Reflections

This module is definitely one of the most fun and simultaneously educative modules that I have taken so far. Over the course of the module, I realised the importance of presenting oneself in a formal setting. This aspect of professional communication is extremely important and was something that I had not given much thought to prior to this module.

Previously, I had often received comments on my presentation skills. Things like my voice being too soft, my body being rigid or my eye contact wavering too much. The feedback I got from my tutor for my first presentation for this module was also similar. My voice projection was not clear and it ended up seeming like I had swallowed up half of my speech. However, I did get positive feedback on how I maintained my eye contact and my gestures.

Through my first presentation, I learnt that non-verbal communication was as important as verbal communication. How one uses his hands to gesture, how one places himself on the podium or stage when speaking, and one’s facial expressions contribute to how the audience understands his message.

Also, it is not just presentations where para-linguistic aspect come into to play in conveying a message properly. Even in situations like interviews and group discussions, one should be very aware of what kind of vibe he or she is giving off through the unsaid. Moreover, when it comes to nonverbal communications, we should also take into consideration possible inter-cultural mis-communications.

During my interview, I was once again reminded that my voice was not loud enough. However, I told myself that I should correct that aspect of my presentations as soon as I could. Fortunately, I was told that there was an improvement in that part by the time I finished my final oral presentation.

Finally, I would like to thank my tutor, Mme Fazilah and all by classmates who made this module a fun and self-discovering journey with so much learning happening throughout. I hope that this beginning helps me mould myself into becoming a better person; not just a better professional.

Reflections on oral presentation

The group presentation seemed, for me, to be a daunting task in the beginning. Formal presentations were not exactly my forte so I was trying to compensate for that by preparing well. My team mates were an excellent help to me during this preparation. Since out team started discussing on our research topic very early, we had a rather decent idea on what our research issue was and we were rather well prepared; in theory.

On D-day, I felt rather light headed because of a bad night’s sleep. When the presentation started, I grew more anxious because my part, along with Hari’s formed the crux of our presentation: the proposal itself. When it came to me, my throat went dry and I could not present as well as I wanted to. I was too often at loss for words and had to look back at my script to keep me going. This eventually hindered me from keeping good eye contact. Also, there were a few problems with some of the slides: the screen ratio that I made the presentation for did not match the one I presented on. This meant that, in a few of my slides, only part of the slide was displayed.

However, there were a few silver linings. Md. Fazilah mentioned that I had improved on my voice projection. I had the issue of being too soft during my peer teaching. I did take a conscious effort to work on that aspect and I am glad that it paid off. Also, I did feel that our group handled the questioning session rather well. This was partially thanks to Wei Ling, who suggested we try and expect a few questions beforehand, and work on our answers to them.

In conclusion, I felt that our presentation was a good one. The team was unanimously happy with the final proposal and it was good experience, as a complete ‘non-Singaporean’ team, to try and propose a solution to one of Singapore’s gravest problems.

A look into intercultural behaviors

The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” 

                                                                                                -Genesis 11:1-9

When I was 15, I was hurtled across half a world form Chennai, India to Paris, France. Language was the first problem I faced, but not the last. The cultural scenario in France was very different from what I had experienced till that point of my life. One of the things I found hard to come to terms with was the diversity in the attitude of the French towards new cultures and languages.

On one hand, the French seem extremely polite - To an extent that they greet almost random people they see on the street with a ‘bonjour’. At first, I found this rather surprising but later, as I grew more accustomed to the environment, I felt that it was a cultural norm and you could be passed off as rude if you do not do greet or greet back.

On the other hand, in a few of the shops and stores that I frequent, I found the store keepers rather intolerant towards non-speakers of French. I felt that this could have arisen form their cultural pride. Coming from India, where not being able converse well in English is widely considered a disadvantage, I found this reluctance towards accepting another language intriguing.

I feel that in this culturally varied world, the need to empathise with cultures other than our own is dire. In order to smoothen interactions with peers, it is necessary that we are considerate towards the cultural norms of the societies they are from. In case of interactions with potential customers or clients, it would be an advantage to adapt their cultural norms as people tend to trust and like those who are similar to themselves.

Application Letter Critique

Internship Ad:

IT Development Intern

Contact ABN AMRO HR to apply for position
Company Name: ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
Location: One Raffles Quay South Tower
Posted Date: 17 Aug 2012
Estimated Period: Immediate, 3 - 6 mths
Estimated salary monthly (pro-rated): S$ 1,200.00

ABN AMRO has a strong heritage and long-standing presence of over 180 years in Asia. ABN AMRO is the oldest foreign bank in Singapore, offering our clients Private Banking, Commercial and Merchant Banking services. Our ambition is to be the best bank for our clients in our chosen markets.

===== Job Scope =====

We are looking for an intern who is energetic, creative, pro-active with the right web site design experience to support our IT applications team in IT development and projects.

===== Job Requirements =====

Students from NUS and NTU School of Computing and Computer Science is preferred

The programming skill sets required are :

1. C# programming

2. Ajax

3. MS SQL

4. Dot Net

We are looking for an intern who is keen to learn but at the same time able to work independently with a drive to achieve results.

Application Letter:

 Vignesh Lakshmi Rajakumar
25, Prince George's Park;
Singapore 11824


September 10, 2012

The Human Resources manager

One Raffles quay south tower,

Singapore

Dear Sir/Madam:

I hope you would take into consideration my application for the IT development internship open in your firm. I came across your advertisement on www.InternSg.com. I have attached my resume herewith.

I would cherish the opportunity of interning at a well-established firm such as yours. It would also be my honour to work for the oldest foreign bank in Singapore. Programming has always been my dearest passion. So much so that I do not mind working at a stretch for abnormally long hours. I always feel incomplete if I do not finish my coding projects as soon as I can; in one go, if possible. Of late, my experience in web design over the years has tapped the creative side of me. 

Also, I have always felt that I work rather well in teams. That being said, I still think the best part of my applications and designs were those I worked on by myself. I would never bog my team-mates down in the event of a team based scenario.

Given this, I think it would be safe to say that your requirements and my qualities are on the same page and hiring me will not be something that you will regret. It will be on the contrary, rather! I am eagerly looking forward to working with you.

If you would like to contact me for an interview or even a chat, please call me at 6585423476. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Vignesh

Computer engineering year 2

Email: vigneshr.93@gmail.com

Enclosures: Resume

Resolving Interpersonal Conflicts

Probably the most common scenario involving interpersonal conflict that I, as a college undergraduate, come across happens during group projects and assignments. When put in a situation where there are project deadlines hanging over our heads and exams around the corner, failure to communicate effectively and patiently could prove disastrous. One such incident was that which happened to a couple of friends of mine who were in the same project group. I will refer to them as A and B henceforth. It should be noted that A and be were also good friends with each other. They had weekly submission deadlines for different stages of their final project. To complicate matters, they had a new member join half-way through the semester. That semester, A had a relatively high workload from her core modules while B, on the other hand, had comparable workload from his co-curricular activities.

The problem arose when they had to submit project specifications as one of their weekly submissions. Owing to time table clashes and other factors, they did not meet until the day before the deadline. The group had five members, out of which one was new. B wanted to explain their whole project idea to the new member before proceeding with the project specifications. A, on the other hand, was more keen on meeting the deadline that was set for tomorrow. She stated that explanations could be done after meeting the immediate deadline. This conflict in their views snowballed into a rather heated argument which went dangerously close to affecting their personal relationship with each other.

What could have caused this conflict? Both A and B had rather acceptable reasons to disagree with the other’s point of view. It could be said that, given A’s academic workload, a dire want to finish things on time is understandable. One is bound to get agitated and annoyed when one has too much work and nothing is going according to plan. However, it could also be said that A’s reaction was nothing more than an emotional outburst; a result of the academic pressure she was facing. Also, she would have felt that it was rather pointless to make sure all group members were in sync before proceeding if it meant missing the deadline. On a lighter note, A gets irritable when she is hungry and she was hungry during the meeting.

B, on the contrary, could have been more interested in touching home base before proceeding because he thought he could eke out some new ideas from the new member. This is also understandable given the fact that the group was going to be working together for a long time and integrity within the team was important. B could have felt that it was pointless to meet deadlines if not all the members knew what exactly they were doing. However, it could be argued that given the deadlines, B should have sorted out his priorities. Also, B could have misunderstood A as saying that there is no need to explain the basics to the new member. She merely said it could be done later.

This is quite a complex problem. Both parties have supporting and weakening arguments. Yet, a simple solution like managing to meet sooner and more often than they did could have avoided this conflict. If they had meet sooner, B could have easily updated the new member and still manage to finish the assignment before the deadline, making A happy. The conflict in interests could be attributed to not only the situations A and B were in respectively, but also to their basic character traits. From my experiences with them, A often tends to be punctual and neat. B, on the other hand, is more creative and likes to explore new options with vigour. Again, on a lighter note, a simple solution could have been to make A eat before the meeting.

The real reason this conflict was resolved was the fact that A and B were good friends outside the project group. This made it easier for them to forgive each other, making sure that this conflict did not have any repercussions on future meetings. However, in a professional setting, how could we stop bad blood between two people with conflicting interests? In your opinion, who do you think had the right idea? A or B? What could have been the solution?

Why is effective communication important for me?

In today’s world, there is a dire need to not just communicate, but to do so effectively. Effective communication makes the difference between talking and speaking; between being heard and being listened to. An essential part of the success of any idea depends on how well it is put forth to the world. As relationships both professional and personal are being formed over boundaries and across cultures, effective communication today also expands to both linguistic and paralinguistic aspects.

As a student, my need to communicate well is highly important. This is especially true in the event of a group project or seminar. In such a situation, it is important that I am putting my ideas forth in an interesting as well as an understandable manner. Effort has to be taken to make sure that my thoughts and ideas are clearly understood by my fellow student. It is just as important to listen to others’ opinions too. The need is further hardened by the fact that my educational environment is a multi-cultural one. Differences in tones of speech, different meanings for gestures and such variances in the methods of communication enforces the need to communicate effectively. This implies taking into account the need listen actively as well as speak clearly.

Stepping back from the ‘classroom’ picture, good communication skills are also important for a good career. They are essential not only to get ideas across, but also to learn new ones; and life is nought if there is no learning. Hence, effective communication skills are a necessary tools for me, both now as a student and further on as an employee or employer. They help to achieve stronger bonds that in turn, help making life, professional and personal, simpler and easier.