Advice to Future 304 Students

I’m going to start out saying that this is definitely not going to be the hardest class of your life, but you do need to stay on top of things. There are a lot of little assignments that may seem insignificant, but in the end they add up to make up a good portion of your grade.

My second piece of advice would be to find a good group of people to work with for the semester. As with any group project, you want people who are responsible and capable of getting their work done in a timely manner. It’s especially important in this class because the project runs throughout the whole semester.

Lastly, I would just say have fun. Go into the class with a good attitude. Angie is a great teacher and when she gives you creative freedom, take it. Not many teachers are going to allow that. Regular classes can get boring, but she always tries to mix it up and I think that’s why so many people like her class.

Ethical Lapses

There is a lot of corruption in the world today, and this article goes to show how common ethical lapses are in the workplace. Sadly, I’m not too surprised by the frequency of the occurrences. Even though this article is rather short, it does a good job of putting into perspective the amount of time that is consumed by worrying and dealing with ethical issues instead of spent working. I was surprised to read how badly a problem can affect colleagues who are not even directly involved in the issue.

I also agree that companies who do not attempt to pay attention to the small issues shows that the company is willing to tolerate a level of questionable behavior. By not addressing the minor issues, the company is showing that they do not hold their employees to a high level of performance. It is most likely that if more companies addressed ethical problems, even minor ones, they could increase the performance and productivity of their company.

Paper v. Web

I think the two ways of writing (writing on the Web compared to writing on paper) are much more similar than they are different. They are similar because they both involve using the same thought process. However, I personally think and therefore write less formally when on the Web than I do when I am hand-writing something. I think it is because I associate the Web and writing online with emails and instant messenger, both of which I am usually very informal. When writing papers by hand, I associate it with essay tests and formal documents. Thus, I think I am unconsciously more formal when I hand-write things.

The biggest difference between the two ways of writing is the format. When I am writing on paper, I almost always use paragraph format and indent the first line of every paragraph. On the Web however, the format I use varies with the program I am using. When typing on the Web I am also conscious of the audience. For instance, formats and colors show up differently on different computers (e.g. Mac versus PC).

Politics

In past years, I have been one of those people that are very apathetic toward politics. Even though the system is responsible for running our country, I cannot stand the scandals, cheating and corruption that has infused our government. It wasn’t until this year that I became involved and even eager to talk about politics.

After the past 8 years of having Bush as our President, and the mess we have gotten ourselves into, I think it has motivated a lot of young adults to get active in politics. I know I personally researched all the candidates, and even went to see a few of them speak. I was thrilled to get the chance to vote and pick a president for the next four years. However, the state of Ohio, once again, screwed up their primary absentee ballots and for the second time, I didn’t get to vote (still bitter if you can’t tell). This same thing happened four years ago in the general election when Ohio sent out 30,000 absentee ballots too late. I am still upset about it because voting is a huge privilege, and to not be able to have your say in the election is disheartening. Let’s just hope Ohio has their stuff together by the general election.

Lying on Your Resume

I thought this article was actually slightly depressing. Knowing that so many people will cheat just to get ahead, especially in the business world, just goes to show how dishonest our society has become. Mary’s story is a perfect example of the detrimental effects that can happen if you lie on your resume. I understand why a person could be compelled to lie: better benefits, more money, more opportunities, etc. However, I don’t understand how a person can live with themselves knowing that they lied to the company they are working for. I guess maybe some people’s consciouses don’t get to them like mine would. Or maybe they do, and they just choose to ignore it. Either way, it does hurt the 50 percent that are being honest, and leaves them at an unfair disadvantage.

I also completely agree with Levitt’s theory that "the higher up in the organization a person rises, the more likely it is that he or she will cheat." Examples of this can be seen all over the media every day, especially within the past five years. The incident at ENRON is a perfect example of this. In my personal opinion, money and greed are driving factors behind a lot of these lies. It definitely was the case in the ENRON scandal.

5-Minute Presentations

I really enjoyed the 5-minute presentations we did in class last week. I thought it was a nice change from the classroom routine and a chance to learn a little more about each others personalities and interests. If I had to pick one that I enjoyed the most, it would probably be Casey’s presentation on Africa. I have wanted to travel to Africa for awhile now, and Casey’s pictures just made me want to go there even more. Even though Africa is an extremely poor country, it is rich in many other ways, and Casey did a great job of showing this. She spoke highly of the people, culture, traditions and way of life that can be found in the country.

While Casey’s was one of my favorites, I also really enjoyed Lindsey’s presentation on Hershey, Pennsylvania. I visited there with my family when I was very little and even though I don’t remember much of the trip; it still holds a special place in my heart because it was with my family. Lindsey did a great job of promoting the park for a more mature crowd (even though it is also meant it entertain the very young). I thought the chocolate tasting lesson was a really cool idea and I had no idea that it could be so similar to wine tasting.

I thought overall the presentations were a great success and I think we all had a good time doing them.

Mock Interview

The mock interview went a lot better than I thought it would. I was much more relaxed because I knew I was going into a practice interview as opposed to a real one. I also felt much more comfortable with my teacher than I would normally with an interviewer. Overall I thought the interview went well and I answered the questions fairly well; however, there were a couple of bad habits I kept catching myself doing which I would like to improve on. For instance, I kept catching myself looking at my resume that the interviewer was holding instead of making eye contact with her. I also caught myself fidgeting a couple of times with my hands or legs. One of the most important things I learned through doing this was that even though you may know everything about the position you are applying for, it is important to ask questions to let the interviewer know you are interested.

With each interview, practice or otherwise, I find myself answering questions better than the last time, but I still have some improvements to make. I think it would be helpful to go online and read articles and professional opinions on how to answer interview questions correctly.