Evaluation of the semester

A little thought, a eye-opener: 

I remember the first time I walked into the cold seminar room, all cocky and confident. I thought I knew quite a lot about communications so at least I was a step ahead of the rest of the class. But after the two first minutes, the cockiness slapped me in the face. The other students in the class were so brilliant, the way they think and express themselves in English was ten times better then me. I had a lot to learn from them, from the class and from the environment…

The most amazing group of people, tutorial group # 7

With a huge workload in this class, from blog posting, peer-teaching, interactions, readings and so on, and other classes that demand a lot from me it made me freak out at the beginning. But with a good group of people and a lot of interesting discussions in the class the time flew by. It was the best module I ever had, and one where I learned so much. English is my third language and this module improved my oral and written communication skills. People around me have seen my improvement, I have become more professional in the way I present myself. From the first day to the last I could recognize my own improvements, even if the last presentation was weak. I know I could have done better and for sure can do so in the future. On top of everything even my time managing skills have improved and I’m more structured now.

It is because of one thing I really want to give all honor to this class, the cover letter and resume part. I applied for a job where they demanded that you are in school for your master’s degree and that you study business. This is because it’s inside business development in one of the biggest companies in Scandinavia. I am currently in school for my bachelor’s degree and I am studying sociology and political science. Before my presentation they told me that I did not suit the job because I was not a master degree student. The day after I got a new email saying that they had opened a new position because of my cover letter and resume. I did not expect that at all. My cover letter and resume! I can only acknowledge this class for this, it really showed me how to present myself in a proper way, in any aspect of the professional life. The class helped me develop myself to become a more professional speaker and writer.

It made me realize that professional communication is so much more then I thought and it is so useful to have it in ones background. 

As a conclution to the progress through the year I can say that I reached my goal but still I have a long way to go until I can call my self a professional communicator! 

# 5: Final presentation - A lesson for life

Nervousness, bad day, huge, human being, lesson to learn

There I was standing, trying to imagine that it was ODE and Science Club members sitting in front of me. The sweat was dripping down my face...what was going on?? I have never been nervous for a presentation in my life, but there I was. I forgot every word, forgot what I was supposed to talk about. Ehm.. was the only thing that came out of my mouth. The "ehm" that I find so annoying when people present. It was coming out of my mouth this time..

No, I had to pull myself together and just do it. Like usual. What I am known for. If I don’t know the stuff, I just improvise. But I knew this stuff so well. 

It all started this morning when I was turned down for an internship back home. It ruined my entire day, it was all I could think about. My dream internship went down the drain and so did my presentation.

Ehhm.. 

I finished the presentation faster then anyone could turn around, half of the stuff I wanted to say I forgot. I shouldn’t let myself be influenced by anything, I shouldn’t have read the mail. But what’s done is done, and looking on the bright side it was a lesson. Next time I know that no matter what happens I need to relax and not think about it.

When the question round started my brain turned on again and I could easily answer the questions without any problems. I just wish my brain turned on a little bit earlier…

Blog # 4: Always a tourist!

"What is culture? To know what is important and to know what is important to know"

What we consider normal might been seen as a taboo in another country, therefor always make a good research on the culture you are traveling to.

She was instantly distinguished as a tourist. It wasn’t because of her “white” skin or her strange green striped top that made her stand out; it was because she was eating with her left hand…

Before coming to Singapore for exchange, my two best friends and I spent five days in Delhi, India. Apart from Bollywood movies, I had never really experienced Indian culture. We were confused in the narrow bazaars of Old Delhi and lost ourselves. It was like wandering somewhere medieval. We visited the former home of Indira Gandhi and learned about India’s most powerful dynasties and so on. We did not face any problems until we went to Dilli-ki-Chaat. It is in Old Delhi where you can eat amazing local street food.

We felt we should try to blend in as much as possible, by eating local food with our hands. We heard it was one of the best places to eat delicious Indian food, and boy it was amazing! We started chatting with one of the owners while we were eating, he was telling us about Delhi´s history and India´s history in general. It was crowded, there were a lot of smells in the air, people yelling, dancing and singing everywhere around us. Coming from a small and quiet country as Norway, we were really feeling like we made a good choice in our travel destination.

Abruptly, we saw people staring at us. My friend asked me quietly “is there something on my face?” I replied sarcastic; “only your nose”. Suddenly the owner shouted “no, no, no, no, no”. We looked weird at him and he started laughing. He knew that we didn’t read well up on Indian culture and told us what people are looking at. My friend, who is left-handed, was eating with her left hand. In India, eating with your left hand is a taboo because you wash your self with your left-hand.

Mari turned red and tried to switch over to her right-hand, but it was already done, it was already too late, and now, she will forever be a tourist in Delhi. 

                                                        

My cover letter

Name: Sumea Mujnovic

Address: ........

Phone number: ........

Email: ......

Singapore, 09^th of December 2012

…

….

…..

Dear, Sir

RE: CHQ-0489480

I am sending my resume in application for the position of HR Generalist at IBM Romania, as advertised on the IBMs website.

 I am a self-motivated, efficient and diplomatic human resourcer with two years of volunteer experience in the industry and I believe my strengths and skills make me a perfect fit for this position.

In my currently working on my bachelors degree in Sociology and I have worked in AIESEC, a student run organization for a year. Where I have experience as a Project Manager Incoming Exchange Non-corporate and Vice President for Incoming Exchange Non-corporate. One huge part of the job was my commitment to staff relations by taking the time to listen to complaints and deal with issues, resulting in a 80 per cent reduction in personal leave in my department. I was also working with requirement of new qualified members. I am highly conceptualized, having maintained efficiency and even accepted an extra half workload on top of my own duties.

Earlier this year I coordinated an evaluation of personnel management practices and reviewed all job descriptions against actual work being done. This resulted in employees reacting favorably to having their voices heard, and to HR offering a more supportive workplace.

I received many high distinctions in my studies in sociology since it gives me a new perspective on how to look at other people and the society we are living in, and combined with AIESEC it has given me Workplace Training. I developed a greater understanding of how Human Resource departments works, developed outstanding interpersonal and communicational skills and made me more structured and organized to reach my goals. 

I would like the opportunity to meet and discuss how I can contribute to the productivity and effectiveness of your business. Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Sumea Mujnovic


Feel free to tell me if I should have done something differently!