Interviewing

Interviews are all about first impressions. You must prepare and be at your best. Some interviewers are looking at a lot of people for a single position. Making your first impression memorable and professional will allow you to stand out among the rest. Being personable is key to a great first impression. Practice before your interview with a friend or relative. If that's not possible use a mirror. You may be surprised at the impression you get of yourself! Mike Boya wrote an article on first impression where he states, “According to statistics, first impressions are made in the first 20 seconds, and a bad first impression takes 20 additional contacts to rectify that bad first impression.”


When going on an interview always smile and keep in mind you never get a second chance to make a first impression.


Please complete the following exercises. These will help you with your interviewing skills.


 Review further information about informational interviews by clicking here (you may have to copy and paste these links into your web browser) (http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2002/summer/art03.pdf). Also, review some information from UCF"s Career Services by clicking here (http://www.career.ucf.edu/UserFiles/File/Plan%20for%20the%20Interview/player.html).



 Log on to Perfect Interview (http://www.perfectinterview.com/ucf/). For "Your Level of Experience," choose the level that fits you the best.



 Complete one "short" interview where the selections are chosen for you. Complete one "short" interview where you make the selections. Choose at least three areas you'd like to work on the most. Note the options of the "Alternate Response" and the "Coach" that can be used.



 You may choose to either use video capture or no video capture. If you choose no video capture you will be required to type your responses. Save both interviews.



 Draft a reflection of at least a paragraph about your practice interview, commenting on the questions asked and your responses to the questions. You might comment on what questions were problematic. What were the strengths of your responses? What could you improve in your responses? How did your responses compare to the "Alternate Response"? What did you learn from the "Coach?"



 What are some key points for participating in a phone interview and panel interview?



 When should you discuss salary and how would you go about it?



 At the end of the reflection give one question about interviewing or a piece of advice that you've gained in your interviewing experiences.



 Click on "Review Saved Interviews." Click on the "Share" button. E-mail yourself your interview and include the links in your posting.

Nicole Perez

Topic #4 Cover Letters and Resumes

Hola Mentees I've got great news! We are almost half way done with the semester! With that said, we will be covering topic #4 cover letters and resumes. I'm sure you all have heard about a cover letter and resume. Despite how time consuming and in depth resumes and cover letters can be, they are a necessity when trying to enter the work force.

A resume is a written document that lists your work experience, skills, and educational background. It is used as a marketing tool for all you future job seekers! A cover letter is a document sent with your resume to provide additional information on your skills and experience. A cover letter typically provides detailed information on why you are qualified for the job you are applying for. Effective cover letters explain the reasons for your interest in the specific organization and identify your most relevant skills or experiences. A resume and cover letter are extremely important because they are what gets you "face time" or an interview. You can be a wonderful speaker, have a great personality, or great work ethic but if you look awful on paper, chances are you will not get a call back or an interview. I know this for a fact because i once had an awful resume/cover letter. I knew i had to make changes and create an exciting resume that stood out. When i was in Cornerstone this topic really helped me to improve my cover letter and resume. The website http://www.thejobexplorer.com/coverletter/ can help you through the process and give you great tips! Also, i found a brief but detailed video on tips on creating a resume/cover letter that sells http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihl1NZAmAD4&feature=fvw

Posting Assignment- Please answer the following questions for the next posting.

-What are ways your resume can highlight your interdisciplinarity?

-What are some questions about cover letters you have?

-Share your best cover letter.

-What are questions about resumes that you have and/or share some advice.

-Share any resources you've found about cover letters and/or resumes.

PLEASE be sure to sign your name to your posting so you can be given credit and post on time/ Late penalties will be given and are never fun. :) Happy Blogging :)

Bonnie Beaumont

Group 16

Blog 3- Critical Thinking.

Topic 3: Critical Thinking

This week's blog is all about critical thinking. Critical thinking involves determining the meaning and significance of what is observed or expressed. As we all know, critical thinking can be used in our everyday lives. It allows us to think 'outside the box' to try to discover answers to our many everyday activities. We even use critical thinking skills for something as simple as buying a box of cereal. We evaluate and decide among the multicolored boxes, by asking ourselves which one taste better, which one do I want more, even the price of the cereal comes into play. Choosing the one box among the numerous shelves of boxes is called deductive reasoning, which is associated with critical thinking. Other examples include: choosing what road to take to work, buying a car, when to go to sleep, or even deciding where to take your next vacation. Many factors come into play when making our final decisions, but we primarily base it upon their effectiveness in our overall being. Critical thinking allows you to seek information, analyze alternatives, evaluate the alternatives in relation to your requirements which ultimately allows us to reach some conclusion. With that being said, I am going to link you to a fun exercise. It is truly fun in fact, I did it last night and I found it informative and fascinating. Also, I'll add a couple questions in need of your responses in this week's blog. Be sure to post your response by adding a "comment" to this week's blog which the link can be found down below.

Click the link below which will take you to an interactive exercise called Virtual Philosopher developed by Dr. Wade Maki from the Philosophy department at the University of North Caroline at Greensboro.

Virtual Philosopher Link (must have updated FLASH to play correctly): http://web.uncg.edu/dcl/courses/vicecrime/vp/vp.html

Questions for this week's blog:
1. How does your critical thinking relate to being interdisciplinary?

2a. Comment on your critical thinking reasoning that led to your decisions for all three scenarios: the friend's problem, the lifeboat problem, the liver problem.

b. Explain where your critical thinking gave way to your values, ethics, and beliefs? Comment on the differences you perceive between "ethical" and "critical" reasoning and what kinds of problems it caused in doing or reflecting on this exercise and even in your academic experiences.

c. Comment on how the Virtual Philosopher scored your response. From the comments you received about your responses, what insight have you gained about your own critical thinking and reasoning?

3. How does the outline of your critical thinking disposition match with the application of it in doing the Virtual Philosopher?

Also, there is a discussion question in the Virtual Philosopher link to discuss your decisions and why you thought it practical to pick your answers. Let's further discuss this, why did you pick your answers? Make sure to include all the scenarios, such as The Friends Dilemma, The Life Boat and the Liver Case in your short answer response.

**As always, do not forget to sign your name on your posting to ensure you of your much deserved credit. In addition, be sure to post on time so that we can include you in a final blog response, plus it's good to post on time to make certain no late penalties will be given.

Heather L.
Group 16.

Integration

This week we will be looking at the concept of integration.

Integration to me is a uniting of interests or ideas in a common initiative. Integration opens the doors of perspective. Integration is more than just simply combining things or notions together to see what happens, it’s the inspiration and motivation to merge questions, thoughts, and concepts to challenge preconceived ideas that change ones concepts and philosophy. An example is the degree we are all studying, Interdisciplinary Studies. We are brining together our own unique interests and talents to create a course study that challenges and ignites our curiosity.

Integration as a professional is one of the keys to success. You have to be the wearer of many hats to be successful. Understanding what is going on around you and being able to create a concept of comprehension to successfully move forward is a proficiency that is sometimes challenging to grasp. Integration is also about being able to see the big picture, to have the wherewithal to ask questions, and to challenge those around them.
Being able to bring people together, combining thoughts, breaking down walls, driving results, and effectively communicating ideas is what makes a leader.

Before you get started with the discussion, click on the below link. It will bring up a funny and different way to think about of integration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyUNRWJg0P8&feature=related

Now that you have gotten a different and humorous perspective about integration, answer the following questions:

What is integration to you?

How is integration critical as a professional?

In combing your three areas of study, how will it assist you in the future?

Please remember to sign your full name and to post you responses as a comment to this post.

Kevin Edmondson