aid me in anyway and provide me with as much information as possible. This will be a promising experience and can't wait to get started.

Effective Page Design

Effective page design is so important because you want others develop an interest in your document. Documents that are too cluttered and overload on information may quickly loose the interest of their readers. On the other hand documents with too little information may not clearly promote the message you are trying to pass on. You want to disregard any irrelevant information and highlight the important information for a clear message. It must be usable, meaning the content and design should be relevant to your audience and easy for the reader to understand and follow.

An effective page design will have an eye catcher that will draw the individuals attention from across the room to spark an interest. A catchy phrase or picture that relates to your message is a good way to gain this interest. Throughout the document you must keep you target audience in mind to make a connection and keep them reading. A good layout will allow your readers to go with the flow of the document and maintain interest. White space, bold letters and italics will help highlight the key information, but be careful not to use to many variations of font styles because it can be hard on the readers eyes.

Overall an effective page design will help keep the readers interest and develop a clear message. It may be short and simple, however it will be attractive, get straight to the point and keep your readers from guessing what the document intends to say. The primary goal is communication and the audience should always be kept in mind.

Initial Understanding of Service Learning

Service learning and community service are very similar, however there is a difference. The most distinctive difference is that community service emphasises on skills and habits of volunteering, where as service learning allows the student to apply their knowledge and skills developed in school to some real world problems.

Service learning allows the student to be in control of their own project. The project allows the student to reach beyond their comfort levels, learn responsibility, and benefit the community. The student can put their own personal touches on the project and gain a certain satisfaction of learning while helping those in need.

This project will allow me to meet many new people, develope personal growth and responsibiliy. Knowing the the time and effort I put into my project will help those in need will provide me with a great sense of satisfaction.

Strategies for Effective Communication

Accounting has been said to be the language of business. Let's face it, the main goal for any business is to establish an effective, smooth running operation, reduce expenses and gain a profit. Accountants do just that, they are the heart and sole of achieving these specific goals. There are many specific tasks accountants specialize in, however their main purpose in an organization is to manage money made and spent, develop budgets and communicate the financial status of a company.

As an accountant I would understand that much of the work I performed would have little meaning to others, however the results of my finding would greatly effect other employees. I would need to clearly state budgets to each department manager so they will understand their spending limit, desired output levels and the importance of their performances meeting these goals for a promising financial outcome. Furthermore, explaination of these budgets help managers inform their workers and set standards for perfomance. And of course the owner(s) of the company would like to know how their company is doing financially, where the weaknesses and strengths are and what corrective action may be needed.

My communication is also important to individuals outside the company as well. The financial statments should be thorough and up to date. When applying for a loan or purchasing supplies on credit, the creditors have the right to know how well the company will be able to perform and pay back debts in a reasonable time. The statments also enable individuals to determine whether or not they would like to purchase stock from my particular corporation.

Clearly stating the perfomances and financial status of my company is very important to users inside and outside the company. The better I explain the terms and process of my work, the better others will be able effectively use this information for the success of the company.

"Do's" and "Don'ts" to social netwoking reputations

"Do's"
Update your profile regularly
Pick your friends wisely
Be selective on joining groups
Be courteous and respectful
Keep organized
Let your image represent you
Converse with others
Demonstrate knowledge and experience
Write in a professional manner

"Don'ts"
Post undesirable pictures
Badmouth past/present employers
Display negative attitude
Display your party image
Write in computer lingo
Forget to set privacy settings
Wait to clean up profile

Social networking is an advertising opportunity for a professional image. A potential career opportunity could be right around the corner. Keeping an up to date profile will greatly increase the chances of landing a new job. It is important to remember that profiles are easily accessible and the privacy setting should be utilized. Employers take in consideration what type of an employee you will be before they even hire you, so it is important to display yourself as how you would act in a business environment. You should be willing to work and respect others as well as being independent. It is important to accurate and truthful in all areas of work. It is ok to converse with others, however, keep in mind you are in a business setting and it should be work related. Treat higher seniority individuals with respect and courtesy, although even the highest seniority still needs to respect others and occasionally converse in a slightly informal manner. Always stay ahead of the game and continue to think before you act.

Online Identity and Branding

In today's business world, employers look at much more than our cover letter and resume when considering us for a position. The rapid growth of the online technology we have the opportunity to develop a strong professional online identity. Many employers now Google the names of their applicants to gain a better insight on potential employees; therefore, an online identity may help or hurt you if you’re not careful.

An important initial step in recognizing your online identity is to Google yourself and analyze the results of your name. Set your name apart from others with similar names by using your middle name or middle initial and keep it consistent with all your networking names. Secondly, it is important to log on to all your network profiles and adjust the privacy settings to restrict outside viewing and edit any negative pictures and language you may have on the site. Every picture and piece of writing available on the internet will effect how you look as a professional.

It is important to build a professional online identity on networks such as LinkedIn or Spoke. Employers constantly search these sites for new employees. You should continually access these accounts and update your profile to maintain up to date pictures, names, skills, qualifications and work experienc. Link your professional work and achievements done on other sites to your network and stay connected to individuals in the field you are pursuing. It is also a good idea to continuously add blog post on topics that you feel strong about where you may demonstrate your knowledge and leadership.

5 Tough Interview Questions & Strategies For Each

“Tell me about yourself.”
This answer should not be about your personal life or hobbies. A good answer would consist of a quick run down of your skills, knowledge and experience that would assist you in the position. Cover your education, work experience and goals for the future.

“Why did you leave your last job?”
Stay away from negative experiences and badmouthing the company. It would be a good chance to talk about the positive attributes you had learned from that particular company and how it will help you in the future.

“What can you offer me that another person can’t?”
Make it apparent that you are the best candidate for the position. Explain specifically what parts of your resume stands out and what qualifications may benefit you. Use past experiences to demonstrate your ability to overcome a problem, meet a deadline or simply the quality of your work habits.

“What are your goals for the future?”
Keep the focus on your career path. Personal goals such as starting a family or returning to school are not fit for this question. Gear your answer toward the position you are applying for and how you would like to advance from that position to a higher position.

“How do you plan on achieving these goals?”
Be prepared for the question and research seminars or training courses that the company may have available. You may now mention the returning to school, not as the goal, but as a means of furthering your skills and knowledge to meet this goal of company advancement.

Personal & Professional Mission Statements

Life throws my curves and bumps in our direction every day. Some of these curves and bumps may be much harder to tackle than others, but we eventually learn to glide through the curves and smooth out those bumps.

My personal mission is to take life head on and be true to myself. Life is too short to watch life pass you by. My life has been very blessed, but I have also made many mistakes. However, these mistakes have made me into the person I am today. With integrity and maturity I will be on the right path to achieving my goals.

My professional mission is to never underestimate the impossible. Be what you want to be; nothing is impossible. Many of times I have underestimated my capabilities and set myself up for failure. But over the past few years I have began to believe in myself and strive to do my very best. I will be proactive and say I will get my dream job and I will make the best out of my life.

Although different, my personal and professional missions are one in the same. Whether it be enhancing my personal life or enhancing my professional life I will give it everything I've got.

Personal Bio

Shaun Prince was born and raised in Mason, MI. He now resides in Lansing where he is attending Davenport University. At Davenport, Shaun is in his Junior year working on a bachelors degree in Accounting Management. Shaun currently works for Meijer Warehouse as a laborer while attending school. In his free time, he enjoys working out, bicycling, snowmobiling, sports and spending time with family and friends. Shaun is currently single with no children and has a dog named Medina. Shaun is a quiet, yet confident young man who will strive to succeed at any task he may be presented with.