Professional Profile (Blog)/Thank You Letter NOTE: Make sure you have read Business Communication: Process and Product Chapters 4 – 6 (example of a blog post can be found in the assignments area) for additional guidance in handling this assignment. Choose Your Interview Subject In order to create an 800 – 1000 word profile (blog) on the professional of your choice, as well as research into his or her company and/or job, you need to reach out to this individual as soon as our course starts and make an appointment to do your interview. See the syllabus calendar for details. If possible, obtain a good digital photo of the individual to include with your profile. You can sometimes get this directly from the company website – but you will need permission to use it. Otherwise, consider taking a digital photo if you have a camera to do so. This assignment includes • Your interview questions & follow-up questions (if any), although these are NOT included in your actual report. You simply prepare them so you can conduct an effective interview. • A 800 – 1000 word Professional Profile that showcases the individual that you interviewed, as well as his or her views on professional life, ethics, teamwork, etc. (75 points). • A formal thank you letter directed to the professional after the interview is completed – (25 points). • Peer Review (per the sheet I have provided in the Assignment 1 area) = 20 points Why conduct a personal interview? Having you interview a professional (of your choice) will facilitate an opportunity for each one of you to meet with an individual who is doing the sort of work you envision for yourself once you have finished your education. The idea is to choose someone doing work you would like to be doing within three to five years of graduation. The interview itself should be no more than 30 minutes long. If you go longer, make sure that you check with the individual that he or she is not pressed for time. The individual professional you interview will likely have a busy schedule. You will want to arrive fully prepared to conduct the interview within the allotted period. You will need to take accurate notes of what the professional says, his or her demeanor, what you notice about his surroundings, etc. You can conduct the interview using a small tape recorder if you like. Other options include submitting the questions ahead of time as a letter or an email and getting written responses back from the interviewee. Whom should you interview? Depending on your area of interest, you could choose a financial planner, an arts manager, a newspaper writer or editor, a research technician, a business analyst, an accountant, a sales representative, a publisher, a high school teacher or a professor as your interview subject. What sort of work do you dream of doing after you finish college? Is there someone in the Phoenix area doing that kind of work? If not, where would you look for them? Brainstorm for ideas about where this professional might be. Ask your friends and your professors. Does anyone in your family know someone doing the sort of work you want to pursue? Preparing for the Interview By creating a set of questions about job responsibilities, typical work day, the types of writing regularly done, and any other pertinent details and facts, you will begin to get a clear idea of what your expectations of that particular job should be. Because we are focused on ethics this semester, one standard question I want everyone to include is: • Do you (or does your business) have a set of guidelines regarding ethical business practices? (If not, why not?) If so, what made you choose them as a foundation? Examples of the sort of questions you might ask are • What about your job is most enjoyable? • What is most challenging? • How much writing do you do in a typical work week? What sort of writing is it? • Why did you choose this profession? • What sort of hours do you work? • Do you travel? • If you had to do it all again, would you make the same choices? • What sort of education or training did you need to obtain your current position? • Do you feel the position allows for a good work/life balance or do you work too much? • Is this profession family-friendly? • Do you consider your current position your “calling” or is it “just a job?” • What advice in terms of school and work experience would you suggest for me? Other things to consider: Do you want to submit your questions in advance to the interviewee? Do you want to create a questionnaire or a pre-interview via email? After you have conducted your interview, transcribe your notes and your interview impressions immediately if at all possible. You want to make sure everything will still be fresh in your mind. Write a personal thank you letter to the professional. This letter should contain a minimum of three short paragraphs. • The opening paragraph contains information reflecting your gratitude for the interviewee’s time and insight. • Paragraph two should detail exactly what has most impacted you from the interview. BE SPECIFIC. • Paragraph three contains another expression of gratitude and contact information that leaves the door open for the interviewee to contact you about possible jobs or internships. I recommend that you workshop (peer review/edit) your thank you letter PRIOR to sending it off to the interviewee. Bad impressions are hard to overcome. If you send a letter that is not perfect in terms of language, name, address and title, it will work against you. This is a letter that is meant to make you stand out amongst the other candidates for a job or internship. Make sure it is PERFECT. A copy of this letter should be included in your assignment packet when you turn it in. See the Assignment 1 area for a student example of a strong thank you letter. Other helpful information on Thank you letters can be found in the textbook (on pages 240-241). Creating a Professional Profile which summarizes the Interview Process Consider asking your interviewee for advice on how to best attain the sort of position they have or if they have a favorite quote that they live by and use to inspire and motivate their success. Once you finish the interview, read your notes and impressions, and then synthesize them into a cohesive, reflective, polished blog post. Readers should get a real ‘sense’ of the professional from your profile. Don’t forget to weave in information about ETHICS. It is a requirement. On the day we turn this work in, I will ask you to complete a metacognitive (reflective journal post). In it, I want you to take time to reflect on what you learned. What most impressed you about the professional? Is the job you are interested in more or less captivating now? What insights did you gain? What surprised you? (The questions are posted with the instructions for your journal.) Please review the sample I’ve posted of profiles I’ve written to get an idea of how you might approach your blog post. Formatting is important, as is clear, clean, concise, insightful and CORRECT writing. Grammatical errors are not acceptable. They will affect your grade. Typos and spelling errors should also be avoided. Please Note: You need to approach the blog posting as one done in warm, professional language that is relatively formal in tone. Many companies have newsletters, blogs, and social media pages that feature this sort of writing. You can really increase your marketability by becoming good at writing for a variety of professional platforms
