Professional Opportunities & Job Skills

The ability to adapt and become flexible is the most valuable trait anyone can acquire. In today’s professional world, change is a constant. If someone is unable to work around such a changing environment is not likely to be able to stay in the game. My personal goal for my professional life is to always remain open to change and flexibility. In conjunction with this philosophy I have chosen to create an interdisciplinary education which will help me achieve this goal most effectively. Through all of this change, computers will remain a constant in our daily lives. The ability to understand computers is one which I find to be the key to survival. As these changes occur, another constant will remain. Professions will always take on business structures and tenets. Hence, a full understanding of what makes up these structures and how they work together to keep a business running will allow me to walk into any profession understanding the basics of how everything works. Finally, there seems to be a trend in the ways in which the world is changing today. Nations are interacting and doing business with one another, borders are blurring, and the world is becoming whole again. No longer can we expect to only interact with our close neighbors and countrymen, we must open our minds to the differences of the world and respect this phenomenon. In any business I am confident that I will employ both my computer and political science backgrounds. Before I discovered this new philosophy, I was unaware of the ways in which the disciplines connected with each other. I was narrow-minded and could only see myself being stuck doing the same job with the same set of skills for the rest of my life. Now, I realize that this is very unlikely, and frankly highly undesirable. As my lifetime progresses, the world will continue to change and more than likely I will need to adapt to many professional careers. Being well-rounded and flexible is the best thing I can do for myself and my future. In your own words, how would you describe your philosophy concerning your professional life and future, how do you see the professional world and how you will fit into it? This is different for everyone and really is a reflection of your own personal views. I used to only see the world as a corporate ladder, a planned laid out future, for example. Also, reflect on whether or not your personal philosophy is interdisciplinary, and in how you came to this conclusion. As I have said before, my previous philosophy was very mono-disciplinary in nature. Each discipline had its own box and never got mixed up. Each philosophy is different and not all rely on interdisciplinary. Looking at your life and views before you became an interdisciplinary student, how have you changed? What were your goals before and how have they evolved to this point? This is the most unique, as each person wanted to follow a very specific and different path than your peers today.
Also Consider:
What do you like to do during your free time? Are you a part of any clubs or organizations? Pick the ones that would be beneficial to your chosen career. How has this experienced
Have you participated in an internship or externship. And how has it helped you professional skills?
• How have you used your interdisciplinary in your professional life?
• What has been your professional history?
• What are your strongest and weakest job skills?
• What can you do to develop and improve upon your weak skills?

**We look forward to hearing your stories! And don’t forget to make sure that each of your posts are being signed with your full names! Thanks for everything this semester; it was wonderful getting to know you all! Good luck in your future endeavors!**

Personal Philosophy, Career Goals, & Academic Opportunities

Since discovering, learning about and studying interdisciplinary studies I have gained new insights into the ways that professions coexist. For example, every single profession relates to and shows characteristics of running a business. Many people are out there studying and getting degrees non-business related. Yet when these people enter the workforce, they will have to apply principles and knowledge that would normally have been gained by attending business classes. The world today is one giant business under its mask of unrelated professions. In my own education, I see my study of both the Computer and Political Sciences as providing support for my Business foundation which, gives it all more meaning. By having a clear understanding of how the world interacts with itself and also have a firm grasp on the technological tools which can and are being used to integrate and streamline all aspects of a business, I have achieved depth as well as breadth in my education. Prior to this understanding, I saw the world as clearly defined compartments which housed each group of career paths and disciplines. Today, I see it all as one giant web which is only making itself stronger with more connections each day. I can only hope that I can continue to be a valuable part of this web, creating new connections and discovering old ones. In my opinion, flexibility is key today.

Tell me:
What is your personal philosophy regarding your professional life? Is this interdisciplinary in nature? Why or why not? How has this view changed since you began your interdisciplinary life?

E-Portfolio

One of the most important and beneficial items that you will be completing as an ids student is the completion of and E-Portfolio. The E- Portfolio is a tool that you will all used to collect, select, and reflect on your education here at UCF. You will be able to show your IDS thinking and overall successes for a specific audience such as future employment or graduate/professional school. Remember the IDS all about showing off your talents, abilities, and skills to a specific audience in a professional manner.

Some things to consider,
::DO THIS::
1) Brainstorm and give me some examples on how your e-portfolio can demonstrate interdisciplinary.
2) What is your audience and purpose?( future goals using this tool)
3) What style/ colors schemes do you think will look best? What makes yours stand out amongst the rest?
4) What are some things you are considering as putting for evidence? Why? ( past essays/ projects to show off)

Reflection

Reflection is more than just description. While description is important for explanation, it does not provide the meaning and significance that is needed to truly reflect. For example, telling a story gives the reader a description of an event or series of events. However, reflection comes into play when you look back on those events and learn from them, giving them meaning. In my e-portfolio, it is important to use reflection to show why I am telling the stories that I am using. If I simply said I fixed my computer and this is how I did it, the reader would be left asking "Why are you telling me this?". By employing the use of reflection, I am learning from my story and growing from it. When I include this information, the reader understands the message. In layman's terms, the point of the e-portfolio is to relay a message, and the stories which you use within it are merely the vehicles with which you attach that message(s). Reflection is all about why, what is the meaning, and where is the significance.

Answer these questions:
1. ) What does reflection mean to you?
2.) What is your understanding of this term?
3.) What sets it apart from mere description?
4.) How do you plan on using reflection to develop your e-portfolio?

Interviewing

Hey Everyone, hope you've had a great weekend. For this week's blog topic we are going to be talking about the interview process. For me, before the interview is always a stressful time, and I'm looking forward to this week to see how much we can learn from each other and be prepared for our next big interview. As part of Ms. Moody's class, I am aware that you did an interview practice video for one of your modules. How did it go? I remember being a little intimidated after doing that exercise, being afraid I was the least prepared student for a job ever. However, that's not the purpose of this exercise, this is supposed to be helpful preparation for the future. Many of the questions and discussion points this week will be based off that interview module. Again, feel free to ask any questions about the interview process you may have and we can try and figure it out together.

Questions and discussion points we will be addressing this week are:
-Discuss the results of your interview practice.
-Discuss the best way to answer some of the standard and non-standard interview questions.
-How do you deal with a phone interview and panel interviews?
-When is the time to talk about salary?

Cover Letters and Resumes

Hi everyone. Hope you have had a wonderful spring break. Those breaks sure do fly bye. I spent the past week in Chicago doing some missions work; it was quite an adventure as we drove up there, but it was a wonderful time.

This week’s topic we are going to look at cover letters and resumes. Cover letters and resumes are so important to understand as students seeking employment. I had a recent experience where I forgot to bring a cover letter and resume to a job interview; needless to say I didn’t get the job. It’s important to clarify the purpose of cover letters and resumes now, so when we start using them with employers we are able to describe well what we as individuals can bring to the table.

Answer the following questions:
What are some ways your resume can highlight your interdisciplinarity?
What are some questions about cover letters you’ve had?
What are some questions about resumes that you’ve had or do you have any advice to share?
Share a cover letter you have created, and share any resources you’ve found about resumes or cover letters.

Research Skills & Interdisciplinary Problem Solving

Hello Everyone. This is Week 4 and we are focusing on Research Skills & Interdisciplinary Problem Solving. We are all constantly learning either by taking classes or by job experiences. In each of these we can try to excel on our own, but lets face it. Planning and research is the key. We need some outlet to get creative and our minds thinking. It’s a skill that teachers have been drilling into us our whole lives because it’s so valuable. We use all sorts of research skills in order to complete work goals and course research assignments.

Answer These and Do This:
• What certain abilities do you find very useful when completing a research project? How can research help you in an employment setting? Also remember to think Interdisciplinary. How might your ability to solve problems from an interdisciplinary perspective be valuable to an employer?

• Create a potential (fictitious but believable) work scenario where your research and problem solving skills as an interdisciplinary thinker might come into play.