Advice

The advice I have to give to technical communicators in the HR field would be to have continuing education in our field. The advice that I have to give students entering this class would be to try very hard to make it to all classes. You miss a lot if you don’t. I also believe that in technical communication common sense goes a long way.

Service Learning Project

I have done projects very similar to this one in the past therefore I didn’t really learn any new skills. However, I believe I always have room for improvement. I was better at asking more questions upfront in the initial needs assessment meeting. The more questions you ask upfront the less you have to attempt to get a hold of them in the future.

I will saw a new skill I learned from this project is knowing what makes a flyer effective.

I don’t like speaking for anyone else but it appeared some students were less than thrilled about reaching out to our community of people that they don’t know and asking if they needed help. I think some were presently surprised to hear that organizations were thrilled that the students’ services were being offered. I can’t imagine a nonprofit that would turn down free university students help.

My service learning experience relates to almost all the learning objectives in this course. I had to create and present an effective professional document including graphics and presentational media. I had to revise documents and presentations to improve clarity and conform to standard English language. Apply communication skills in planning and conducting my SLP meetings with my partner.

Through my service learning project I have learned that no matter how big or small a community is there is always organizations that can benefit from a person’s generosity and volunteerism. I also learned that when I’m done with college and have a little less on my plate it’s a long term goal of mine that I want to do more community service projects like this one. Maybe even open my own non-profit that works to meet the need of professional document creation for other non-profits.

Group Projects - Collaboration

In my recent group assignment my group functioned well together. We had a natural leader emerge and he immediately took charge. He came up with who and what our company was and the rest of the group agreed. Our no nonsense personalities fit well together. We immediately started collaborating and figured out who was going to do what part of the assignment. The only weakness I think we had was that only half the group took advantage of the group page on blackboard. We did well collaborating in the classroom but could have done better at virtually collaborating.


The best practices I can suggest in terms of workplace collaboration are:
Be flexible and let people use their strengths. If there is a natural (good) leader let them lead. If someone is clearly uncomfortable leading a group let them play off their strengths and don’t force them into a role they aren’t going to excel at.

If you are virtually collaborating on something make sure you are checking the means in which that collaborating is taking place (email, client relationship databases, blogs, IM, etc.)

Respect your collaboration group

Always keep an open mind. If someone else’s idea prevails over yours make sure to keep a smile on your face and figure out how to add value to the group.

Service Learning

With one of my degrees being in Marketing and the other in Human Resources Management I have done a few service learning projects, from designing a training program for a company to mapping out a complete marketing plan.

I like working with organizations around the Lansing area versus the professor saying “Here is an imaginary company, do A B and C for it.” Through this class and my past experiences it is my understanding that service learning projects are a key aspect of academies and professional development. It helps students establish themselves as a contributing member of the Lansing community. It has helped me network within my “what I want to be when I grow up” profession.

The only apprehension I have about this project is not pleasing the client. I’m always afraid that the client won’t like the finished project. However, it is volunteer work and I know as long as I put 100% of my into the project then there isn’t much more I can do.

Strategies to Ensure Consistent Language Choices

I will become a professional member of Society of Human Recourses Management (SHRM). This will allow me to connect with other HR professionals and keep in the know of the latest HR 4-1-1.

I will get necessary accreditations which will come along with participating in continuing education.

After doing the above two things I will make sure to pass my knowledge onto the rest of the HR department. I will then make sure the rest of the company has an understanding (as much understanding as they need) of the language of the HR department.

Do's and Don'ts of increasing your credibility & professionalism

Do’s
Be respectful and courteous towards others
Stay positive and upbeat
Choose a professional image for your social networking sites
If the social site requires a biography make sure your info is appropriate. Write something that that would impress an employer
Post content to your social networking site that pertains to your professional interest
Keep a polite tone to your social sites
Speak professionally

Don’ts
Have a negative attitude
Unprofessional body language (i.e. yawning without covering your mouth, chewing gum)
Excessive fragrance
Come into work late
Post pictures of the frat party you went to last night to your social sites
Complain about your job on your social sites


Social networking can be a positive experence if you follow the do’s listed above. It can be a negative experence and ruin your chances of landing the job you want if your social sites are unprofessional. Social networking sites have some very strict privacy settings and you can either let the world see your profile or let no one see. You are in control. If you want to use your social networking site as a way to connect to other professionals than you can keep it public and post your professional images. However, if you want to keep it for your social life only than make sure all your settings are set so only your friends can see your profile.

How To Develop Your Online Identity

It’s 2010 and it appears as though most companies and people have “gotten with the times.” It seems as though everything is done over the internet anymore. No more snail mail there is now email, no more calling your friends to see what they are up to for the weekend you just check out their latest status update on Facebook, no more developing film instead pictures of you are being posted on the internet. Because of all of the above building a positive online reputation is more important now than it ever has been.

When some people (not me) Google their name some pretty bad stuff can show up. If it is in fact you, you need to see what you can do about getting those bad images or writings about you off the internet. It may entail contacting the sight owner. Some may have to go to the extreme of getting a lawyer involved if it is slander in nature.

If some of the Google findings aren’t you then you need to create a strong brand to associate with your name so whoever searches you in Google knows the difference between you and everyone else that shares your name.
Every person I know has a Facebook, Myspace and/or a Twitter account. Make sure that any and all of your social networking sites like these reflect the level of security you need. You don’t want those frat party pictures popping up on the recruiters monitor.

According to www.thepersonalbrandingblog.com a study was done by Execunet, 87% of recruiters and hiring manager DO Google potential candidates and 45% of them will eliminate candidates based on their findings. Don’t be that 45%.