Jobs and Interviews

Doing this week's assignment about interviews brought me back to the day I had my interview at PacSun. It is the only time I have ever been to a job interview and I remember I did not really know what to expect. I also remember being really nervous. I know that job interviews are necessary but they are so nerve-wracking! That is why I am glad that we are learning about this now so that by the time I am interviewing for jobs in my career I will be better prepared.

I was talking to my dad today about this class and mentioned to him about the assignment we had to do for the presentation of self and he thought it was a great idea. I agree and I feel like this class is really teaching us a lot of things that we will be able to carry out into the real world. For example, learning about interviews is very helpful and how to be prepared for them. Also, redoing my resume and learning how to write a cover letter for the first time are very helpful things to know how to do in the professional business world.

Another part of the assignment this week was to look up job descriptions and specific companies or organizations that we would want to hire us. I found this to be really interesting as well because it is something I will probably end up doing when it comes time for me to start searching seriously for a career opportunity. (257)

-kp

Blogging = Refl Inq Assignment

No class this week! And apparently, according to the e-mail that Eric sent us a few days ago, we also do not have to do the Reflexive Inquiry Assignment number 3. This would be great news to someone who was stressed out about doing a third project, but for us bloggers it really does not make a difference at all. We still have to blog every week.

I was thinking, is it fair that we have to continue blogging every week, on average 400-500 words, while the rest of the class does not have to worry about the Reflexive Inquiry assignments at all anymore? The 6 or so people in the class that are blogging have to write way more than anyone else has to write. And now that the third inquiry assignment has been taken away, it seems like we are doing a lot more work than everybody else.

I was thinking this over and the truth is, I knew from the start that I would have to write more than the people that were just turning in a couple projects. I like to blog because I think it is fun and I usually am inspired sometime throughout the week with something that has to do with PCP and I thought a blog would be a good idea so I could record what I thought on a weekly basis. Plus, the people that are blogging are going above and beyond what Eric asked of us in these Reflexive Inquiry assignments so that means that will probably boost our grade.

I guess all in all it will work out, but I do feel like the bloggers are required to do a lot more work than the rest of the class. Maybe in the future, the weekly word count for bloggers should be a little less. I think it would be more reasonable to require 150-200 words a week from the people who choose to blog because we are writing much more often. (333)

-kp

While I'm at it...

...I might as well post my link to my online portfolio up here. So, here it is:

www.coroflot.com/kpfromme

enjoy! =]

(19)

-kp

My presentation of self...

...is complete! I went through the checklist a few times and I'm positive I covered everything and more. I have a business card, cover letter, resume, 2 page "presentation of self," portfolio of work, and links to my online professional portfolio and blog, all put together in a nice fancy professional black portfolio. I found this project to actually be very helpful and fun. I still wish we were taught more in class about what was required, but I learned a lot and feel more confident about presenting myself as a professional. (92)

-kp

Project

So I realized something recently; I really do not know much about making resumes, cover letters, or anything we have to make for our personal presentation of self. I looked up some sample resumes and online tutorials but I still do not feel like I really know what I am doing.

I really wish that we had learned about this kind of stuff in PCP class. We have not been taught anything having to do with professionally presenting ourselves to clients or when applying for jobs. I feel like I am a little lost and wish I had learned more about the do's and don't's of making a cover letter and resume. Also, I am making an online portfolio of my work, but I am not sure if it is "professional" enough.

I love the freedom that we get in PCP class when it comes to our assignments, but I really wish we had solid knowledge pertaining to what we have to turn in for our Professional Presentation of Self. Even my business card I am not sure is "professional" enough. I put everything I thought was necessary on it, but I am not positive about what typically should be on a personal business card.

I feel it is a bit unfair to the class to require us to do so much work for this project when we have not been taught anything about what we are required to turn in. Sometimes I feel that Eric expects we already know how to do all of this, but I honestly never thought about presenting myself "professionally" through cover letters and what not. I have never even written a cover letter before. (280)

-kp

Business Card

This semester in PCP, one of our major class projects is the Professional Presentation of Self. Basically, the assignment is that we need to find ways to present ourselves in a professional way. This includes the making of personal business cards, resumes, cover letters, websites, portfolios, and anything else we feel represents ourselves professionally.

I have been working little by little on this project for the past few weeks and tonight I finished designing my business card. I figured the most important information I would want a client to have is my name, phone number, and e-mail. I thought about including my address but thought it was unnecessary.

My design style is usually pretty clean and neat and for my business card, I chose to only include information that was necessary and set it in a clear and legible typeface. The white type on black background also plays nicely with contrast. I like the way it turned out so I decided to post it up here. (166)

-kp

Baby Victoria

Isn't she cute?! This past weekend I visited with my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and baby cousin Victoria. She's about 10 1/2 months old so she does not talk yet. Therefore, she communicates by other means. I found it so interesting to just watch how she interacted with us without saying a single word.

Victoria is really into pointing and waving. When she wants something, she'll point. For example, at one point her mom was holding her and she wanted to go to my grandpa so she started moving more and looking towards my grandpa. Then she held out her hand and pointed her little finger towards him. We knew this meant she wanted him to hold her so my aunt handed her over, and little Victoria was very happy.

Another gesture Victoria uses is waving her hand. Whenever someone new walks into the room she will wave at them. She also waves at everyone when her mom picks her up to bring her to her room for a nap. She knows to wave because my aunt holds her towards everyone in the room and we all wave to her. She mimicks what she sees, but the process of waving has become something that is routine to her and she even understands that it means she is leaving. I know this, because at one point we were all waving goodnight to her and she started crying, like she did not want to go to sleep.

At another point during the visit, we had the door to the porch open to let in some fresh air and Victoria was sitting right next to it. We did not want her to crawl outside but she was so close and I knew she was tempted. She would keep looking at me and then she would turn to crawl out the door. I immediately went, "no, Victoria," or said something around those lines but with a forceful tone. As soon as I said it she stopped, turned her head, and looked at me. After a few moments she tried again and again I told her, "no." Each time I said this, she would stop, turn, and look directly at me. She even smiled a little bit each time like we were playing a game. She cannot speak but she understood that when I said, "no," it meant to stop doing what she was doing.

I love visiting with my baby cousin because each time I see her, she is completely different. She changes so fast and I find it so intriguing to watch the process of a growing and evolving human being! (438)

-kp