Sunday, February 24, 2008

My Job...

Since the blog topic for this week is a free topic, I thought I would talk about my new job. I absolutely love it and believe it is perfect for me. I am working at a place called The Better Bark. It is a grooming, boarding, training, and fostering organization for dogs. As everyone knows, I love fostering dogs and now I actually get paid to take care of them. I love it because I actually feel like I am doing something good. It has motivated me to perhaps open my own place one day.
I received a job offer through Upstate Animal Rescue, whom I foster for and volunteer for. My duties include cleaning, grooming, clerical duties, feeding, exercising the dogs, and of course giving them plenty of love! I hope to learn about owning a business when it is catered to the animal world since I have always wanted to do so. I already feel as though I have learned so much and enjoy the lifestyle. I have only been working for a little over a week but I look forward to going every day.
I know I am always talking about animals but it is my passion and I feel like I am supposed to be their voice. So if anyone ever wants a dog please let me know :)

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Cover Letter Feedback

After reading the advice given on cover letters, I agree with most all of the advice given here. I honestly knew nothing about cover letters before I read this advice. Absolutely nothing. I did not even know they existed so this was a very beneficial read for me. I wish I would have had this information sooner. I feel that a cover letter can give me a huge boost in the job/internship market.

The only point that I may disagree or feel uncomfortable with more so, is the section on the postscript technique. It just seems out of flow to me and I would be afraid that whoever is reading it may not understand. I also feel like handwriting it seems last minute and that I was too lazy to type it up and print another cover letter.

The most useful tutorial to me is definitely the sample cover letter. I learn well by example and especially with visuals. Although it was explained in earlier tutorials how and what to write in a cover letter, I was really hoping for a sample one. I was glad to have it and bookmarked the entire section. The section about testimonials was interesting to read as well, I never gave it a thought previously but it is actually a great idea for someone else to speak of you other than yourself.

I plan to use all of this information when writing my cover letter for my mock interview. This eases my mind a great deal. I will also definitely use the cover letter checklist before pulling it all together.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Interview Articles..

The first article I read was "It's Your Turn: What to Ask an Interviewer." I chose this article because this is something I have always wondered about. I have never known what to ask and what was even appropriate. I like how they broke the article up in the recruiter, the hiring manager, the executive, and the coworker. I have been interviewed by different people in different positions so this is a great way to organize the article. I never really thought to ask only certain people certain questions (besides the obvious). I wish I had this article sooner! I paid special attention to questions to ask the future boss because this is the case of the internship I am trying to get this summer. I have gone to one interview and wish I had asked more questions. But, I will hopefully be back.

The second article I read was “How to Answer the Toughest Interview Questions.” I read this article and realized that I had been asked all these questions at one time or another. The one I was especially glad to see was the salary question. This one makes me the most uncomfortable; I never know how to approach it. This article allowed me to tweak some answers I have originally replied with in an interview.

I learned the basics of an interview. I actually added this page to my favorites bar because I feel like it is very valuable. My biggest issue I have at interview time is my nerves so hopefully this will ease my mind for the mock interview and following real interviews.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Persuasive Experiences..

Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King used ethos, logos, and pathos to convey his thoughts and get his point across. The combination of these three is what made this piece of writing so effective and well-known. When we worked in groups to find examples of ethos, logos, and pathos, it was not difficult to find them within the letter. This is a major reason why the letter is still read today whether or not people realize it.

I believe the Letter from a Birmingham Jail was more of an example of persuasive techniques than the Army's presentation was. The Letter from a Birmingham Jail appealed more to us as people while the Army focused too much on copy and paste information off the internet. This is an example of how the internet may be affecting communication today. I felt they did not tune into emotion and explain the true facts of being in the army. They could have used the army as their tool to present persuasive techniques. They seemed more distant to me even though they were a few steps away while this letter was written years ago and it struck me in a bigger way.

The example of persuasive communication I chose should be no surprise to anyone that knows me. I chose one about the importance of spaying and neutering written by the ASPCA. The article can be found at http://www.aspca.org/site/DocServer/Why_SpayNeuter-English.pdf?docID=188.
This article effectively uses logos and pathos. It uses logos by explaining the facts associated with it and also explains the many myths surrounding spaying and neutering. Many people are not educated in this topic and that is destroying millions of animals every day. Pathos is prevalent throughout the article with the ASPCA mentioning the millions of animals killed every day only because they cannot find a home. This article obviously effects me tremendously but I also think that it is written in a way that would persuade anyone in the right direction while tapping into their emotions as well. I believe this article and the Letter from a Birmingham Jail use communication tools correctly and are the most persuasive.