To start off, I would like to share my motivation for taking this module. Well, just some inside info about myself. I play golf=) I think it is a damn challenging activity but that is not what I want to say. Playing golf has allowed me to have interactions with many much older and much more experienced people many of whom have already done their part for society and has retired. And being such a “young” chap relatively, I always end up listening to them talk about their past experiences. There are quite a few things that I manage to take away from them even before this module and I would like to share some of them with you’ll in this blog. Though all of it may not be new but well, no harm sharing them again right? Anyway they are,
1. One MUST learn to ask the right questions
2. To climb up, EQ >IQ is a MUST
3. No use having a good idea if you can’t CONVEY it to others
4. First impression counts… A LOT! But please back it up with substance
Sounds familiar? Of course they do after all the research we have gone through to write our reports and presentations. The things that ES2007S impart us are something that has been proven to be an essential ingredient in order to be successful and this is the very reason why I chose to take this module. I was hoping that after taking this module I can improve on my communicative skills and I am glad to say that I was not disappointed though it might just be a small improvement.
Notice that all aspects of ES2007S cover all these area.
1. Asking the right questions—never ending Q&A sessions, commenting on blog posts of others, peer review etc.
2. EQ>IQ – understanding culture, building interpersonal communication, understanding non verbal communication, effective listening etc
3. No use having a good idea if you can’t CONVEY it to others – Presentation skills, proposal writing skills, peer teaching, etc
4. First impression counts… A LOT! But please back it up with substance – Resume writing, non verbal communication, interview techniques, researching on information (for the latter) etc.
This module is indeed trying it’s very best to squeeze as much information into us as possible not to mention allowing us to have as much practice as possible as well. Saying all that much actually made me guilty because, honestly speaking due to my other commitments I couldn’t put in as much effort as I would have like to. However I did try my best for some of the more immediate needs like resume writing etc. And I am proud to say that my resume now looks so much better than that piece of trash that I wrote a few months back.
Some of the more interesting experience I had was to do the peer teaching using a “show and tell” method and also the in-tray assessment a few day back. For the “show and tell”, I guess all of you’ll have done a straight forward “stand in front of audience” presentation before right? The “show and tell” is a TOTALLY different thing and I think without ample practice, it’ll be very hard to pull it off, which was what happened to me. I realize that is was actually not easy to engage an audience while trying to demonstrate something at the same time. I ended up staring and talking to the computer screen more than trying to speak to the audience. This is something which needed careful planning as well as a lot of team coordination and practice. If you ever have to do such a presentation, please do not belittle it! Do run through it a few times before the actual.
As for the in-tray assessment, it was my first ever experience and I did made an effort. Basically one has to think very quickly on the spot and I think this comes with experience and I would like to thank Ms Lim for giving me this chance to experience what this is like. =)
Well last but not least, I guess this is something that which I find is the most important thing I have learnt during this 1 semester. I think most of you’ll do notice Ms Lim’s extremely keen observation for details, which to me is rather scary. Just to share, during my in-tray assessment debrief, she mentioned that I was the one sitting in the middle of weixi and madhu. Does anyone see anything wrong with this? If not, do take note especially for guys! Since madhu was the only girl, as a gentleman I should have offered her the “centre stage”. Interviewers WILL notice and note this as a lack of people skills!! WOW! That really slapped me. All I can say is… Ms Lim, Thank you. Your attention to detail REALLY awakened me. I will bring that away with me when I step into the work force!
Oh one more thing, this module should be barred from year 4 final sem students doing their FYPs unless they have only 1 module to clear because the load is too much! (if you have 4 mods like me please stay clear!) And I would recommend anyone to be at most 2 sems away from graduating to take this module if not that person would just find this course a hassle and rather pointless as they would not be able to fully appreciate it =)
Just a personal thought.
Thank you for reading!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
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Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteYes, I do agree with you that we have learnt a lot from this module! There were also a lot of moments where we were "put in a spot" but in a good sense of course, as it better helped us in being less fearful of public speaking and presentation.
I definitely enjoyed having you as a classmate. Keep in touch and lets look forward to a gathering in June! =)
Cheers,
Bryan
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your reminder about the four things we're to always keep in mind. And Yes! I do agree very much that Ms Lim has a very keen eye for details. One thing I remembered her commenting about during one of our mock interviews was that one of us had fingerprint marks on his/her spectacles. I was frankly impressed by that! That is one of the last things I will notice and to me it was nothing "glaring" =p But of course it may reflect to some extent something about the individual to any interviewer who has an equally keen eye as Ms Lim.
About barring year 4 final semester students, especially those of us (yes, including me apparently taking 5 including FYP), to some extent I think you have a point. It's definitely one module with a heavy workload which I believe Ms Lim warned us from the beginning. However, by then, I was thinking, "isn't it too late to inform me only now when I've already planned and scheduled all my other modules?" But then again, it has been an extremely useful module, especially for us who are graduating because we can almost immediately apply lessons we've learnt during the module. So perhaps instead of "barring" it, they could "warn" students in advance that the workload will be heavy. But...hmm who will take it then huh? Perhaps those who genuinely want to improve their communication skills.
Thank you once again for your interesting sharing. See you around and all the best in finding a job (:
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your very interesting last blog post. I especially like the 'four ingredients to success' you shared.
I understand that the assignments for this module were on-going, and as such, can be trying. If students were *not* consistent with their work, the accumulating tasks can indeed be daunting.
As for yourself, I must say I appreciate the work and effort you put in for this module, and that even with such a busy semester, you'd done well. For instance, your timely upload of interesting blog posts (I noticed you are always one of the firsts to upload blog posts, 'waaaaaay' ahead of schedule) is very good indication that you possess excellent time management skills - am I correct? It is not difficult to deduce then that you probably managed your four modules this semester well?
ES2007S has a number of components making it more ‘assignments heavy’; other modules may be demanding with long, weary reading lists – there are pros and cons to each. I appreciate your frank feedback, and will share this with the module team.
My keen observation? Scary? I trust you mean it in a good way, ha ha ha. Well, I'd learnt that from my many years of (working) experience. More often than not, people whom you interact with don't tell you minor details like these, you find out by paying a price (and not in a good way too). Being in a classroom setting, and learning about interpersonal-, intercultural-communication, and writing with the 7Cs, I feel that it will be good to highlight the importance of *attention to details* whenever the opportunity arose.
I’m delighted to have you in my class this semester, Alex, and am appreciative of the effort you’d put in for all your assignments. All the best to your future endeavours, and keep in touch!
Ms. Lim
[Aside to Jia Lin, you do make a good point =)
Just to clarify the rationale behind the ‘warnings’: the 'warning' at the beginning was a must as I wanted students to come into the module ready for the challenges, and if they are not, to caution them while they can still drop the module; the 'warning' at the second half was given to mentally prepare all of you for the time crunch ahead, subtly reminding all of you to plan and organise your time well, i.e. that time management IS important =>]
Hey Alex,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the opportunity to work together on our peer teaching section. Haha it was quite fun getting to know you Weixi and Jialin a bit more too. Treasure the commaraderie we shared as yr4 engineers.
I like your sharing about the 4 ingredients we need to have to succeed, it never hurts to get some good advice from people who've gone through most of life already haha. Hope you make it to your dream job or something as close to it as possible! All the best =)
Cheers
Ben
Hello Mr Alex!
ReplyDeleteFirstly, it has been tremendously fun working with you this semester. Your sense of humour really does liven up the class.
I like the summary of the module that you have done - especially #4. There is no point in trying to portray an image that is not sincere to your opinions and feelings as it is bound to come out eventually. This is particularly true in an interview setting. Also, the thing about not giving the lady the middle seat during the in-tray assessment didn't even occur to me. And I'm a woman! I wonder, should a guy be given the same treatment if he were to be the only male in the group? =P (ok I know the answer to that one...)
To end off, let me say congratulations on graduation and good luck with the job search. I'm sure you'll do fantastically!
Regards,
Jay
Hi,
ReplyDeleteLooking back at the whole module, I recalled being paired with you for the very first activity. The Island game. We were sitting at the back of the class and hence didn’t have much of a choice when comes to choosing the ‘job’. Well, we ended up as the belly dancer. Initially, I wasn’t really comfortable as I wasn’t sure what I was expected to do. How much to open up. I guessed I am too used to working with people that I already know. Thank god you were very friendly and that makes me slightly less uncomfortable.
For the presentation, I had this idea that we will just have to walk up and crap our way through. Not too difficult I thought. I ended up just saying some pretty lame stuff and wanted to get back to the seats fast. However though we are both presenting on the same job, the way you presented is so funny and interesting. I really admire the way you did it. I realized that, that’s something I got to learn.
I believe that many of us enjoyed having you around class. Great to have you around as a classmate, really learned a lot from you. Thanks.
xoxo,
Student A
WOW! Thanks for all the comments, I'm really glad the 4 point made some sense HAHA =) Yup really thank you'll and all the rest of the classmate for all the feedback throughout the semester. It really did made me know myself a bit more in both good and bad way. There are so much more to learn about communication and to really get a full grasp for it is really something that only practice will help.
ReplyDeleteTo our "student A" haha.. Yup it was a great experience working with you as well. Funny that you mentioned this but if you had the chance to look at this blog again, just something that i can share with you as well through my little experience with presentation.
When you are on the losing end, do something DIFFERENT! make sure you stand out more than the others. At least give yourself a 50% chance. Actually at that time we both know that belly dancing is a WTH idea, so i was thinking we need to be different. When you present bold or different ideas, it's either you impress or you fail. But since you are already on the losing end might as well give it a shot. Right? i think this can be applied to interviews and many other scenario as well. When you feel that the interview is going no where and you think your chances are slim, then i think it's time for you to do something different. Try challenging the interview, ask many questions about the job scope, if he is your direct supervisor, start a conversation with him ask him how he is like etc... seriously i think there is no harm in doing so since you are already on the losing end =) well just my side of the story for you to consider... take care!!