Over and Out.

So, we are finally finished with a semester that I thought would never end, and I couldn't be happier. I couldn't be happier because this was one of the hardest semesters I'll ever have. I look back on this semester though and can only think of positive aspects of my experiences in business writing. This semester in this specific class has perhaps been one of the most practically applicable that I have ever had. My advice to future students involves the main items of hard work and appreciation.

First, I recommend hard work to the future students of this class. If I had not taken this class seriously, it would have been one of the least rewarding classes ever, but since I put in hard work, I reaped benefits that will help me for a long time. Hard work is especially crucial with regard to the client-based project. Working with a real client will be one of the strangest experiences you will have in a class in college but perhaps one of the most beneficial as well. This project gave me an idea of somewhat how the real world will be because we constantly met deadlines and had to communicate with our client and Angie. The most important aspect of hard work was in the proposal and final project. All students need to take this extremely seriously because the product the class produces will likely be put in use in the real world.

The second piece of advice is to attempt to appreciate this class while you are taking it because you will appreciate this class, the only issue is whether you will appreciate and apply it now or later in your life. This course is one of the most practical classes I've ever taken. Especially in the project, try to appreciate the class because the more you appreciate it, the more you will want to get involved and in turn, the better you will do.

This class is rewarding and applicable. Use it to your advantage.

Already The End of The Semester?

Here I am with two weeks to go in probably my most difficult semester in college, and I've made it. Surprisingly enough, I'm not too stressed about the rest of the semester or exams either. I may only have two exams as I should either exempt or not have to take the other four. Even with these two exams, I won't need very good grades on either one to get an A in each of these courses.

This semester has certainly been hard. Between academics and extra-curricular activities, I have almost always been busy doing something. I'm glad that it is winding down and that I won't have to stress out over studying for finals.

Looking back on my Business Writing class, I enjoyed it much more than I expected. The client-based project offered a unique experience that other courses cannot match. The class activities were also not nearly what I thought they would be. I figured that we would just type business documents the entire time in every class, but this class was certainly one of my most enjoyable classes this semester, if not my most enjoyable class. Blogging has been fun this semester, and I look forward to keeping it up in the future.

Employers Study Applicants' Personalities? Of Course They Do.

After reading this article, I was not surprised at all. Perhaps this is because I have just gone through a lot of interviews and group interviews and have always seen the importance of working well with others.

Many of the employers with whom I interviewed required me to take a personality assessment prior to my interview and asked me questions based on my various answers to the survey. Another employer invited me to a group interview in which we were instructed to sit in a waiting room with associates from the company when we arrived. We later learned that the company judged part of our performance based on how well we interacted with their current associates.

Making sure that a potential employee will work well with the current ones and will have enough zeal and passion to perform his/her job well is crucial in today's competitive job market. Thus, the findings of this article were not surprising to me, but rather, they were expected.

Dual Coding Theory

Employing the use of dual coding theory is perhaps one of the best methods to use in advertising. Dual coding theory uses visuals to trigger the memory of a brand or product. One of the most famous uses of dual coding theory has been used for over fifty years. The Coca-Cola Company has used their contour bottle design extremely widely to represent the entire brand.

According to marketers, this design is the most widely recognized brand in the world. According to accountants, this design is worth over a billion dollars. The benefits of dual coding theory is seen in Coca-Cola as well as in many other brands such as Hardee's. Dual coding theory is certainly helpful to the remembrance of a specific brand or product.

Group Work

My group for the project has been extremely easy with which to work. We have had a few minor miscommunications, but overall, everything has run smoothly.

This experience for me has reinforced the importance of everyone doing a part of the work in a group. When one person falls behind, the entire group can be at a loss. A sense of unity is a great aspect to have when working in a group. For example, in my proposal group, one person found that his part would be much more difficult than we all had expected. Since our team promoted unity, we all divided up the work again and helped him along with his portion.

Another Free Post With Internships on my Mind

About a month has passed since my last free post, and I've still got internships on my mind. Only this time all of the interviews are over, and I am waiting.

I took part in about six interviews for internships this coming Summer, and each of them had varying results. Two employers told me that they probably weren't even going to hire juniors but rather just wanted to see good candidates to keep in their books for next year. Two other employers told me that seniors had precedence over juniors and that my interview performance was great, but my internship prospect is solely contingent on seniors taking internships. One employer offered me a job and is currently looking for openings within the company, and I turned one employer down because I did not want to work for a company with a reputation that is less than par.

My favorite employers so far have been Dixon Hughes, Milliken, and Cherry, Bekaert, and Holland. I believe that I would enjoy working for any of these three companies in my internship. Milliken has already offered me a job once they find an open place for me that meets what I want, and the other two have invited me back for office visits but have not yet contacted me with a solid yes or no. Thus, this week I am left with the prospect of having three great internship offers, which could pan out to be only one. This week will not only be nerve-wracking due to two tests and a proposal due this week but also due to waiting for responses on these two interviews.

I certainly hope that I can attain a solid internship this Summer that hopefully leads me into a job in which I am content. Maybe by the next time I've got a free post, I'll know and can blog about which internship I chose and why I chose it.

Interview Reflection

At this point in my life, being able to perform well in an interview is crucial. Since I had already had six interviews with accounting firms in the two weeks before I had my interview with Ms. Rogers, I went into the interview feeling quite prepared. Still, this interview taught me that even though I had been through many interviews directly before this one, remembering all of the aspects of an interview can be quite difficult even for very prepared people.

Before the interview, I was required to write a cover letter, which I had never done before this semester. Writing the cover letter showed me how to exemplify professionalism and be diplomatic. This interviewing process reassured me that being about fifteen minutes early is beneficial, even if the interviewer is not yet ready for the interviewee. While in the interview, I was also reassured that making a list of practice questions is quite helpful also because a few of the questions I practiced were actually asked in the interview.

Overall, this mock interview experience provided me with feedback and information on what I need to work on in order to become more effective in the interviewing process. While I already knew most of what I experienced from either prior knowledge or interviewing experience, some aspects were completely new to me.