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Reading Response 1

mcmichel's picture
Thu, 06/14/2007 - 00:14 — mcmichel
The table of contents encompases a variety of topics that are essential in good communication skills in the business world. I believe that I will be better prepared to present myself in an intelligent manner by using the contents of these chapters. Chapter 12 was a very good review for me because I recently took the course COM 325 on Interviewing Principles. The techniques provided in the chapter highlighted the correct preparation for job interviews/employment situations, in particular how to construct a resume, cover letter, and memorandum. Topics that I am very interested in learning about are white papers, recommendation papers, and case analyses. I am familiar with the topics, but haven't had the experience of constructing them myself. This book is very thorough, informative, and well versed with an array of professional writing topics that will give me confidence and added assistance in achieving better writing skills. The book be a great asset as a reference guide and has many good illustrations to help those that are visual learners, like myself. Chapters that will be most beneficial to me are chapter 9 (punctuation), chapter 2 (writing critically), and chapter 4 (citing sources). There are subtopics within these chapters that are brand new to me. For instance, CMS and CSE styles of citing sources. Citing sources is very essential to give credit where credit is due and could be detrimental to an individual for the slightest mistake.

Comments

Thu, 06/14/2007 - 01:20 — stejani

I agree

I agree with a lot of what you said. I think this course will be able to prepare us to present ourselves better especially because in this day our primary contact with most people is e-mail. My boss last summer would send me e-mails all day even though his office was 2 desks away from mine. I knew that my e-mails made a really big impression on him so I had to be careful about my writing, hopefully after this class it will become second nature to me. Also often times when we make presentations in the corporate world there are visual learners that look at our writing skills to evaluate us. This book does seem really thorough too and I think this is one of the books I will keep in the future because it makes really good use of examples and has specific guidelines as well. Also being able to practice the various kinds of documents mentioned will help me realize my strengths and weakness in writing for the business world. I am really exited to see how this class turns out!
Thu, 06/14/2007 - 16:33 — jtirrell
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RE: I agree

Soon we will discuss why email has become so prevalent and how it has shaped professional communication. We'll look at, for example, why email has become so vital, but IMing and texting have remained on the fringe.
Fri, 06/15/2007 - 11:30 — deagan
deagan's picture

Reply, Vital email

That will be an interesting discussion. At the company I am currently interning at we have both email, and IM. It's also very easy to get up and go speak to someone. However, I have noticed the more often then not communication is done through email. Could this be because email provides a record of the communication? Or is it simply just the ease of being able to not leave your desk and provide attachments. This book looks as though it has many interesting points and suggestions. It should be a strong resource for us as we enter into our professional careers.
Fri, 06/15/2007 - 23:04 — pstudtma
pstudtma's picture

relpy - email

The email discussion will be great. When I was in high school, I used email and IM for few things, mostly talking to friends. When I got to college, I realized how important these tools were going to be in my life. As far as IMing goes, I have talked to classmates and even TA's over these programs. I almost wish I could count the number of people on my buddy list that I have from a class. I do not even know half of these people anymore. But, when we were in class together, we constantly exchanged ideas, asked when assignments were due, etc.. Email in my summer workplace is a very valuable tool. I constant email my supervisor with schedule changes and important dates. As you said, the record of communication is great. I am able to mark something as new and come back to it whenever I please.

Thu, 06/14/2007 - 16:45 — blakngold703
blakngold703's picture

Reply to Reading Response #1

White papers, recommendation papers, and case analyses are also somewhat new to me. I am curious to see what they are about and use the opportunity to become more familiar with them. Usually I sell all by school books at the end of every semester but it is a guarantee I will keep the book for this course. Just scanning through it, I picked up things I never even heard of like citing sources using the CMS and CSE styles. Now I am sure we are all used to the MLA format but these two would be something new for most of us. I do agree with you about the illustrations in the book. I have been a visual learner all my life and most of the classes I have taken so far do not have illustrations to teach me so I am very interested to see how I grasp the material.

Fri, 06/15/2007 - 10:43 — amwillis
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Reading Response Comment

I agree, this book is very thourough is describing much of the material. Much of the material is new to me as well, and I am glad that the book does a good job describing each different part. Much of the course is very necessary for all of us as we begin our journey into the business world, and making sure that we are familar with the material is very important. Not all the material is familar to me and I am excited to learn more efficient ways to get things done in the business world. At the end of this course I hope to gain knowledge about the writing business world. Alayna Willis
Fri, 06/15/2007 - 14:56 — bpeppler
bpeppler's picture

response

I agree with the important chapters that you have pointed out in your response. You seem to be at an advantage by taking that communications class because you will know a little bit more about the interviewing process than most other people in this course. The interviewing process is definitely a critical step in getting a job, but with this course we should all benefit in knowing just a bit more about it. I also agree with your views on the importance of proper citing, and you put it best when you said you need to give credit where credit is due.

Fri, 06/15/2007 - 21:40 — RachB487
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Comment

I agree that the information in the book will be very helpful for all of us in the future and how we present ourselves to potential employers. I am also interested in learning how to prepare a case analysis, a white paper, and a recommendation paper. I know very little about all three of them. Also, something I could use some work on is citing sources. I've never been the best at it and could definitely use some extra help. Hopefully, we'll go over that portion of the book something during this course!
Sat, 06/16/2007 - 22:13 — kim264

comment

I agree that this book is very thogugh and informative with addition of suitable pictures. With sample picture or highlited color, I could focus on reading much more than oral explanation I ever had before at job affairs. Since I havne't had experience of composing white paper and case analysis, I would be able to practice them before conducting in a real work place. I also agree that information about citing sources and punctuation will be helpful to most of college students including myself. In addition, I would like to say that job ad analysis was very informative too since I didn't regard the job ad analysis as the same importance of resume and cover letter. With more thorough beginning with job ad analysis, we will be able to make better resume.