I found this unit to be the most relevant to life after graduation. I took this class with the hopes of improving communications in a business setting. Although I am sociology major, I hope to go into Public Relations. The reality is that some business training is necessary, and difficult to get within the arts faculty. Unit three introduced some really interesting assignments that were highly relevant to the real world.

I found learning about the YOU attitude to be a valuable school. When I first read the assignment, I thought that I already knew how to do this and perhaps was a little too confident. For this assignment I actually took a significant amount of time and read my classmates submissions as well.   Looking at what others wrote was just as valuable to me as writing it myself. For that assignment specifically I will be really interested to see how I do because it is an important skill to have and one that I know will be critical to my success in PR. With that in mind, although I went in quite confident, I did struggle with removing “I” and “you”. I had no idea it would be so difficult to remove myself from the critique.

The most significant challenge I have faced in this course is creating the rough draft for my formal report. Not only did I underestimate how long it would take, I had a difficult time really narrowing down what the focus of my report would be. It turns out the most effective way for me to do this was to do multiple drafts. I also underestimated how much space describing my idea would take. What I mean by this is explaining the inner workings of the sorority, Kappa Kash and various other terms. When I thought of the idea, I forgot that Greek life is not something that is popular within Canada and requires a thorough description. In the end I handed in a report that was not complete. However, the missing parts of the assignment are mostly data. I find that when I do an assignment like this one, I miss large portions or misinterpret the instructions. I tried to do the parts I was most likely to do wrong, that way I could get feedback on my weakest parts of the report.

I always find peer reviews to be difficult. While I no longer get nervous to hand them in, I find it hard to be really critical of my classmate. I do find that reading others work is a really large help to me. This may not be the learning goal professor Paterson had in mind that is my biggest take away. Seeing how others interpreted the assignment, or technique chosen really improve my understanding of the task as a whole, even if it is too late to improve my mark. I really see this class as something that is about more than a grade; it is shaping my professional voice. I really don’t think I fully grasped that until this unit. I feel throughout the unit, my largest strength was my language. My tone is always professional, I never use slang and I try to use language that is as formal as possible.

I had previously created and worked very hard on my LinkedIn profile. When I was creating it I enlisted the help of my father, a businessman, to help me go over and edit. The process took about a month of re writing and tweaking. All in all I am really happy with how it has turned out. I have also received various compliments from colleagues in my various jobs. This was further reinforced by a positive review from my team member and evaluator, Leon. I learnt a lot from reviewing my peers LinkedIn profile. I had always looked at profiles aimed towards business or finance. Leon is into the arts and therefore the presentation of his LinkedIn is very different. It was interesting for me to see the skills highlighted by individuals in differing fields. I also learnt that although it is for professional purposes, some might be wary of putting personal information online. The thought of this had honestly never occurred to me. I can understand now, that although it may hinder their personal job search, that some people are not comfortable with so much personal information being available to whoever wants to see it. Peer reviewing has taught me to see things from others point of view, others processes may not be the same as mine and I should respect that.

To see my updated LinkedIn profile click here

Memo

To: Team Serious Business and Erika Paterson

Date: October 21, 2016

Subject: Peer Review of LinkedIn Best Practices

Hello Class,

Below please find my peer review on Leon Strauss on his LinkedIn Profile.

evaluation-strauss_engl301de_2-2_li-bp-1

Let me know of any thoughts or comments you have regarding my

REFLECTION BLOG

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I found it really interesting to read Anca’s review of my definition. It is surprisingly hard to explain a topic that as the author you understand, to a wide audience. I found it difficult to anticipate which concepts would be difficult to understand and how to simplify those. After reading her review and attempting the rewrite, I came to the conclusion that I chose a concept that may have been a little too in depth for this assignment. With that being said, doing the rewrite, with Anca’s suggestions in mind I succeeded in making the definition useful for a wider audience. I think that in my rewrite, I managed to simplify the topic enough that someone with no background knowledge of crisis communication could understand the basic use and definition for Situation Crisis Communication Theory.

When I read my first version, I realized that there were not many examples. The use of real world examples can help give instant context to the reader. I tried to use examples that everyone would know of or understand without further explanation. This was especially true in the ‘when would SCCT be used’ section. I think that the topic os SCCT, is less complicated than the definition makes it seem, in fact it is something that each and every one of us have witness, we just don’t know the specific term. In our age of social media obsession and zero privacy, SCCT is growing in popularity and demand. Those in the spotlight are constantly trying to manage or repair their desired reputation. I think providing examples like Hilary Clintons email scandal, gave context to how often this is used. The hope was by highlighting frequency and examples it could simplify they concept.

I think that in both assignments information was organized in a clear and easily understood way. I did learn that creating a document for and unknown audience is very difficult. As the author, you don’t know the background, demographic or education of those looking at your web page and therefore need to air on the side of caution and over simplify. I think there is a fine line between simplifying and being condescending. You do not want to give the reader the idea that you think you know everything, but at the same time you need to explain a possibly complex idea in a simple way. I also learned that simple does not always mean short. My making my second draft longer, I think I did a better job of explaining the various concepts involved in SCCT. When I began working on simplifying my document, I kept telling myself to tell the ‘story’ like I was explaining it to someone in middle school and I believe I accomplished that.

I really appreciate the feedback I received from Anca and think that her critiques taught me a lot.

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My rewritten definition assignment: definition-assignment

To see my peer review click here

MEMO

To: Professor Erika Paterson

From: Alanna Cawston

Date: September 20^th, 2016

Subject: Summary of Application Letter

I have posted my Application Letter onto my blog and begun the search for teammates. Below, for your convenience can find a link to my letter to look over at your leisure. My application highlights the following:

• Introduction & background
• Career aspirations
• Previous experience
• Strengths & weaknesses

If you have any further questions you can reach me through my email at ajcawston@gmail.com

Thank you for your time.

Best Regards,

Alanna Cawston

301-alanna-cawston-application-letter

September 20, 2016

3333 Wesbrook Mall

Vancouver, BC

English 301: Technical Writing
University of British Columbia
2329 West Mall
Vancouver, BC

Dear ENG 301 Classmates,

My name is Alanna Cawston I am writing to ask for your consideration in choosing me to be apart of your technical writing team. I am a 5^th year student at the University of British Columbia majoring in Sociology. After graduation, I would like to work in public relations – more specifically in crisis communications. Throughout my time in university I have been involved in various jobs and organizations. Most notably I was the Vice President of an international women’s organization. My job was to enforce the bylaws and standing rules and serve as a mediator for our members should a conflict arise. My experiences from this position are what led me to the specific field of crisis management.

In the summer I worked at a company called Sym-Tech Dealer Services as a marketing and PR intern. Sym-Tech is based on Ontario and works with automotive dealers to provide finance and insurance solutions to customers purchasing a new or used vehicle. During my time there I was responsible for launching a direct mail campaign that introduced us to dealers who were not our clients. The direct mail initiative began in Ontario and has plans to expand Canada wide by Christmas. I also worked closely with the Executive Vice President on a social media over hall which included updating the company’s image through our personal website our LinkedIn page and product video’s. These assignments not only gave me direct mentorship to senior team members, but it also allowed me to obtain helpful experience in technical writing in a business setting.

Both of my job experiences provided me with insights into my strengths as weaknesses as an individual. My strengths lie in teamwork, problem solving (both on a personal and project level), a calm demeanour and the ability to be creative and concise simultaneously. In all jobs quickly prove myself to be punctual and reliable. On the other hand, I would say a major weakness is giving up control of certain jobs, especially when I have an idea in mind about how it should be done. This summer I learned that giving up control does not mean you do nothing, it is simply allowing someone else to ‘own’ a task, while you can constructively give input. This is something I am still working on and would love feedback from my teammates on.

I would love to opportunity to work with you on technical writing assignments for this class. I would appreciate constructive criticism on my own strengths and weaknesses as well as gaining experience in areas I am not familiar with from my classmates. In addition, I will earn respect from you, be a team player, a hard worker and someone who is willing to step outside my comfort zone to gain experience. If you are interested in working with me or have any questions about my previous experience please feel free to comment below or email me at ajcawston@gmail.com.

Thank you for your interest and I look forward to hearing from you!

Best Regards,

Alanna Cawston

You can find the word document version 301-alanna-cawston-application-letter

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