Week 7 - Beginning the Job Search

Job # 1

Company: Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service

Job Title: Information Technology Specialist (Customer Support)

http://jobview.usajobs.gov/GetJob.aspx?OPMControl=2212047&caller=ftva.asp

Job # 2

Company: Deaconess Home Care

Job Title: PC-LAN Analyst

http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?IPath=JRGCM0E&ff=21&APath=2.21.0.0.0&job_did=J8E3HY6WGX1NMXJ3G5V

Job # 3

Company: Capitol Staffing, Inc.

Job Title: IT Manager

http://information-technology.jobs.net/j/it-manager_J8C1C66TDG55Q4BX69H.aspx

Job #4

Company: Landers Auto Group Memphis

Job Title: Information Technology Assistant

http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?IPath=JRGCM0U&ff=21&APath=2.21.0.0.0&job_did=J8B4R978ZG4KT4JBYTY

Desired skills, that are the same or similar between all four companies:

1.       All four jobs require a degree in Information Technology or closely related field. Three out of the four specify that it must be a four year degree or higher

2.       All four of the jobs require the applicant to have some experience in Information Technology or related field. The level of experience required ranges from no specific time frame, to a minimum of 4 years.

3.       Though worded differently all of the jobs place an emphasis on customer service / communication skills. I.E.

a.       Customer Service - Works with clients and customers (that is, any individuals who use or receive the services or products that your work unit produces, including the general public, individuals who work in the agency, other agencies, or organizations outside the Government) to assess their needs, provide information or assistance, resolve their problems, or satisfy their expectations; knows about available products and services; is committed to providing quality products and services.

b.      Oral Communication - Expresses information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); makes clear and convincing oral presentations; listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately.

4.       Then of course, Being that all of the jobs are Information Technology related they have many similar technical skill set requirements such as

a.       Installs and identifies computer hardware, software, and network problems and develops solutions in conjunction with users, vendors, and other IT Community personnel.

I currently have my Associates degree in Computer Networking Technology. It’s closely related to the four year degree in Information technology that I am currently working on. The full label of the degree that I’m working on now is Information Technology – Local Area Networking focus. When I graduate from USM I will have the higher education jobs requirement met. Another great thing about a degree in Information Technology is that it’s very flexible as far as a requirement for a job in technology. It could be sufficient to get a job as a Network Administrator, Systems Administrator, Information Technology Specialist, and many other related professions.

With my current job as an Information Technology Specialist at Chain Electric Company, I have right about three years of work experience in my field. Next may when I graduate I will hopefully then be at four years of experience therefore meeting that particular requirement for many of the jobs I apply for. My experience is very important to how I present myself and how a potential employer judges me. I believe it gives me a great initial advantage as opposed to many of the students that just went to school and weren’t gaining valuable experience in this profession while they were doing so.

My customer service and communication skills are something that I pride myself on. Every job that I’ve had required me to be in constant contact with customers, clients, as co-workers. In my opinion I’ve become skilled at communicating with people in almost every aspect of my jobs. I’ve learned how to write professional and proposal emails to supervisors or the companies CFO. I’ve learned how to explain problems and help clients without drowning them in technical language or making them feel like the problem is their fault. This is also a skill that I usually hope to demonstrate during the interview process at first by being well spoken and polite and then later with some technical knowledge.

This is kind of tough because I actually really like both the first and the second jobs. The first job seems like it would be something I could enjoy and not be immediately overwhelmed with. It also appears to be a government job judging from the GS job scale. Government jobs tend to have great benefits and opportunities to advance and those are two very important aspects of my future career that I want to make sure of before making a final choice.

Week 6 - Improving Professional Correspondence

To: T. Leoni, Manager, Personnel Department 
From: Donald Pryzblo, Manager, Data Processing Department 
Subject: Incorrect Payroll Checks 
               
Mr. Leoni,


I have been reviewing the  previously discussed errors in the computer files.


After further investigating the errors, I have the necessary documents to show that they did not originate from the source you may have previously suspected. It seems the majority of the errors were made by your clerks. I can show you the documents necessary to prove that the majority of the errors did not originate from my people. It would seem that upon receipt of the time tickets by my people, previous errors had already been made.


You and I discussed requiring my computer operators to perform the very time-consuming task of comparing their entries against the time sheets from which your clerks are miscopying.


This is a very labor intensive task and I feel it is unnecessary. All of our resources are being used at the moment, but if we can arrange a meeting I can show you the documents which note the source of the errors and we can avoid the hassle of putting in the work to compare the entries when, as I said before, I feel it is without a doubt not necessary.


After our meeting I believe you will feel confident that the source of the errors lie with your clerks and I can help you decide how best to handle the situation.


I recommend that you tell your clerks to review their work carefully before giving it to the computer operators.


Thank you for your time sir
Donald Pryzblo, Manager, Data Processing Department


Summary of changes:

The first change I made to the email was the subject line. In my opinion it is not very professional to write the subject in all capital letters as it was previously. It can also set the wrong tone before the recipient even begins to read the email.

It is important to address the recipient in the beginning of the email so I added a salutation with his name in the beginning.

I removed the quotes from "errors" as again it may give off the wrong impression or imply that you're purposely being sarcastic.

I completely reworded the body to have less of an angry inflection or an email meant to place blame and more of a let me explain the reasons and give you proof of the errors source so we can get the problem taken care of feel.

I added a professional closing and signature.

In closing I feel that my edited version of the email will be much more effective in aiding the recipient to see my point of view. The original email was quite hostile and you could tell the preparer was probably frustrated or angry. Allowing your personal feelings to take control of you in a professional situation like the above is never a good idea. I made the email more professional in general and removed the blame placing angry feel. I'm quite sure the revised email will achieve the desired results.