blog assignment #5

            My career goals are to work for a botanic garden, plant nursery, or a nature center. I want to work somewhere with plants. The good thing about my career goals is that they are very attainable for me. It is also good because I am willing to travel and that increases my chances to land a job. One job that interests me is at the New York Botanical Garden as a botanical garden aide. A link to this job is http://www.nybg.org/employment/listing.php?id_employment_listings=895. This would be a great experience. Another job that interests me is at the Denver Botanical Gardens. A link to this job is http://www.botanicgardens.org/career/gardener-full-time-part-time. This is for a gardener position. Another job that interests me is actually a summer internship this summer. It is with Highlands Biological Station in Highlands, NC as a botanic garden assistant. The link to this job is http://www.wcu.edu/hbs/HBSPositions.htm. I have actually applied to this job already. I will be finding out soon whether I get this internship. Another internship that I have already applied for is at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont in Tennessee. The link for this is http://www.gsmit.org/jobsCitizenScienceIntern.html. This internship is for a citizen science internship. Another job I would be interested in is at the Chicago Botanic Garden as a Horticulture intern. The link is http://www.chicagobotanic.org/internship/hort1.php. In all of these jobs, they require to have experience working with plants and horticulture. They also require that I be in school or have already graduated.

            I have my Associates Degree in Horticulture. I do have experience in working with plants. I also am currently working for the Biology department here on campus in the Teaching Garden and in the greenhouse. I have had experience with other jobs in landscaping. So as far as experience I do have experience. I also have the education to back up my experience. Not only do I have my associate’s in horticulture, but I am about to finish my B.S. in Environmental Biology. I have chosen all my elective classes studying plants, such as Botany, Plant Ecology, and Plant Systematics. I feel I qualify for all that is required of me in these jobs.

            If I had to choose one of the jobs I would want to apply for or get, it would be the one in Highlands, NC at the Highlands Biological Station as a botanic garden assistant over the summer. I have actually already applied for this internship, and I have an interview on March 4^th which is next week. I want this job very badly. The reason I want this internship is because it is going to be great experience and a great opportunity to learn more about my field. Not to mention it is located within the Blue Ridge Mountains. I am hoping to move to the area once I graduate in December. Because it is a Biological Station, there are many different areas other than just botany. My job would entitle working in the botanic garden, but there could be possibilities of learning other topics. Getting this internship would give me the hands on experience that I am looking for and I believe this would look fantastic on my resume for my future career aspirations.

            If I had the opportunity to redo the resume that I had sent to this job, I would definitely have changed a lot of things. I would have redone my cover letter for sure. In my cover letter, I would have really expressed my enthusiasm more so than what I did. I would have tried to express how excited and how much I really wanted this opportunity. I would have also wrote about my personality more. Not just a repeat of what my resume stated. Just a few weeks ago, I had to turn my resume for my senior capstone class. If I could turn back the hands of time, I would have used the resume I turned in as my resume for this internship. I would have also reorganized my actual resume better. Organization needed to be improved in my education and experience section. However, what’s done is done in terms of this job. I just can only hope now. But now I know how to write one for the future.

blog assignment #4

If I had actually received an email like this I would have been upset. This was a very harsh email. Regardless if it was not Mr. Pyrzblo’s departments fault, he did not have to be so rude in his response. In revising this email the first thing I would do is not put the subject in all caps. The subject itself is screaming. “Incorrect payroll checks” sounds much better than “INCORRECT PAYROLL CHECKS”. The first sentence really sets the tone of the whole email. When he used the quotations around errors, he seemed to be very sarcastic. I feel this could have been left out. Instead he could have stated the first sentence like this: I have been analyzing the errors concerning the payroll checks in the computer files. This sounds very neutral and does not seem to lash out. In the first paragraph he pretty much does not hold back from saying that it is the other person’s fault. I think it would have been better if would have used different language to get his point across. He used the word “insinuated” and I feel this was a bad word to use. This comes across that he is completely innocent and that no blame is to be put on him whatsoever. I think he would have been more effective if he would have actually used evidence to make his claim. Simply saying that it is not his fault is not enough. I think he should have phrased it like this: After analyzing the computer files associated with 37 payroll checks, I have found that 35 of the  payroll checks have errors that have been made by the clerks. In this way he would be stating the truth without coming off too brash.

            He also goes into the fact the he does not have time to correct problems made by the clerks. I think he could have worded this better here too. For instance he could have stated: Due to time and money constraints my department is already facing, it is impossible for them to correct all of the errors that are sent to my department. I think this reads better. The last statement he made was not entirely bad. He could have said something to this effect: My department will work thoroughly to review and correct changes they see. However if your department would also be willing to thoroughly review their work before sending it to my department, I believe we would be able to solve the issues at hand. By working together we can overcome these mistakes for the betterment of the company.

            I think it is important when writing it is important to keep your tone in mind. In this email he did not do a good job. Ultimately he was trying to convince the other department that they needed to check their work more carefully. This may be true, but with the attitude that he presents he will not be able to win over anyone. So especially when you are asking something of someone or trying to persuade someone else, having a good tone is important.

Blog Assignment #3

My major is environmental biology. In order for my brochure to be effective, I need to think about my audience. My audience is undecided majors. This encompasses a large diverse culture. So in knowing this, I want my brochure to be enticing to diverse individuals. Most people may not realize all the different kinds of job opportunities for biology majors. Biology covers a very wide range of studies. My brochure needs to highlight the fact that biology is not a narrow job field. I want to create a fun brochure, not dull and boring. Even though biology is a science, I do not think that writing scientifically in a brochure to persuade undecided majors would be very effective. This is because the audience plays such a huge role in how we write. If I were to use scientific language in my brochure, I automatically alienate those readers who do not understand what I am writing. Thus the possibility of persuading those readers decrease.

             One example of a university biology department that seems to want to recruit students is the biology department at Missouri State University. Here is a link to their website: http://biology.missouristate.edu/. The one thing I like that they do here is use a light color. I like this because it creates a light atmosphere. It also uses pictures and images that stand out. This attracts readers more effectively. Another thing I like about this website is the fact that they have a question, “Why study biology at Missouri State?” This is followed by links that individuals can click on to learn more about the program. It appears that Missouri State is concerned about persuading students to their biology program. Now an example of a university that does not seem to effectively try to persuade students is Texas State University. Here is a link to their website: http://www.bio.txstate.edu/. I feel this website is just plain boring to look at. The text is not very enticing at all. The colors seem to not really flow well with one another. Nothing stands out. I do not want my brochure to have this affect.

            In writing my brochure, I want to attract first and foremost. This is going to be done by a couple of things. I want to use font that is a bold, large, and fun for a cover statement. This will grab attention. I also want to use pictures and images. I want my text to be simple and to the point. Since I only have about 10 seconds to grab a reader’s attention, I do not need to incorporate lengthy paragraphs or sentences. I want my audience to be engaged with me. I just want to briefly highlight what all biology students can do as a job in their major and what kinds of skills these jobs require one to have. Time is definitely a limiting factor. I can’t go into much detail of biology simply because of time. This affects what approach I take in writing this brochure. Because of the shortness of time and space, I have to decide the most important things I want readers to know about my major. By looking at the two different web pages I have learned that appearance is so important. I want my content to flow together. I do not want a dull brochure. I want one that is vibrant, fun, and exciting because these are the types of brochures that will persuade individuals more effectively.