Unit Two Reflections Blog – LinkedIn and Formal Report Proposal

Unit Two was definitely an action-packed unit. Through the assignments, I drafted a formal report proposal, a formal report outline, a progress report and set up my LinkedIn profile.

Unit Two Assignments:

    • Formal report proposal: My colleague and I were assigned to inventory our department’s workstation equipment, so brainstorming for a general research subject for the formal report didn’t take long. However, I had trouble narrowing the topic. If I were to focus on technical specification of replacement equipment, the report length will likely exceed 15 pages. Therefore, after juggling a few topics, I decided to focus on something specific that everyone can relate to and has more impact: the cost of replacement. Once I have decided on the topic “Determining the Feasibility of Switching Existing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Thin Clients to Local Desktop Computers”, I was able to put together a research proposal. Dr. Paterson pointed out that the introduction section of my initial draft research proposal required more details. I didn’t realize I was missing some detail information until I read Dr. Paterson’s feedback. Based on the feedback, I amended the introduction section to include more background information for the reader to understand the situation and the proposal.
    • Peer review of formal report proposal: I paired up with Adrienne for the formal report proposal peer review exercise. I have learned from her proposal that AMS has a Vice program and the Vice program is in need of social media exposure. Adrienne’s proposal is concise and well composed, and her topic of “Creating a Social Media Following for the AMS Vice Program” is a meaningful research with an aim to increase public awareness of the Vice program and services the program offers.
    • Research on best practice for professional networking on LinkedIn: I do not have a LinkedIn account, so I find this assignment interesting. The Internet is full of resources for LinkedIn users to set up and perfect their LinkedIn profile. The tips are applicable for both personal profile and company profile. The three prominent best practices are:
        • A summary with great substance and style
        • A descriptive or catchy headline
        • A professional and friendly profile picture
    • Set up a LinkedIn profile: LinkedIn is user-friendly, so I have no trouble navigating through the site to set up my profile. However, my LinkedIn is still missing a profile picture as I still don’t have an up-to-date professional profile picture.
    • Peer review of LinkedIn profile: I had the opportunity to peer review Usman’s LinkedIn profile. I learned a lot from reading Usman’s LinkedIn profile as his profile conveys a focused intention of showcasing experience, qualifications and skills to recruiters in his desired career field. Usman has already incorporated most of the best practices mentioned by other LinkedIn users.
    • Formal report outline: I have composed my formal report outline based on my report proposal and the report outline format mentioned in the textbook. Depending on the final report length, I may have to adjust my report outline.
    • Progress report with survey/interview questions: The survey questions are intended for staff in my department, so I didn’t include a self-introduction and did not elaborate on the purpose of the survey. As I was drafting the progress report, I realized there are many tasks listed in the Research Plan section that still need to be completed and I only have a month to conduct the research and complete the formal report.

Thoughts on Peer Review
I appreciate that we are going through the processes of composing a formal report step by step with guidance and peer review feedback along the way. The peer review process makes me realize my writing tends to be a bit wordy as compared to my teammates’ writing. I will have to try harder to be more concise when I am describing an object or expressing an idea.

Links:

My draft formal report proposal: Formal Report Proposal: Feasibility of Switching Existing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Thin Clients to Local Desktop Computers

Adrienne’s review of my proposal: Peer Review of Joyce Wu’s Research Proposal

My revised formal report proposal: 301 Joyce Wu Revised Formal Report Proposal

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