Darren Wong's Web Folio

I decided to use my English 301 website and rearrange the contents to make it my web folio. Since I have already put some effort into the English 301 website, it would make sense to build on it. I have chosen to create PDF documents of all of my work samples so the formats will be consistent. I have designed navigation bars for easy access to the materials, and the website looks clean and uncluttered.

My web folio could use a bit more creativity; however, it is my weakest link. I managed to add everything that is required by the assignment and I am quite content. I have learned a great deal in this class, especially on how to create a LinkedIn profile and an application package. I am sure I could use those skills upon graduation to find my dream job!

This has been an amazing experience. I have never created my own website and this assignment has given me an opportunity to work on something which will eventually help me with my job application after I graduate. More and more employers are looking for well-rounded employees, and creating a web folio is an excellent avenue for showcasing someone’s academic work, passion, and extracurricular activities.

As of now, I do not have a lot of academic and technical projects which I can add to my web folio yet. Thus, I have chosen to put the work I have done in my UBC Technical Writing class. This has been quite a long process since I had to decide what sample of work I am putting on the web folio, and what kind of navigation tools I use. I wanted to design something simple and easy to navigate, so that my readers will appreciate and keep coming back to browse.

MEMORANDUM

To:                   Dr. Erika Paterson, ENGL 301 Instructor

From:              Darren Wong, ENGL 301 Student DW

Date:               July 25, 2016

Subject:           Progress Report on Job Application Package

For this assignment, I have gone through the amazonjobs website and have found a job posting that I would be interested in applying.  Please find details of the job position below:

Job Title:        Software Development Engineer/SDET Intern

Basic Requirements:

• Currently enrolled in a Computer Science/Computer Engineering program with at least one term to finish after the completion of the Amazon internship
• Experience with object-oriented design and coding skills (C/C++ and/or Java)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to effectively articulate technical challenges and solutions
• Experience with distributed (multi-tiered) systems, algorithms, relational databases and optimization
• Experience on a UNIX or Linux platform
• Adept at handling ambiguous or undefined challenges through abstract thinking

Timeline:

• Further research on Amazon (week of July 25)
• Draft a one-page cover letter (week of July 25)
• Prepare a two-page resume highlighting my skill sets as required (week of July 25)
• Draft a letter requesting for three references (week of July 25)
• Post draft of application package on team forum (August 3)
• Peer review of writing partner’s application package (August 4-7)
• Post peer review on team forum (August 8)
• Post final application package on team forum (August 10)

I look forward to receiving your approval to proceed with this application package.  Please contact me at darrenwongj@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding this matter.

Writing with YOU Attitude

I enjoyed working on the assignment which I had to give advice to Evan Crisp regarding the email to his professor.  I learned a lot reading the textbook on this section and if I do run into such situations in future, I know exactly how to construct a writing piece with YOU attitude.

Writing Complaint and Bad News Letter

Again, I enjoyed working on these two letters.  Writing business letters is something we encounter in our day to day life and it is quite important to understand the technique and strategy in order to achieve the intended results.  The complaint letter is based on my real life experience so it is easy for me to relate to.

Drafting the Formal Report

This has taken a lot of my time because my collected data will come from face to face interview results.  First I had to come up with three sets of questionnaires, and then I had to spend a whole week interviewing people.  Initially, I thought it would not be difficult to draft questionnaires since I do surveys all the time.  However, it was not an easy task.  Drafting questionnaires with no leading and biased questions can be very time consuming.  I need to take into account the respondents’ point of view when answering the questions, and the length of the questionnaires is also critical.

Conducting the actual interviews was challenging.  A lot of people turned me down when being approached since they thought I was selling something.  Furthermore, some people were in a rush.  In the end, the sample size was smaller than I anticipated but there were some quality results and feedback.

Drafting the formal report was a long and tedious task.  It took me almost one day to summarize all the survey results.  Coming up with graphics is especially challenging for me since I am not the creative type of person.  On the one hand, I understand that the more graphs and inserts will attract readers’ attention; on the other hand, I do not like to be too tedious in presenting my survey findings.  In the end, I came up with three pie charts.

I still need some time to fine tune my report.  Lauren has given me some valuable feedback and I hope to make my report more presentable to readers.

Peer Review of Michelle’s Draft Formal Report

I had the pleasure of reviewing Michelle’s draft report.  Her report contains quite a number of graphics and diagrams which I found very appealing.  Perhaps I can re-organize my data and present them in a way which is more attractive.  Michelle’s report identified human resources issues in a dental practice.  I used to work in two separate dental practices and I can certainly relate to some of the challenges of running a successful practice.  Reading Michelle’s report has given me some insights of how to make a report more presentable.  In my opinion, readers will less likely find a report lengthy and boring if it contains more visual supplements.

Creating a LinkedIn Profile

I had no need for a LinkedIn profile until this assignment.  Personally, I am not very keen on making myself visible on social media.  After learning how LinkedIn works and creating my own personal profile, I can understand why this platform is so popular among professionals.  As a student of computer software development, I am able to list my skills on LinkedIn and get people to endorse them.  I can also provide summaries of my projects on the site so that potential employers can view them.  One other useful function is that LinkedIn sends me job postings in my industry.  This will be extremely helpful when I start looking for a job after I graduate.

My writing partner, Veesha, is apparently a veteran when it comes to social media networking.  She gave me some useful information on how to improve my profile in the peer review.  By researching the ten best practices of LinkedIn, I am now able to utilize the platform to a fuller potential.  No matter how useful a networking platform is, it will not do you any good if you don’t take time to update it.  I will have to remember to constantly update my page as and when necessary.

Report Proposal and Outline

Coming up with a topic was extremely difficult since it has to be personal and original.  I have never written a report which is not science related so this was a challenging task.  When brainstorming, I had to pay attention to everything that is happening around me to see if anything is worth further investigating. Finally, I came up with the topic of parking regulations in my back alley.  Actually, this matter has been bothering me for as long as I lived in this neighbourhood; however, I had no time and energy to take a further look into this.  This assignment gave me an opportunity to revisit the problem and see if I can come up with a proposal to fix it.

Michelle gave me some valuable comments during her peer review on my research proposal.  With her help, I was able to rephrase a few sentences to make them more presentable to readers.  She also gave me some advice on the scope of my research.

I believe I can stick to my writing schedule and get the draft report done before the deadline.  I do hope that I do not get too many rejections when I approach people for interviews.  I am aiming to get a decent sample size so my research will not seem biased.

To view a copy of my revised report proposal, please click here.

To view the peer review of my report proposal, please click here.

Unit One of English 301 was extremely useful in teaching students of various backgrounds about technical writing.  This is the first time I was introduced to WordPress, which would be helpful if I ever want to write a blog in future.  The assignments on how to write memorandums and letter of applications also helped me refresh my memory since I have not written those for a while.

I found the definition assignment quite challenging.  Although it was easy to choose a technical term in the field of study, I was not used to writing for an audience who has little or no knowledge of the topic.  During my previous studies in biochemistry, all my technical writing assignments were aimed for readers of academic interests similar to mine.  Thus, it was difficult trying to come up with simple ways of defining a complex term.

For the peer review portion of the assignment, I partnered with Lauren who wrote about “exposure” in terms of photography.  It was a simple topic for me to understand since photography is one of my hobbies.  During my first reading, I could not find anything to suggest, but then I realized she could have used a simpler analogy in her expanded definition section.

Since Lauren has a strong background in creative writing, she was able to point out a few grammatical errors and technical jargons which I use from time to time without noticing.  For example, the terms ‘pseudocode’ and ‘asymptotic analysis’ are commons terms when I talk to my classmates.  One suggestion Lauren had was to place the diagram within the text.   However, the diagram which I chose should not be re-sized due to the text within the diagram.  In addition, some scientific papers are presented only in texts with diagrams referenced in an appendix.  In my opinion, this format makes the paper less cluttered with diagrams.

I learned a lot in Unit One and look forward to starting the next Unit of this course.

To see Lauren’s peer review of my Definition Assignment, please click here.

To download my revised Definition Assignment, please click here.

203-2195 W40th Ave

Vancouver, BC V6M 1W4

May 18, 2016

University of British Columbia

2329 West Mall

Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Dear English 301 classmates:

Please consider my application for a membership in your English 301 writing team, as advertised on May 18 on the English 301 course website.  I am a fellow student in your class, and I am taking this class to enhance the quality of my professional business writing skills.

I graduated from the University of British Columbia in May 2015 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and I am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Computer Science degree.  During my previous studies, I have written numerous research reports on the subjects of molecular biology, advanced techniques in biochemistry, and nucleic acid structure, etc.  Most of these reports were completed in a group setting; therefore, I had ample opportunities to work with classmates with various strengths and weaknesses in order to come up with a final product with the highest standard possible.  The quality of a group project depends a lot on the chemistry among group members, and how they utilize each other’s strength in their writing skills.  My writing style is very concise and down to earth.  I am very meticulous and always get the facts right.  I tend not to be verbose and get right to the point.  Most of the time I try to finish my part ahead of schedule, and other members rely on me to do the final check before sending the report out.   Some may say I do not have a creative writing style; however, this is not a creative writing course and I do not aspire to be a novelist in future.

Aside from my studies, I have been working as office assistant in two dental offices and volunteering in a senior care home.  I am responsible for drafting intra-office memos and preparing requisition forms for services and supplies.  These tasks have helped me acquire a different set of writing skills which would be essential to have after I graduate and start working in the real world.  Furthermore, I am currently in the Science Co-op program and have just learned how to write cover letters, resume and evaluation reports.  I believe these skills will be valuable once I become a member of your writing team.

Thank you very much for your consideration and I look forward to working with you.  I can be reached at darrenwongj@gmail.com should you have any questions regarding my qualifications.

Sincerely,

Darren Wong

301 – Darren Wong Application Letter

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