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AbiolaS /
AbiolaSHello. My name is Abiola Sholanke-Fluker. I am a double-major in English Language and Journalism. My minor is art. What do I think I want to do? I am taking English 484 to get some experience and expand my portfolio. After graduation, I hope to take my experience from this class and my other skills and obtain a job that encompasses writing, editing, and/or desktop publishing. I want to be a professional writer that works in marketing, publishing, advertising, or some corporate environment. In order to attain a job in these areas, I must have an impressive and extensive portfolio of writing samples that include articles; press releases and other marketing collateral; ads for print, TV, and radio; proposals; memos; and much more. My current portfolio contains my full-length resume and writing, copyediting, and desktop publishing samples. Since my portfolio contains a good number of artifacts and displays several skills, I think that it will help me find and land the job I am looking for. What does it mean to me to be "professional"? Professionalism is a broad and vague ideal to characterize behavior and other practices in the workplace. It's almost synonymous with being correct and proper. This means that professionalism can include being in compliance with workplace rules and regulations, polite, diligent worker, neat, organized, diplomatic, and a host of other words to describe an idea behavior or practice. A professional must be able to adapt to his or her work environment and be able to properly plan and execute work assignments in a high-quality and timely manner. In this sense, professionalism is both action and a state of mind. It can also encompass attitudes, work ethics, and practice. What are good strategies for working with a team? One of the most important strategies for working in a team should be getting clear directions for what needs to be done and finding out who needs to do what, how, and when. Make sure from the start that there are clear deadlines set for each party involved and make sure that all parties have a clear avenue for communication throughout a project. Then, above all else, all parties should hold up their ends of the responsibilities. Possible Portfolio Artifacts & What It Could Show Since I am marketing myself as a writer, copyeditor, and desktop publisher, my portfolio should contain artifacts in each of these three areas. Writing samples should include articles, headlines, captions, reports, etc. These samples should show that I can write well, gather information through research and interviews, and that I can organize documents in a coherent and easy-to-read format. Copyediting/proofreading samples should include reworded text and modified text using standard proofreader's marks. The editing samples would show that I have good command of English grammar, spelling, punctuation, and syntax as well as the ability to edit content for style, clarity, and flow. I'd like my desktop publishing samples to include a flyer, logo design, book design, corporate identity package design, etc. These samples should show that I have good grasp of the CRAP elements of design. Reflection on Previous Jobs I have held a variety of jobs over the past few years in various industries. However, my most relevant work experience related to this class includes work at newspapers and other publications where I have worked as either a writer, copyeditor, or desktop publisher. Some of the most critical skills I learned at the jobs are teamwork, diligence, and thoroughness. I also learned the true meaning of being a professional, which I briefly discussed earlier in this wiki. I learned that I must maintain a sense of idendity and follow my own work ethic of professionalism while at the same time being able to adapt to the protocols and office politics of a work environment. In addition, I learned that it is important to communicate with other and allow others to be able to communicate with me. I also learned that, above all else, I must do my work and do it well. Writing and Contextual Analysis/Problem Solving Writing is something that most people can do but something that few can do extremely well. If done well, writing will come to include situational analysis. You see, the purpose of writing is to convey ideas or facts or to keep record of something. A writer must take an issue, product, or idea and create informative and meaningful text that is geared toward a particular audience. The writer must be an advocate for both the sender of a message and the recipient. What this means is that the writer must find a way to clearly communicate the message so that it properly reaches the audience and so that the reader can consume and use that information. All of this involves contextual analysis. Unfortunately, people who are not professional writer or those who seldomly write don't appreciate what all is involved. Many people view writing as a mundane task of scribbling words on paper. As I mentioned earlier, if done right, writing can serve so many purposes and requires many skill sets. Professional writers don't just pull junk out of their heads and translate those thoughts to paper. Professional writers oftentimes have to do research and/or interviewing, work as a team to generate ideas, plan and execute their projects on deadlines, craft the documents in a variety of formats depending on the audience and nature of the text, conduct audience analysis, and much more. There's just so much more to writing than many people understand. Questions 3 and 4 Answer to 3: Creating any brochure will involve the following steps: audience analysis, defining message, writing content, organizing content, editing, layout, proofreading, testing, and dissemination. If I have been given little instruction for a brochure, I know to follow these steps. All I would have to do is contact the person who would be able to provide a little bit of information related to these steps and go ahead and plan the document from there. A good beginning would be to look at other documents produced in the department, such an old brochure or some similar document. If the department has a website, that would also be a good source of information. Answer to 4: Writing is all about varying formulas. The way I see it, no one can teach a person how to write well. Some people are just good at. What a person can teach, however, are tips on things like format, what to include, what not to include, and learning when to be specific and when to be vague. Writers can incorporate these tips as they write to improve the overall cohesiveness and flow of their documents. OTHER READINGS Alton, Rutten, & Gidonian In First Time Out Alton explains her new job as involving “a lot more work that was not technical writing: supervising employees, taking care of billing, and visiting client sites.” At the end of her article, Alton mentions that she is learning new skills at work every day, and she has the freedom to pursue her education while feeling fulfilled professionally. At her new job, she teaches technical writing everyday which is what she wanted to do all along. I can relate to Alton's experience. It can be disenchanging to have gone through school learning about principles and skills and then get to a job and find out that everything you learned in school is completely unapplicable on your new job. This can cause a person to become disgruntled at their job and view their work environment as either unprofessional or unworkable. Unfortunately, that's just comes with the territory. That's why it is important to be able to honestly tell yourself if this is what you really want. If you're not cut out for the environment, it is probably just as well that you leave and find a place that is a good fit for you. Alton talks about the job she had after the teaching mishap and her dislike of it on the first day of envelope stuffing. Luckily, she stuck to the job and found out her role in the company was greater than that of just a letter stuffer. If she did not take the time to define herself in the company as a professional that served a specific duty, she would have been miserable. Rutten discusses people at work having faith in her abilities. This is a great step in the direction of defining a professional. If coworkers do not understand her skills it would be more difficult for her to be a part of the entire context of the office. In the Gidonian article she talks about the working environment on a personal level. She talks about her second job and how pleasant atmosphere created by the people there. There were no hidden agendas or backstabbing that she had witnessed at her first job. This helps to show that on the path to being a professional we have to always remain personal. Understanding people and the environment around us is a major cog on the professional wheel. Dwyer, Bloom, Hile, Asay What sort of ethical issues is a technical/professional writer or editor likely to face?' A technical or professional writer or editor may face a variety of ethical issues on their jobs. There are constant issues facing writers and editors every day. We must be considering who we are writing for in terms of audience, clients, and situations. Casady, Rasmussen, Weiss How can we learn interpersonal skills and "office politics"? The key is communication and observation. When you're new, it's better to be quiet and observant of your coworkers. Listen to what they have to say. Of course, this doesn't mean that you have to participate in office politics; it's actually better that you don't. But it is a good idea to be aware of all the factors present in the workplace. GUEST VISITS Lalonde & Wisniewski The most beneficial and informative part of this visit was the handout on Potential Interview Questions. The speakers gave a lot of good advice about working on the job and trying to land a job. They had some useful tips for interviewing techniques and resumes. Lauren gave gave advice regarding her first job as a technical writer. She explained that as she had continued to hold out for her dream job, she was specifically looking for a job with a certain description. Instead she realized she was missing several great opportunities. Even though they weren't the exact fit, they could lead her elsewhere. Birchmeier and To Debra and Jason gave some very good points. It was very interesting hearing Jason talk about his company's corporate culture and how people don't really talk that much. While I know that all company's don't operate this way, it was still good hearing about his experiences just in case I end up at a place like that. As a young professional, I would need to know how to survive in a place where communication is minimal. I'd have to find other ways to obtain the information I need to get my job done. Petroff, Frazier, & Norton There were interesting dynamics between each of these presenters. Most of what Nick and Andrea had to say about the profession was quite positive and upbeat, while Jim was very negative. It seemed that he was frustrated because the company he worked for didn't value the work that he did. These presenters illustrated the effects that a job can have on someone's personal life. I liked how Andrea and Nick talked about their job responisibilties and what it was like at their company. I also liked how they were positive about thier job. Another thing I liked to hear was how the technical writers at their company are valued. That made me feel better about my career choice. I really liked Andrea's comment about how if you're unhappy in a job don't be afraid to leave and try other companies. Caraballo & Amy Vickerman Both of these presenters were very interesting and informative. I especially enjoyed hearing about how Caraballo enjoyed her job and hearing about all of the skills she used on her job. She answered questions enthusiastically with informative information that could help college students plan their job searches. She also talked about how she restarted her career rather late but was still able to land a successful job with the coursework that she'd completed. She also emphasized how beneficial it is to be able to speak Spanish, something that has helped her in her career. Amy wasn't as talkative as Caraballo, but she did do a good job of answering the students' questions and listened attentively. |