Ashley Siefker’s English 207 Blog

      Today is out final blog.  Spend some time reflecting on the blogs throughout the semester.  Do you think they were a useful writing space? Would you like to use them in other classes in the future? Would you like to use them more personally? How have they helped you see writing differently?

       I didn’t mind the blogs but sometimes I felt like they were more ‘busy work’.  I say this because some of the blogs prompts were basically the same.  When this happened I felt like I was doing the something I already did.  I do however like to use them for the portfolio.  It saves paper and you don’t have to worry about going somewhere to hand it in.  It would depend on the class to know if I would like to use them again or not…but honestly, probably not.  I don’t think that I will use them for personal use.  I don’t always have time to blog and the people who would read it would probably be people I already know and if I want them to know something I can just call or text them.  Some of the time the prompts did help to get ideas for projects and where to go from where I was.

1.  Is the layout OK?

2.  What info is missing?

3.  Objective specific enough?

4.  How many work experiences should I provide since it’s online?

5.  Should I use the ‘summary’ option in place of my cover letter?

Your final project in this class asks you to either re-see or re-imagine a particular literacy/skill or you re-see the presentation of your resume. Aside from fulfilling an assignment, what value do see in such an activity? In other words, if you’re focusing on exploring re-seeing your literacy, why do you think there is value in demonstrating your literacy and then reflecting on it? If you’re re-seeing/re-presenting your resume and reflecting, where is the value in the method you chose to re-present your resume?

       This assignment asks us to spend time thinking about a specific type of literacy and how it effects us and how it may be used in our futures.  It also asks us to consider the rhetorical choices we make in presenting our projects, to reflect on the role literacy plays in our current and/or future professional life, and to explore the role literacy plays in our lives.  I am re-presenting my resume through the VirtualCV website that was shown in class and I think that it is important because it is another way to show employers your skills in action, and it also can save some paper. 

1. Are you going to use the resume that you created for class or a modified version?  Why?  (remember, if you wrote your resume as though you had completed your course-work at BGSU you must change your resume)

I am going to use the resume I updated for class because it is current and I am sending it in next week for consideration from Heidelberg Distributing Company.  I just simply put ‘diploma August 2009’ in this resume.  that should indicate that I am about to graduate soon.

2. How will you re-present your resume (i.e., Power Point, video, audio, web page, etc)?  Why did you select this format over the others?

I am going to use the VisualCV that was shown today in class.  It is a good way to represent yourself in a creative way that I have never seen before…and I’m not gonna lie…I don’t like doing videos.

3. What information (specifically) will  you include in your project?  Why?

Th information that I am including is everything in my resume.  It is all relevant and it should all be included.  Maybe not having to keep it to one page will give me some room to add things if they will improve the quality of the resume.

4. If you are doing a visual presentation (website, video, PowerPoint, etc), use an additional sheet of paper to sketch out what you want the project to look like.  If you are doing an audio project (or a video) spend some time outlining what you want to say.

I will probably use a format from the website.  I just like things too be easy to find, clean, and to the point…nothing fancy.

5. How will this re-presentation demonstrate your literacies? 

This will definitely show off my computer skills, organizational skills, and written communication skills.  Instead of having something on paper it is a fresh and less boring way to show skills to potential employers. 

6. What questions do you have about creating this presentation?

I don’t know of any questions yet because I haven’t looked at the VisualCV website thoroughly yet.

7.  Create a chronological list of the steps you will need to take to complete this project.  Then, set a time-line of when each step will be completed.  This will be a tentative contract between you and me to assure you’re making progress on this project. 

Sign up at the website, create visual resume using information form paper resume, personalize the resume at the website, make sure all information is present, edit/revise, hand in, and share online.

We have spent a lot of time this semester talking about literacy and learning how this concept is much more complicated than we may have initially thought.  Spend some time today reflecting about how your view of literacy is and has changed in this class. 

      I think, for me, the thing that has change my view of literacy the most is the wide range in which literacies are used.  Many, many things we do included our personal literacies and as literate people we need to realize that.  We also need to realize that these skills need to be sharpened and refined because we will use them in the future and when it does come time for that we don’t want to look like we don’t know what we are doing to the people who are viewing our work.

1.   I want to include an overview of the assignment, the strengths of the assignment, what I learnt with the assignment, and why we did the assignment.

2.   First I want the reader to see the overview of the assignment because without it they will not know what the assignment is about and my work won’t have the same context as before.

3.   I want my pages to look organized and easy to read and include all required information.  It it’s confusing to navigate through then the reader will not want to read it.  I also want the pages to be visually appealing.  Keeping the attention of the reader is also very important. 

4.  I would rather introduce myself more traditionally with words…I hate being in front of a camera like that and I would feel more comfortable with typing something out.

After reading through the feedback provided from peer review and after reading some of your classmate’s resumes and cover letters, what specific steps are you going to make towards revision?  Consider both the direct feedback you received and also the feedback that you gave your classmates. 

In revision I need to add more of my skills and relevant experience for the position.  I got pretty consistent feedback on that so I think it’s safe to say that this needs worked on.  I also need to add the company name and be more specific why I want to work there.  I thought that that it was pretty good, but I am glad to have this feedback because I do intend on actually applying for this job.

Before you leave class today: As a new blog post, reflect on the problems you are having with the resume or the cover letter.  What, specifically, do you still need to do? How are you going to accomplish that?

I think the only thing I’m having trouble doing is making sure everything is included.  There is a lot of information to get into a small document.  I have everything done I just need to correct and add things after peer review.

Look at your job ad.  What seems important to the ad? Why is it important? How do you meet or how will you address those important issues?  

• What does the company do?

      We are a family-owned distributing company in the business of marketing and delivering the highest-quality beer, wine, spirits and other beverages to more than 20,000 retail establishments throughout Ohio and Kentucky.

• What are the desired qualifications and skills?

      Bachelors degree, must be willing to live in Findlay/Lima area, self motivated, organized, competitive, clean driving record. Prior knowledge of beer/wine industry is a plus but not required.

• What does the company seem to value?

      Teamwork, Communication, Excellence, Integrity, Pride, Knowledge, Family, and Respect.

• What are key words that are included on their website (or in their ad) that you should include?

      Teamwork, Communication, Excellence, Integrity, Pride, Knowledge, Family, and Respect.

Tell me what your understanding of resumes are, based only on your experiences.  What should they include? What is their goal? How do you write one? Where have you talked about them before? etc.

       The purpose of a resume is to tell potential employers what your experiences are and what extra curricular activities you are involved in.  They should include your name, contact information (address and phone number), educational background (where, contact information, and graduation dates), past work experience (dates worked, contact information, and a contact), and volunteer experiences.