Concluding ES2007s

ES2007S has covered many topics and I have to say that I am generally aware of the various “points to take note of”. For example, I have been doing part time jobs since I was 16, hence my cover letter and resume have been constantly updated since then. I had overcome my fear of presenting in front of a crowd some time ago too. Nevertheless, I have still benefitted from this course as it fine-tuned all the skills and knowledge I already have.

If I must choose one area, I feel that I have learnt the most regarding interview skills through this course. Going for interviews have been one of my greatest fear because I have had bad past experiences. I have been stumped by various “weird” questions and obviously, the interview did not go too well. Through the mock interview practice session, my group has analyzed numerous difficult questions and I am confident of tackling them during my future interviews. I am thankful to Fiona who has contributed many fantastic ideas/ways of tackling them.

Through Nixon, Xinyu and Victor’s peer teaching session, I have noted a couple of things. First would be that black socks are just as important! I am aware that my dressing to the interview will affect the boss’s first impression of me, but I guess I neglected the smallest detail about my socks. The other would be that to always prepare before going for any interview. I was probably too lazy or stubborn who thinks that I know it all and do not need to prepare for interviews. I am glad I changed. I had recently gone for an interview, I am glad I did my homework and I could answer their questions relevant to the company.

In conclusion, I would like to thank Dr Jaidev and my peers who helped me improve these life skills. It has been a fun and exciting learning experience.

My Final Presentation Reflection

I feel that my group has done well for the presentation and it was rather fun. I think that I have generally performed well for my oral presentation. I will examine the preparation, the use of Prezi and finally my delivery during the presentation in the following paragraphs.

Firstly, we (my group) had put in much effort to prepare for this presentation. Each of us contributed our ideas and played our individual role to complement each other’s part. We took note of what each of us is covering and made an effort to draw cross-references to each other to the best of our abilities. We took time out to practice and to help shape up each other’s presentational skills before the actual presentation. Our preparation for this presentation was a team effort.

Secondly, the use of Prezi was a unanimous decision to spice up our presentation. We felt that we needed to add something different which was not showcased during the mock presentation in order not to bore the audience. I felt that we made a good choice because the presentation was a success. Prezi is a great platform which gave us an additional visual impact with the effects and captured the audience even more.

However, certain parts of the presentation could have been better organized, as commented by Qi. I was in charge of the entire layout in Prezi and I agree with him that I could have done a better job. Nevertheless, Prezi has been very effective and I am sure to use Prezi more often in the future.

Lastly, I felt that my delivery was slightly lacking today. Although my feedback was good and confident, I felt that I stumbled quite some parts today. I was initially scared when I went just started the presentation and my words and ideas were not articulated the way I wanted them to be. On the other hand, I made sure to project my voice, took notice of my body language and hand gestures, as well as to maintain eye contact with the audience. I will be sure to better prepare myself for my next presentation.

Fostering Intercultural Communication

I am giving tuition to a boy whose parents came from Bangladesh. They have immigrated to Singapore 15 years ago and the boy is born a Singaporean. Bangaldes’ culture is largely defined by Islam and with my past interactions with many Islamic friends, I thought that I was competent in dealing with the Dos and Don’ts.  

I remembered the first time when I shook the mother’s hand, it felt limp. In my context, the handshake felt insincere and at that moment, I thought that she was being rude. However, after researching, I found out that that was their way of a handshake. Shaking hands in their culture is common, but they may feel rather limp.

Apparently in Bangaldes’ culture, greetings usually take place between members of the same sex. Women will only really be met within business contexts and even so, it is best to wait to see if a hand is extended before doing so. However the mother was quick to shake my extend hand, though limp. This could probably be an adaptation of their culture into the Singapore’s context, after all they have been here for 15 years. In Singapore’s context, girls are more open and extending one’s hand for a handshake is a gesture of friendliness.

From these experiences, I have learnt to withhold my judgmental views. I could not expect everyone to behave within my expectations since everybody is different. In addition, I have also realized that culture is not fixed. It can be shaped by the surroundings and adapt to societal expectations.  

On a side note, I am troubled by a cultural issue. When people (Muslims for example) put their hands to their hearts after a handshake, how should I (non-Muslim) react? Should I put my hand to my heart as well?

Cover Letter (Part 2 of 2)

Resume (Part 1 of 2)

Round 1 --- FIGHT!

I had a conflict with a friend whom I shall name Mr A. This incident happened when I was serving my liability in the army. The working environment was such that work was never ending and emotions were usually running high in the office. It happened on this fateful day when nothing seems to be going right and everything seems to be occurring simultaneously, resulting in a huge load of work to do.  Tempers were short and the office had landmines planted everywhere. Naturally I had stepped on Mr A’s to result in an explosion of emotions leading to a quarrel. The quarrel transcended rather quickly to violence when Mr A decided to throw pens at me. I took myself away from the conflict by walking out of the office. We made up at the end of the day’s work and we are still friends now.

The main problem could be my lack of tactfulness, which resulted in the stepping on my friend’s toes hence causing the outburst. If I had not agitated him, probably this would not have happened. Additionally, the stress at work and the rush to meet datelines could have also contributed to the outburst.

There was much frustrations in the office on that day. I could have been an outlet for Mr A to release his frustrations. I, on the other hand, was rather calm and level-headed in the midst of our quarrel. I was fully conscious that I should not return blows, otherwise things would have gotten uglier.

Is walking away the best option? How else could I have handled such situations should they happen again? 

I want to be an effective communciator

I would generalize to broadly categorize communications under 2 headings, written and oral communications. I feel that written communications might not be as major of a problem to me since drafts can be written and redrafted and re-edited before sending it out. A written communication can be well thought out. While oral communication has a much shorter thinking processing time. You may probably pause for 5 seconds before making yourself look really rude for not answering a question directed at you. Yet should the reply be insufficient, then this communication channel would have broken down since the idea was not communicated effectively.

Communicating is the very basis of a face-to-face interaction with other people. This activity takes place on a daily basis, hence I feel it is important to improve my skills to better interact with people. There are times when I feel lost for words that I do not know how to continue interacting and there was the awkward silence. It may sound easy to simply ‘talk to people’ but there are in fact many underlying skills involved, such as to find the right topics so that the conversation will go on.

I also feel that being able to communication well is very important in making one’s first impression on others, besides one’s appearance.  Other than just looking good, being able to interact proficiently will portray your intelligence, hence would definitely improve others’ impression of you. This is probably the area which I am lacking. I have failed to secure scholarships due to my poor performance during interviews. I am unable to communicate effectively enough to show that I am in fact rather intelligent.

Being an effective communicator allows me to steer a conversation to my favor in any occasion. It would probably help me in making more friends too!?