LinkedIn Profile
LinkedIn is a powerful and easy-to-use tool to build professional connections. Although I created my LinkedIn account a couple of years ago, I have not been updating the profile page regularly or engaging in the LinkedIn community actively. Compiling the tips for effective use of LinkedIn was a great starting point to re-create my profile. I constantly referred back to the best practices and made sure my profile was specific, clear, and directed to the target audience – the geospatial professionals. I particularly benefited from the tip of adding media and work samples to increase my credibility. I discovered the web portfolios and maps are often included in the profiles of geospatial professionals; hence, I attached some of my projects as well to align with this common practice in the industry. While compiling my profile, I also applied the skill of writing accomplishment statements I learned in co-op training. Accomplishment statements describe the duties and tasks completed in a position while highlighting an accomplishment or a skill I developed. As a LinkedIn profile is different from a resume in that it is viewable by everyone instead of a particular employer, accomplishment statements are crucial to providing a full picture of my skills and differentiating me from other potential competitors.
Preparation for the Formal Report
The most challenging portion of proposal writing was to decide on a research topic. I initially wrote a proposal related to workplace inefficiency and information management. Unfortunately, I ran into the problem of confidentiality, which led me to seek out another topic that was equally intriguing and relevant to my experience.
Thanks to a series of step-by-step tasks leading up to the completion of a Formal Report, I am on track of my anticipated report-writing timeline and I feel prepared to commence the investigation. I appreciate how the Formal Report assignment is broken down into smaller and more manageable pieces; it is less overwhelming to tackle these small tasks than the report as a whole. I was also able to gain experience writing a formal proposal, outline and progress report through this process. My main concern regarding the Formal Report is the potential of having a small sample size for primary data collection, which yields the question of, what should I do if I do not have enough responses? Despite my continuous effort to reach out to groups, not all of them are willing and able to participate in the survey and interview. However, I believe the process of reaching out is also a part of my investigation, and should be captured and documented in the report.
Peer Review I reviewed Andree’s project proposal on recycling utensils at the UBC International Village food court. Her proposal was professional-looking and concise – something I hoped to achieve in my own writing. Through the peer reviewing process, I got a chance to compare my writing with others, recognize my weaknesses and make changes accordingly. In particular, I learned to use a mix of sentence structures and vocabulary in my revised proposal to add variety and keep readers interested. Furthermore, I learn to read carefully with attention to the details as I review other’s work.
Overall speaking, peer reviewing helps me to put myself in the readers’ shoes when I write. Instead of writing in ways that I could understand, I learn to strengthen my writing by anticipating the responses of actual and prospective readers. I also learn to formulate and communicate constructive feedback on my peer’s work.
Revised project proposal: 301 Emily Leung Project Proposal _ Revised
Link to peer review: https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-99a-2019wa/2019/10/16/peer-review-formal-report-proposal-emily-leung/