ALES 204: A reflection.

     I can't say as I was too impressed when I learned about all the social media networking we had to do for ALES 204 class. Since I can remember, I have wanted to stay away from the social network bandwagons as best I could. All I had coming into the class was a Facebook account, and personal and school email accounts. Nothing more for me, and I was alright with this. I wasn't missing anything, I told myself, besides people Tweeting about the grilled cheese sandwich they ate five minutes ago. Surely all of these sites and networks were counterproductive to what I was trying to accomplish in school, and they would merely be a distraction to me if I signed up.
     Then, through ALES, I was sucked in. At first it was because I was forced to be, I'm a pre-vet student and need to keep my grades up! After a while, however, I realized I was checking my Twitter  homepage when I wasn't in class! And I started following some very interesting people in my field and in areas of interest. I could hardly keep off the site, it became like my second Facebook. I soon realized how many of my friends were actually on Twitter and I became hooked. I really enjoy what most of them have to say, and the interesting things celebrities and scientists have to talk about! And Twitter wasn't the end of it. I made this blog, something I never thought I would enjoy. But it reminds me a lot of when I wrote in my diary as a kid, so I have really warmed up to the idea of blogging. There are others too, like Delicious and LinkedIn, among others, and I had the opportunity to try them all! I even struck out into the internet on my own, and found a new great site that I frequent on a daily basis, Reddit!

Innovative Nurse (2012). The Power of Social Media. Retrieved on 11 April 2012 from URL http://innovativenurse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/section_social_media_marketing.png

     Of course, the class wasn't all fun and games like I'm making it sound! We learned a lot of other really useful things as well to make us better communicators. For example, I learned how to make a professional CV, something I had no idea how to do. This will no doubt come in handy in my near future as I begin to apply for academic jobs. I also learned how to use Facebook professionally, I didn't even know there was that option! There were countless other things too, like learning how to interview, learning how to write professional emails, and communicating with people in your field for jobs, ideas and collaborations. Who knew all of these doors would open for me in terms of communication, I feel so connected now! 

     Social media is definitely taking the world by storm. Everyone I know has some sort of involvement in it, and I certainly am way more involved than I used to be. As for the title of the blog itself, I don't think I hate technology as much now that I know what it can do for me! It seems I am really able to further myself as a professional using these online sources, so I can't even say that they're a waste of time anymore. A friend of mine taking the class had some similar feelings after taking the course, here's a link to her awesome Blog post! I love what she had to say about how social media can spread ideas, like Kony 2012, around the world so quickly. Of course there were many others in the class that wrote some very insightful things throughout the term. Here are a few I have commented upon, that I really enjoyed reading! 

The Bacon Enthusiast

Becky Bohlender

Elyse's Blog

Annie ALES204

Adventures of an Aspiring Vet

Finals are upon us, so I am signing out for now! I'm sure I will be back to post more in the near future. Thanks for following me on my social media journey!

Interviewing: It's an art.

     In class we talked quite a bit about interviewing and being interviewed, and to be honest, I had no idea there was so much to it! It makes a lot of sense now that I think about it though, there are many aspects that make an interview easy to understand or plain old hard to watch. I got many of these ideas from this wonderful slideshow presented in class, it was extremely helpful and thought-provoking.
     We will start with the interviewer. Clear pronunciation and a pleasant tone and pitch are very important as far as surface features go. This, I believe, is mostly for the audience, as it must be easy and enjoyable for them to listen to, but as well, the interviewee must be able to fully comprehend the questions so they can answer them as best they can. We have all watched obnoxious interviews where the interviewer has chosen a loud location and both must yell over the noise, and these are simply hard to understand and not pleasant on the ears of viewers. As for the questions themselves, I never really thought about how much thought has to go into them. They should be well researched, first of all. If you are interviewing someone, you should make sure that you know a bit about them so you can ask interesting and, more importantly, relevant questions. They should be open ended, as well. Simple yes/no answers are boring and don't provide any extra interesting information, and usually don't add much to the interview. And finally, I think this is the most important point, the interview should sound candid and not scripted and rehearsed. The interviewer must ask questions based on the previous responses

Financial Post (2012). Retrieved April 8, 2012 from URL http://financialpostbusiness.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/1229interview.jpg?w=620

     Many of the same surface features apply to the interviewee as well. A pleasant tone and good volume are ideal if they wish their responses to be understandable to viewers. Often interviewees can use a public interview to sell themselves to viewers, and promote some of their work. This is great, but it gets terribly annoying when all they do is talk about their upcoming work and never answer any other questions. Interviews aren't usually meant to be one big advertisement, the interviewee has to entertain the viewers as well. They should also prepare for the interview so they are not caught off guard by questions. Interviewees can think about the likely questions that are going to be asked, and prepare suitable answers for them in advance.

     Even though I have never considered a career where public or media interviews would be commonplace, this information is great for interviews to get into school or for jobs. Many of the same features and tricks apply. I think the most important tip I took away from this is be prepared! Always come up with questions or answers ahead of time so you are not a deer in the headlights during interview time. And in case you're still interested, I found some more handy tips for anyone preparing to give a media interview!