Introduction
Unit 2 is composed of a research proposal for the formal report, peer review of the research proposal, networking and resume building, and formal report outline and progress report. These assignments allowed me to further improve my technical writing skills.
Although I already had a LinkedIn profile for several years, I learned that there was still room for improvement while researching for 10 tips on making the LinkedIn profile. I learned that headline is used as a professional brand and writing a professional summary to attract potential recruiters. Before this assignment, I did not think about the viewpoint of the audience and did not realize the importance of gaining the reader’s attention. Recruiters are busy people with limited time so it is crucial to catch the reader’s attention with a compelling headline, professional brand, and concise and interesting summary.
Formal Report
The formal report was a great assignment to test and improve my technical writing skills. The planning and writing the research proposal was far more difficult than I expected and provided me with an opportunity to find areas for improvement. Before writing the research proposal I thought I had the plan mostly figured out. However, as I was writing the specific details, I struggled to come up with ideas that seemed obvious before. Also, I learned how to write concise and highly structured documents by reading the textbook and my peers’ posts. The most interesting and useful concept I learned was the avoidance of negative phrases. Although it looked unnecessary at first, I quickly realized that the positive phrases are much more professional and more pleasant to read. Overall, I really enjoyed the assignments and learned a lot about technical writing.
Peer Review
I always thought there were a lot of improvements to be made in my technical writing skill so I frequently avoided doing peer reviews for other people. However, I was surprised to learn that peer review not only allows me to learn from others but also reflect back on my own writing styles. Through careful reading and analysis, I learned my strength and weakness, and gain confidence in my writing skills. I really enjoyed reading and editing Leo’s research proposal and learned a lot from his document.
Conclusion
Overall, I am satisfied with my work and excited to further learn about technical writing through units 3 and 4.