About My Pursue Of Professional Goals

Introduction

Business 303, what does it mean to me? When I signed up for this class, I was not sure what to expect. It was just another class that I was required to take to graduate. On the first day of the class, I did find out that most of the concepts taught in this class were difficult because it required me to step out of my comfort zone. The concepts learned in this class were important because they helped me gain valuable experience and skills that will help me achieve my professional goals. The three lessons that were most valuable to me include the resume and cover letter writing, mock interviews, and the online presence.

Resume and Cover Letter writing

Listening to Kaleb Lewis’s presentation about resume & cover letter writing in week 4 was an eye-opening for me because I have not changed my resume since 2012, which meant that I had to start from scratch writing my resume, and this was my first time writing a cover letter. Kaleb did a wonderful job in providing examples and tips on how to write the resume and cover letter. What helped me the most from this exercise was the feedback from my peers, they have given me a different perspective. My takeaway from this experience is to update my resume on a regular basis, once every quarter.

Mock Interviews

Being asked difficult questions like what is your strength or what is your weakness by someone who doesn’t know me is one of the challenging experiences me. Going through the mock interviews were very helpful for me because I was able to ask the professions what I can do to prepare myself so that I would not get so nervous that I would forget everything. The two professionals who interviewed me gave me great tips on how to be myself and to make sure that all my answers were genuine, and I was dressed professionally. From this experience, I have learned to practice with difficult questions so that when they are asked, I have an answer in mind and to research the company and position that I’m applying for so that I’m familiar with them.

Online Presence

Before starting this class, I was not comfortable with having an online presence because I thought if I were to create a LinkedIn profile that I would not have control of what information would be on my profile. I did not have a full understanding of the benefits of having an online presence. However, as I was looking for an interviewee for my informational interview, I have come to realize that I needed a LinkedIn profile so that I would be able to connect and select the right interviewee for my interview. From this experience I have learned that making connections with other accounting professionals who are willing to share their professional experiences with me is very important and in order for me to make sure that I’m connecting with the appropriate professionals, I have to continuously monitor my online presence to make sure that my information on the internet is a good representation of me and it is the information that I want my current/future employers to know about me. Additionally, I have learned to never post any information that could damage my professional/personal reputation.

My failure in Bus 303

Standing and presenting in front of a group of classmates, co-workers, and managers was one my biggest fears. Before starting this class, I was so nervous that I would forget my whole presentation and panic. During my first presentation, I was so anxious that forgot most of my speech, and I was not happy with my presentation. However, as I watched my classmates present, I realized that I was not the only one who was having a difficult time presenting, then I decided to speak more often in the class so that when I was standing in front of the class, I would be more comfortable. I have also learned that when creating my presentation, my focus should be on who is my audience and what information do I want them to learn from my presentation. Additionally, I have learned that it’s important that my audience receive my message the way I want them to because otherwise, I would lose them before I finish presenting. Going forward I will prepare, practice, and if I mess up on something, I will continue with my presentation because I’m the only one who knows that I forgot or skipped some of my speech.

My professional skills growth

Awareness and recognition were the two main skills that had a huge impact on me during our class discussion because I have never considered those terms to be important before. The next day after that class, I asked my manager and co-workers if they would give me feedback by providing me examples of different scenarios in which I did not respond properly and how I could have done better. From the emotional intelligence concept, I have learned to be aware of my feelings so that I can adjust and interact better with my manager, co-workers, classmates, and my customers. I have also come to realize that I need to recognize other’s feeling so that I can respond to them based on how they are feeling. For example, if I receive a call from one of my customers, and she starts complaining about the service she has received at one of our stores, I must first listen to her complaints, acknowledge that the customer is upset, and then apologize for the bad service.

Projection

As I continue to pursue my professional goals there will be many challenges, however, the lessons that I have learned in this class, as well as the experiences that I have gained will help me guide to make the right decisions. For example, when I’m facing an ethical dilemma, I will be careful about how I handle the situation without being influenced by others. I will also be cautious with how I present myself and who I associate with on the internet, and finally, I will use my active listening skills to better understand the problem so that I will be able to find the right solution.