Throughout this unit, I have had much more opportunity to refine my memo writing skills. In addition to getting better at writing them, I have begun to appreciate the real importance of being able to write a professional and concise business memo. I really like that we are given the opportunity to practice this knowledge with hands-on and creative new ways each time, instead of sending boring “pretend” memos to one another for practice.

The second part of this unit was dedicated to our LinkedIn profiles, which I found very informative and helpful. I have had a LinkedIn profile for over a year now, but I have logged on about twice since creating it. By filling out my profile more thoroughly, researching the best methods to use, and reporting them to my group, I was able to recognize the benefits of a strong profile in future job searches.

What I found really beneficial in this unit was the peer review process of the LinkedIn profiles. By reviewing Jonathan’s LinkedIn, I was able to take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of his profile, and compare them to my own. Jonathan has a strong profile that has many aspects that I was missing in my own. By peer reviewing Jonathan’s profile, I was able to “shop around” for ideas on how to improve my own. Additionally, receiving Jonathan’s review of my profile was incredibly useful. On LinkedIn, you can “view” your profile as someone else, but I am never really able to see it through someone else’s eyes, because my perspective and biases are ultimately different from those viewing my profile. By having Jonathan comment on my profile, I was finally able to see it from someone else’s perspective and receive their honest feedback. I appreciated hearing what he liked about my profile and what he thought was working for me. His suggestions were incredibly helpful and I plan on editing my profile according to them.

During this unit we also began to really work on our formal reports. What working on the assignments this week have taught me is that writing a formal report requires a lot of planning and hard work. Had I not been required to compose an outline and a progress report, I probably would have left most of the work to the last minute, and would have been unable to complete my draft on time. When I began to write my progress report, I started to get very overwhelmed at the amount of work the report was going to require of me. However, by creating a writing schedule and listing the tasks that lie ahead of me, I was able to relax and felt instantly more organized. This assignment made me realize the benefit in making a writing schedule and task list, something I have never done before for an assignment but will definitely utilize in the future.