writing that works

Benefits from Blogs

jillianellwood — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:03:13 +0000

Before this class I had never participated in an online blog, and the only blogger that I was aware of was Perez Hilton. I decided to conclude my blog posts for the semester with an article outlining the benefits of blogging. At first I was not to thrilled about the online participation of this course because besides my facebook and entertainment news addictions I really dislike using the internet. It may have taken me awhile to get going and some may even say that I waited till the last-minute, but this post is more than just a way to achieve the required amount of posts. I searched this article in order to encourage my classmates to continuing using blogs.

As the author mentions, “a college degree alone isn’t going to get it done anymore.” Throughout class this semester and especially on this blog we discussed various ways to stand out and market ourself for the career world, newsflash blogging is a way!!! While the writing that works blog may have caused some personal distress over the semester I am glad that I have been introduced to the world of blogging and I hope to remain part of this world.

http://www.statepress.com/2010/03/24/the-benefits-of-blogging/

Procrastination – Just Do It

Mike Hurley — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 05:13:36 +0000

As I sit here, typing my last blog of the semester, I found that I wanted to write about a topic that (should) hit us all close to the heart: procrastination. We are all guilty of it. I, myself, postponed a final that was due Monday morning at 8, until Sunday night at 5. How can we apply this to the working world? This article writes about several steps that should help you eradicate procrastination.

This first step is recognize the problem. When you find yourself postponing a timely and relevant activity until another day, you are procrastinating. Instead, you watch television, read a magazine, or go out with friends. Once you realize what you do to procrastinate, you can help eliminate the problem by preventing yourself from doing these activities that prevent you from accomplishing your task(s). I really liked the third step, which states that you should refuse to accept false excuses. “Oh I’ll just do it tomorrow.” “It can wait until later.” “That episode of Special Victims Unit is going to be on.” All of these are just plain, old excuses. They mask the true problem. The article also ended with a powerful statement, “The path of a fearless job hunter is the path of a realistic optimist. Commitment, hard work and practicality pave the path.” Do not let that episode, friend or video game prevent you from doing work.

Going Green

patrickfoley1 — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 05:00:08 +0000

This article from CareerDiva explains that while the economy is currently in a bad position, one field is going to grow a huge amount from now until the year 2013: green jobs. The article explains that millions of green jobs will be created and quite a bit of money will be pumped into the economy from the field. The article explains that this is a very good opportunity to find work because of the large number of jobs that will open up over the next two years. It also explains that people who are interested in entering in the field also have a very good opportunity to do so now because there is a lot of federal and local government training money out there that can be tapped into. This relatively new field provides a very good opportunity for people that are ambitious enough and willing to go through training to enter a new field.

Brown Nosing Not a Bad Thing in the Working World

patrickfoley1 — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 04:48:04 +0000

This article explains how to successfully brown nose a boss. I find this article to be very interesting because the author explains that brown nosing is often looked at as a negative thing to do, yet it really should not be. The author gives seven tips on how to successfully brown nose without making it blatantly obvious. One way that I did not think was a form of flattery that the author suggests as a way to successfully disguise the brown nosing is to point out things that you believe you have in common with the person. I believe that this is a good way of impressing people, as showing a common interest shows the person that you enjoy what they enjoy and that you approve of them as a person. Brown nosing often gets a bad reputation in society, and people who do it are sometimes given a hard time, but it is something that can really help people to improve their situation in the working world.

Professional Mentor

patrickfoley1 — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 04:27:31 +0000

The article “How to Find a Professional Mentor if You’re in College in the On the Job website describes a program that helps college students find mentors for their professional aspirations. What is very interesting is that grade school and high school students have no problems finding mentors for helping them achieve the next step, such as high schools for grade school students and colleges for high school students, but college students do not have many available options to mentor them in their next step, the job search. This is because professors teaching in college have often not been in the companies that they are teaching about and cannot give strong advice on how to prepare for the field. What this article describes is a program that was formed to match students up with professional mentors. Not only is this a benefit for the students as they are able to find the mentor that they can often not find through their college, but it is also beneficial to the people that the program employs because many of them are people who are out of work but have recently worked in a certain field, so it is their opportunity to be employed while helping college students.

Be Happy to Be Working

patrickfoley1 — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 04:01:54 +0000

This article outlines the problem with people’s attitudes in the working world. With so many people out of work in the world and the economy the way it is in the United States, people are luck to have jobs. This author comments that it is shocking that so many people have such negative attitudes towards their job and their life despite the fact that they should be thankful just to have a job. What many people consider to be daunting work tasks are really very easy things to do when you consider what many people are going through just to make it through a day.

It is very important to consider how your attitude is. I believe that I do a fairly good job of staying positive and being respectful to other people. I try to use good manners and be as patient and understanding as possible with others, even when they are making it hard to do so. We should realize that we are very blessed to be attending Marquette University and receiving a very good education, one that a large majority of the population is not fortunate enough to receive, and be thankful for what we have been given.

It’s That Time of Year…

patrickfoley1 — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 03:04:00 +0000

As Christmas is quickly approaching and graduation somehow seemingly approaching even faster for many of us, this article conveniently provides seven of the best gifts for job seekers. The seven gifts the author suggests are an interview outfit, a resume writing service, a massage, a career coach, salon gift certificates, interview “extras,” and a coffee shop gift card. I found this article to be very entertaining because I think most of the people in this class could use just about every one of these gifts to easy our stress with finals and the upcoming job searches or graduate school choices we will all have to make. It is interesting that people have written about interview outfits and writing services on here. I think everyone could use some sort of caffein (I am personally not a coffee drinker) to get through finals week, and some kind of massage once finals are done to begin relaxing over break.

Perseverance

matthewzuknik — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 02:57:13 +0000

This article gives hope, once again, to those searching for jobs despite this economy. David Mann said that after he graduated from New York University, he applied to over 300 jobs and did not get a job he wanted until 8 months later. This says two things to me, one that despite what college you may have attended [the prestigious NYU] you may still have a hard time finding your dream job. On the other hand, it does show that perseverance can actually turn out to help you out. Although I will not go into detail about the article’s specifics of David’s job search and current employment, what we can take away is that we, as job applicants, should not get discouraged despite the numerous applications we have submitted or the number of rejections letters we have received. There is hope.

Lack of Writing Skills

matthewzuknik — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 02:45:01 +0000

GOOD NEWS FOR US ENGLISH MAJORS! This New York Times article showed that a recent survey showed that a large number of employers stated that their employees were proficient in computer skills but lacked proficient writing skills. This is such a relief for me, as it can be for the rest of the english majors in class because so much of the articles out there today are telling us that english majors cannot find jobs because they are “not job specific” or “don’t have experience for this job.”

This article tells us, new job searchers, that we do have a hope and can thrive with our proficient skills in writing and professional communication. So this class was beneficial! Indeed it was because many of the skill learned in the class this year are exactly what employers are looking for now according to this article.

Workplace Communication in 3 Key Points

matthewzuknik — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 02:34:20 +0000

How often do people sit at work thinking: “Is it ok if I say this to him/her?” or “I just want them to know I’m like this but I don’t know how to say it nicely”…? Have you ever noticed the guy you work with always starts to shake or stutter when he talks to the boss? Despite the exponential growth of technology and the various ways of communication in today’s workplace, there is almost always personal conversation.

This article gives 3 easy points to take away and use in workplace conversation.

Clarify Yourself. Speak clearly and make sure the audeince understands your point and what you want as a result. Be Aware Of How Your Perceived. Even though you may sound acceptable to yourself, you may come off as demanding or rude to someone else. This can also be a factor caused from body language and certain eye contact. Maintain Professionalism. No matter how close you may be with a co-worker, maintaing a professional relationship and communication with that person will keep you safe from any problems especially in today’s “sue happy” community.