Looking Forward to Acceptance

           After two years of studying at Utah State University, I have nearly completed all of my general education requirements as well as my prerequisite coursework for admittance into the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. This spring, I will have completed MIS 2200, the last course on my checklist before acceptance to the school. I recently submitted my application and pending my status in MIS at semester’s end, I will be notified in May in regards to the status of my application. Due to the experiences I had in high school in regards to my involvement with DECA, a national high school marketing club, and the fact that my father also graduated from Utah State with a degree in marketing, I’ve known for quite some time that this was the right path for me.

            High school was a great period of my life. Although I don’t personally believe that the public school system in the Salt Lake valley adequately prepares individuals for the next step of higher education, I do believe that social and life experiences at that stage of a person’s adolescence have an influence on the decisions and career paths that are necessary to choose in college. My involvement with DECA, and enrollment in multiple marketing classes at Alta High School directly influenced my decision when picking a major. Marketing caught my interest very quickly and I learned so much through the leadership conferences and state/national competitions that I attended.

            My father was a graduate from Utah State University. As early as I can remember, my dad always wanted me to attend his alma mater and he constantly dressed me in aggie apparel. He graduated with a degree in marketing and has spent his career traveling and working with individuals across the nation and in other countries selling incentive travel. I’ve always admired my dad’s job and would like to follow closely in his career-footsteps. This fact was yet another reason that I chose to come to Utah State and apply to the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business.

            The month of May will be upon us in a short matter of time. I can only look forward and count down the days until I am contacted with the status of my application. I hope that I will succeed in the school of business and be well on my way to accomplishing my post-graduation goals.

Professional Blogs Made Useful in Job Interviews

A job interview is a high pressure situation. The most prepared interviewee will get the position and the unprepared don’t stand a chance. This is why it’s imperative that you do everything you possibly can to ensure your preparedness for the world of employment. Keeping a professional blog will help you to be as prepared as possible for an interview.

Updating and maintaining a professional blog will keep your mind in check to the recent struggles and accomplishments of your professional career. In a professional interview, you would not struggle to answer a question about your recent performance. A blog listed on your résumé might also give you a leg up for the job. Many employers will not consider an applicant who does not keep a professional blog.

A professional blog would also give you a chance to demonstrate your writing skills to a potential employer. Communication is key in today’s market. A lack of communication and writing skills are a barrier to employment.

Keeping a professional blog will strengthen your interview skills, show employers that you care about your career, demonstrate to employers your writing capabilities, as well as increase the probability that you will be hired.  

Using Current Collaboration Technology and its Application in Group Work

            After researching and creating a presentation on the subject of collaboration technology while working in a group, I have learned of the many benefits that current collaborative technologies can provide to a business. Globalization and business travel have made group-work in a business setting a difficult task due to communication barriers; but some new technologies have been created to solve such problems. For instance, using a program like Google Wave has the potential to strengthen business communication internally as well as externally through its design.

            Internal communication within any business setting can vary greatly in channels and often times becomes confusing. Between the use of emails, memos, phone calls, text messages, and other forms of communicating, internal dialogue can become jumbled and made confusing. A program like Google Wave allows the members of the wave, i.e. (managers and employees), to hold an entire conversation in one central place with a small number of threads. The program allows users to make posts, comments, questions, answers to questions, etc. and it all stays available in hopes of minimizing confusion and keeping the desired goal in mind. Programs like these also help to strengthen external communication through its accessibility. So much business takes place between corporations existing on different continents and in different countries that a technology was needed to communicate effectively while minimizing travel and meeting the demands of different time zones.

            New technology is created almost every day to make networking and organization easier and more effective. While some technologies catch on better than others, the purpose of their creation is parallel. Eliminating the back-and-forthness commonly associated with business communication is an objective that will soon be achieved through advances in technology and the creativity of computer programmers and software engineers.

What can professional blogs do for business?

Professional blogs have become a growing aspect of business in today’s society. With the ever-increasing technologies of the world, businesses have found that blogs are an easy way to communicate with a customer base. Not only have businesses begun to blog for extra representation on the web, but they’ve also begun to look for professional blog-keeping in the resumes of applicants. There are several motives for a company to blog and the uses for a corporate blog are continually increasing.

Keeping a blog for a business is one of the most cost-effective ways to communicate with the target demographic. Many people and businesses in the U.S. use technology and networking sites such as facebook and twitter to communicate ideas and feelings; many of the same people enjoy following others on such sites to gain insight. Through the use and updating of a blog, a business can provide: updated news, announce events, offer specials, give tech support, provide documentation, and list company policies. If the blog is updated enough and written strategically, a company can increase traffic to their blog. Making these things available to the public via a blog could potentially increase your customer base and lessen the workload of your customer service department.

For a business to be functional at its fullest potential in this day and age, they must use as many free resources as possible. We were born into a generation that relies heavily on the internet as a source of information. Whether you are hosting an official website on a server or running a professional blog, using the internet to promote your business is a must.

Sources:      http://blogs.sitepoint.com/2009/04/03/why-a-blog-can-be-good-for-your-business/