Process of Creating a LinkedIn Profile

The second unit of English 301 introduced us to the topic of professional social media networks, with an emphasis on LinkedIn. Before this assignment, I had a LinkedIn profile that I seldom used. However, I did keep it updated. After doing research on “LinkedIn Best Practices” I realized that I had not been using LinkedIn to its full potential. One of my takeaways from this assignment was the necessity for me to increase my LinkedIn activity. This in turn would increase the likelihood of me expanding my network, leading to increased job prospects. I further learned about the importance of sending personalized messages alongside a LinkedIn connection request. Since using this technique, I have found it easier to make connections on LinkedIn. My attitude towards LinkedIn has changed after this assignment, and I am actively on the site now.

Process of Preparing Report Proposal and Outline

The second unit of English 301 started us on the process of compiling our term long-project, a formal research report. Initially, I found it difficult to come up with a topic that was interesting to me and relevant to explore. This created negative emotions towards the assignment. However, while at work one day, I was speaking to a co-worker about this issue, and they encouraged me to explore ways to improve our restaurant, Cactus Club Cafe. This sparked an idea in me and started me on my journey of researching how to increase customer volume at the restaurant during the months of January to April (known as dry season). After my realization, the progress on my report sped up and I picked up momentum. My initial struggles with finding a topic taught me the value of turning to others for ideas. I tend to try and solve all my writing issues on my own, and this proved that getting help from others is always valuable.

Since my initial struggle, I have successfully completed my proposal, my outline, and my progress report. It was interesting to learn about the necessity of a positive attitude when formulating sentences in a report. This was not an intuitive realization for me; I assumed it was appropriate to include negative comments, as the purpose of the report is to solve a problem, and problems are negative. However, the readings in the textbook, along with the instructor blog, changed my assumption. Adopting a positive tone increases the chances that your report is received, and your solution implemented. The reader will be influenced by your positive attitude, which will make them more likely to listen to your ideas. I have begun my writing of the formal report. So far, it is going well. I did underestimate a little the gravity of this task, but creating a writing schedule calmed my nerves and provided me with a road map. Prior to this assignment, I entered writing tasks with no road map laid out. This always caused me angst. However, unit 2 taught me the value of mapping a plan for your writing. By breaking a large task down into smaller steps, it makes achieving the result more attainable. Furthermore, writing without the angst of meeting a deadline has improved my writing abilities. One of my greatest struggles is concise writing. Since I have a roadmap to follow, I can take more time to write, and go at a slower pace. This has allowed me to think about the value each sentence offers, improving my communication skills and cutting my word count.

Peer Review Process 

This part of the assignment gave me the opportunity to read and critique a team member’s (Brian Wong) formal report proposal. Reading Brian’s proposal raised my awareness of study space capacity at UBC. I have personally experienced the difficulties of finding a spot to study during peak study hours, and I am glad that he is investigating this issue. While reviewing my partner’s proposal, I learned of the importance of a subject line. He was missing one, and it made it very difficult for me to immediately grasp the main subject of the proposal. This in turn reinforced the lesson we learned in this unit, that subject lines are an essential part of any memorandum or proposal.

While reviewing Brian’s proposal, I was able to pick out its strengths, and along with the feedback he gave me, improve my own.  Brian did an excellent job of formulating his scope so that it retained a positive tone. He also pointed out two instances in my proposal where my tone was negative, and in turn, could confuse a reader. Specifically, I had a scope question “Will the introduction of daily specials during dry season increase the probability of customers dining at Cactus Club Cafe”. Brian shared the insight with me that the whole point of solution was the fact that daily specials would increase customer volume; this question challenged the validity of the proposal and the recommended solution. Reviewing how he posed some of his scope questions, I was able to change this question and re-frame it in a more positive light. He also mentioned that my scope question “How important are daily specials in choosing a restaurant to dine at?” would undermine my proposal; if daily specials were not important, it would make my solution redundant. However, I decided to keep this question, as I believe it to be ethically necessary to specifically gather data to inform my proposed solution. Further, I have first-hand experience with customers sharing the fact that they wished Cactus Club Cafe offered daily specials, making me confident that the data will show my solution is feasible and will work. Brian also gave me valuable insight regarding ethical writing with references. He pointed out that I had stated a claim (Earls offers daily specials) without citing it. I was able to include a relevant citation to Earl’s menu and improve my ethical writing. Compared to unit 1, I noticed that my partner found less mistakes in my tone and writing. This was encouraging, as it showed I was improving my writing abilities. The peer review process has positively impacted my view of writing. As mentioned in many examples above, it taught me the value of framing questions/problems positively and being ethical towards my readers through providing citations. The research proposal process has had its successes and difficulties. It has challenged me to improve my writing abilities, and question some of my overlooked assumption. I am looking forward to writing the full research proposal, as I know it will inevitably continue to improve my writing abilities.

 

Link to revised definition: https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl30199c2022w2/2023/03/16/2-1-2-3-revised-formal-proposal/

Link to Brian’s Peer Review: https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl30199c2022w2/2023/02/28/peer-review-for-parsa-proposal-for-determining-the-feasibility-of-introducing-daily-specials-to-increase-customer-volume-during-dry-season/