Blog Reviews

Blog 1:

This author wrote about how philosophy books help readers develop a healthier thinking brain. Books that talk about philosophy makes people think about scenarios in a different way. Instead of solving the issue directly, it guides the reader to think outside of the box and that helps open up the mind.

Blog 2:

This author talks about a completely different topic. The book they picked talks about a Korean surgeon in the army. They talked about how this book, that later on became a television show, quickly gained popularity and soon became a household name.

Blog 3:

The third blog I read talks about the country Thailand. The author of this blog explains how it is full of details and stories about the country itself and how it can be difficult to grasp some of the information because it is a completely different country from the United States. She felt it would be a good book to pick since it has lots of new information about a foreign land.

Blog 4:

The author of this blog picked a book about business. The blog talks about how there are different ways to go about in the business world. The information that this particular book contains may be extremely useful to many people.

Blog 5:

The last blog post that I reviewed talks about women and how stress plays into their lives. The book talks about the different levels of stress such as physical and phycological stress. The book connects the emotions of women and their stress factor. The book also goes into detail about the different levels of emotion.


All of the five blogs that I reviewed are riveting because each one of them talks about a completely different topic. Because of this reason, it made it a lot to easier to read.

September 24, 2012

STEP 1:
1. The book talks about understanding certain behavior and that made it seem interesting to me. I am always open to learning why people do the things they do.
2. The book has 23 authors.
3. The book is called Human Performance and Ergonomics.
4. Academic Press is responsible for printing this book.
5. The books were printed in San Diego, California in 1999.

STEP 2:
The way humans behave in certain scenes and environment depends on where they are placed. According to Mark Leonard and Gardner Douglas in the book Human Performace and Ergonomics, the "physical componenets of the workstation" must be able to "accommodate or fit an individual" in order to have their workers perform at top quality (Nickerson et al. 267). Without the proper needs in a work environment, the work that was produced from an employee may seem lacking.

WORK CITE:
Hancock, Peter A., ed. Human Performance and Ergonomics. San Diego, CA: Academic, 1999. Print.

How to get a job summary

Our little group of three decided to present the topic “how to get a job”. We chose this topic because it seemed like the practical topic that was offered on the LEO website. With the economy being so horrible these days, there are many people out there who are out of a job and looking for a new one. Learning about how to find a job may be one of the handiest tools to have during these hard times.

The way my group organized the presentation on “how to get a job” is by jotting all of our thoughts down on a piece of paper to visualize how we can evenly divide up the work. Organizing the presentation and paper made putting it into action a lot simpler since everyone knew exactly how much was going to be needed done in approximately the time given. Once we have decided who is going to do which part of the paper and presentation, we got started! Originally, I was partnered up with Jonathon Gerry to do the presentation and then Donald Akroman asked to join us. Since we have already started the project and was almost finished writing up our parts, we had to quickly figure out what Donald could contribute to our presentation and continued working because time was starting to run out.

The way we figured out who would do which part of the presentation was by talking it out. We decided to divide up in a way where whomever seems to know more about the topic would cover it in the paper and presentation. We decided to do it this way because it seemed to make more sense and in the end, we could become somewhat “experts” at them and teach each other about our topics so that we could get the whole picture.

Jonathon was in charge of putting together the introductory, understanding how a job seeker can fit into the position they applied for, and researching the company itself. I covered the resume, cover letter, and conclusion while Donald researched the thank you letter. Everything seemed to work out smoothly since we all knew which parts we were doing and researching the topics wasn’t too hard since people are always looking ways to improve their job seeking skills. We used the LEO website to guide us in outlining the presentation and with my part, I was able to find quite a bit on the Google search engine. There were lots of examples provided through many different websites and that helped me a lot with cross-referencing. I was even able to find a cover letter outline to stick into the presentation itself to help the audience visualize what I was talking about.

I think we did an excellent job with putting together the presentation and we worked nicely as a team. We kept each other focused and worked our ways through problems that we encountered with the research. Everyone got along with each other and had their own little spark to add to the presentation. Even though we only had a little bit of time to present at our topic since we were the last group to go that day, I think we did a spectacular job with getting all of the information across to the audience and made it worth their time.

How to get a job

Thanh Tran
Jonathon Gerry
Donald Akroman

                The topic that our group will be presenting to the class is how to enhance your chances in getting a job. The reason why we chose this topic is because we saw it as one of the most essential tools we need in order to succeed in life after college. Getting a job is a significant goal in a person’s life because it is the base foundation that will support somebody from struggling in this economic world. The four topics we will be discussing about are the stepping stones to get into your job. The four stepping stones are the following: understanding yourself and researching the company, cover letters, the resume, and a thank you letter. Each of these four processes is crucial in help setting you apart from the rest of your competition and coming out on top as the victorious new employee.
                Before typing up papers and getting ready for an interview the first step in getting a job is the understanding yourself and researching the company you are applying for. By understanding yourself you know your own strengths and weaknesses and how you can apply them into the position you are competing for in the company.  Researching the company you are able to find out what the company is looking for in a person and how you are qualified for the job.  When researching a company you are able to discover everything there is about it, “what their foundation is built on, what the goal of their company is, who are the higher ranked people, etc” (Literacy Education Online, August 17, 2012). This is important because it gives you an upper edge on your competition when you go into the interview. When a person has a great understanding of the corporation it shows something most people like, dedication. These two steps work hand in hand on what you are looking for because when you look for or research a job, you are able to find an environment that best suites you.   

A resume is probably going to be one the most important pieces of document you are going to have to compose of in your lifetime so having a poorly written resume may lead to harsh consequences and cost you of a great opportunity. Even though you are an educated being, having a resume riddled with little grammar and spelling mistakes may leave a bad impression with the employer and they may judge you based on a piece of paper. Poorly written resumes could speak more about you than any employment history. When an employer has already developed a bad impression on you based on your resume, it is going to be extremely difficult to talk yourself up to land that job position. First impressions can make the difference between obtaining an interview and having your application discarded. Having a long and wordy resume can also hurt a person’s chances just as much as poor spelling and grammar can. After reviewing dozens of resumes all day, an employer would not want to read paragraphs that aren’t carefully organized into bullet points.

First impressions mean a lot when it comes to the job seeking world and one of the first things employers look at is your resume. Well written resumes can help push you further along into the hiring process. Even though you may not be as qualified as the other applicants, having a well written resume may help you obtain an interview with the employer and create new opportunities in the future. On average, an employer would only spend 10 – 15 seconds reviewing your resume so bullet points and summaries work best! Condensing all the information to one organized page also makes it easier for the employer to go over your application. If you want the best results for your resume, have a peer critic the resume before sending it in. This would be the most useful thing you can do because your eyes may have missed something that was grammatically incorrect.

Cover letters are also an important piece to landing a job. They help explain to the employer why you should be hired and it elaborates on your skills. The job seeker should be able to compose a cover letter talks about how they are qualified for the specific position that they applied for and all of this information should be able to flow together smoothly with an overall professional tone. Since you do not want to overwhelm the employer with a cover letter, one page is more than enough.

A thank you letter is supposed to be sent to give good and positive impression about the person who is applying and showing his determination. This letter shows the determination and the motivation of the applicant. A thank-you note is seen as good taste and polite, and sometimes it can make an influence to the hiring decision. It can be also relevant when the choice of the applicant is difficult and tough between two candidacies.

           Being successful in getting hired for a position in a tough economy these days are not is not as difficult as people think. If these steps are considered during the hiring process, it would give you a bigger advantage in the hiring world.

Topic for Presentation

Writing to get a job.

• researching my own interests and talents
  
• researching companies
  
  
• resume
  
  
• cover letters
  
  
• follow-up, thank-you, and other kinds of letters
  

Story in a Box

Centi was the ruler of the great land of Meter. He had just finish taking down the demon that kept haunting his land and the people that resided within. He beheaded the evil spirit and locked it away in the enchanted, ceramic jar and given it to one of his trusted soldiers. The soldier, Ottis, was to careful transport the jar with the evil head trapped inside to a remote village where a monk statue lives. Once the soldier arrives to the monk statue, the evil spirit head would then be destroyed forever.
On this journey, Ottis was provided with a 200 year old blanket that was blessed to protect him from unseen dangers. He is to travel by boat down the Nile River in order to get to the statue. He was also given a leather wallet with some currency of this village to keep him fed and clothed.
When he finally arrived to the village, the ventured through the forest and stumbled upon a chestnut tree. There, he sat down and saw an old and painted plate at the root of the tree. He decided that as a traveler, he should take home the plate with some of the chestnuts to his own village to share. After he collected his souvenirs, he continued on his journey to the monk statue.
After another hour of hiking through the forest, he found the tall statue and set the jar under its feet. The jar began to quiver and it bursts into flames. Ottis stood and watched in fear as the jar broke into tiny pieces and green smoke rose. Ottis has done his job and was able to return safely to his village where his people will be able to live in harmony once again.