16th January, 2014

The Weekly Reflections

Course Name: LSS 2003 - Creating Your Future Section: 06B50BU02 Prepared for: Mrs. Nayela Mohammad Prepared by: Fatma Faisal Al-Hashemi - H00232951

The Weekly Reflections

TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15

The Weekly Reflections

Page 1

The Weekly Reflections

Week 1:

In the first week of the creating your future course, Mrs. Nayela gave us an introduction about the course, what we are going to learn in the course, the importance of the course in our college and after graduating life and the most important purposes of taking this particular course. I had learned from the first week of the course many important aspects that would help me in my career path such as I have learned that it is very important to set my own personal and career goals in order to have a good plan and a good strategy to know how to each these specific goals which in turn will make me succeed in my life. I have also learned that the attitude and the behavior is a very important attribute that would either affect the person in a good or negative way thats why I should have good behavior and attitude in the place I will be working in, in college and in my whole life as I will always be dealing with people where ever I go. I have also learned that I should manage my life and not to stay without any management because if I was just living without having any goals without having any control on my life I will not succeed and will not reach to the place or position that I want. The life without management such as the time management will be an ineffective life. From the first week I also have learned the difference between the public, the semigovernment and the private companies. I have known some of them such as the municipality and the police as for the public institutions, DEWA and Emirates Airlines as for the semigovernment institutions and finally Du and some of the banks such as ADCB as for the private companies. I have learned that the private companies have much more opportunities and much better experience rich in knowledge than the public institutions thats why I have known that the emphasis in the course will be on the private companies.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 2

The Weekly Reflections

Week 2:

During the second week of the course I have learned how to do and accomplish my career plan efficiently and effectively in a professional way. I have learned how to set and arrange the priorities of my personality, my abilities, skills, interests, qualifications, values and my financial inspiration. I have also learned how to set my personal and my career goals from the most important goals that I want to achieve to the least important but all of them should be included. I have also learned that it is very important to know what my personal circumstances are and how to set and arrange them professionally. In addition to all of that, I also have chosen three of the private companies that I would like to work for. And to search about these companies to know if they suit my qualifications, skills and my goals as well; this search that I have made during week 2 gave me an idea of the reason that made me interested in these particular companies. And most importantly I have learned in week 2 how to realize and how to know and set the position that I would like to reach to in the future in order to know what are the factors, the skills and the knowledge that will enable me to reach that position. And also I have known what are the actions that I should take and the risks that I should also take in order to reach to that particular position. Nevertheless, I also have learned how to set my short and long term goals in the smart objectives format. I have known how to set the goals in relation to make them be specific, measurable, achievable, and realistic or relevant and the time should also be available in them. After all the important aspects that I have learned in week 2, I was given time to accomplish all of them and to set and organize them in a document in order to let them be ready to be put in my e-folio website. During the time I was given to do my career plan; I faced some problem when I was performing the tasks in some certain areas such as setting the goals in the smart objectives way. I have overcame this difficulty with the teacher as I asked her for help to know how exactly to set these goals and with her knowledge and understanding she helped me a lot in accomplishing this task professionally. During that week I have uploaded some of the documents that are required to be added to the e-folio website such as the qualifications, career goals, my skills list, and some of the details of my hobbies, interests and any other information that may support my job application.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 3

The Weekly Reflections

Week 3:

During the third week of the course, I have learned everything about the CV. I have learned how should the professional CV format be, including the font, the size, there shouldnt be borders, the details should be written in the heading etc I have also learned what the CV should include and how should these points should be organized including there order in the CV. I have learned that the CV should include the career objective in which I should briefly write my current qualification and some of my most important skills. My bachelor and my high school qualification should also be included including the year I started and when I ill graduate. And then I should mention my work experience if I have done one and any volunteer that I have did including the company, the position I was in and what I did including the year as well. And then I also have learned how to set and organize the achievements and awards that I have got not only in college and school but any certificate from my work experience or volunteer work. I also have known how to include the additional certificates that I have in the CV such as the IELTS and the SAT certificate. In addition, I have also learned how to mention and organize the skills, the abilities, the languages, and the computer knowledge that I have orderly. Then I have also understood how to mention my personal interests and some of the most important personal information such as the date of birth and the gender. And at last, I learned how to add at least two references when required and as I am a student whos not working my references will e two of my teachers who really know me well. After the explanation the teacher distributed on us the official CV template from the career center in the college in order to follow the template exactly to have a professional CV. We have given the time from the teacher to do our CV while she was available in the class rooms to supervise us and answer our questions and to help us with our difficulties. After accomplishing the CV correctly and professionally with the teacher I had the chance to add it to my e-folio as it is one of the e-folio requirements.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 4

The Weekly Reflections

Week 4:

In the fourth week of the course, I have learned everything about the cover letter; how should it look like, its length, the format like the font and size and most importantly I have learned about the right content of the cover letter and how should it be displayed in it. The teacher started teaching and explaining the important of the cover letter first, because the cover letter is the first factor that will let the company be interested to you and to see your CV but if the cover letter was not interesting for them enough they will not bother even in looking into my CV. Thats why the cover letter is a very important aspect in letting me to have an interview with the company and the job I applied for. The content of the cover letter is case sensitive as I should only add in it the information that applies to the company and the job that I am applying for, no need for the additional information that will not help me in this specific job. I have learned that the cover letter should start with the current date, the human resource department, the name of the job that I am applying for, the name of the company that I am applying for and the location of the company that I am applying for like if it is in Dubai or Abu Dhabi etc. after that I should include the name of the person in whom I am sending the letter to, but if I didnt have the exact name I should just write Sir/Madam,. And then it is very important to add the job ref. number that will be available in the job advertisement. And then I should briefly mention the job that I am applying for and the location from which I found the job advertisement. I have learned also that I should include brief ideas about the knowledge that I have the lectures I have entered and some of my important skills that applies to the particular job that I am applying for. At last, I have learned how to mention the time I will be waiting for them to reply on me, how to mention my contact details as well as the timings that I will be able to reply on them on these contact details. And as it is in the letter format I learned that I should include my name at the end of the letter. When the teacher was explaining the cover letter I felt that it may be difficult for me to get it right but when she showed us some of the cover letters samples and gave us the template of the cover letter I felt that it will be easier. After that Athija from the career center came to our class and gave us a session about the importance of the cover letter and the importance of updating it regularly and she also gave us a brief idea about the contents of the cover letter. This workshop made it also very easier for me to do my cover letter. And then the teacher gave us some time to do our cover letters and then to upload them on the e-folio.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 5

The Weekly Reflections

Week 5:

In the 5th week of the course; I have learned how to look and search for the jobs online using several resources and websites in order to find a suitable job advertisement for me that would suit my bachelor degree and my skills and abilities. As I am a business student, I planning to have the accounting as a major in the next last year of my bachelor degree thats why in week 5 I was searching and looking for the jobs that deals with the accounting, auditing, banking and financial fields as they are somehow related to each other. during this week I learned how to look for the job advertisements over the internet through many resources and websites such as the DWC "Mehnaty" Job Portal, and I also learned how to search for the appropriate job in several companies websites such as; Dus website, and some of the banks websites such as; ADCB website and Al-Mahsreq website as well. I also have learned how to know if the particular job that I found is suitable for my major and the qualification that I am going to have after I graduate or no. I have learned to do that by either looking in the qualification that is mentioned in the job advertisement or by looking through the skills, abilities and the roles that the job needs the employee who will be employed to do and perform. As I said I was looking for the kinds of jobs that are related to the accounting major or that requires the employee to be able to analyze and track the financial records of the company thats why I was mostly looking for an accountant or an auditor job. The websites that I have used to look for the job advertisements were really useful. All of the websites that I mentioned above were useful to me as I found in each one of them a job that is related to the accounting major. All of the websites that I have searched in such as the DWC "Mehnaty" Job Portal, Dus website, ADCB website and Al-Mahsreq website were really easy to use and search through for the careers and the open vacancies for the fresh graduates. I didnt find any difficulties in searching for the appropriate job that suite the accounting major that I want to take. And most importantly, I have learned about the DWC "Mehnaty" Job Portal and how to look and search through it as I didnt knew about it previously.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 6

The Weekly Reflections

Week 6:

In the 6th week of the course weve been searching and discussing the benefits and the ways we can use the different kinds of social medias specifically the social networking such as; the Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and BBM. I learned that as most of the people now days are using these kinds of social networking including me most of us are including some of ours personal details that we shouldnt such as our real full name, the company were working in, phone number etc... And as most of us are using these different kinds of social networking to post different kinds of things many of the companies have set different policies that their coworkers should follow in the social networking sites as they are kindly resembling the company that they are working in. During this week I have been searching and looking through many of the social networking policies in many different companies during the class such as the coca cola company. Each group was assigned to look and search about the policies of a different company so that we can have an idea about the social networking policies in several companies. I have learned that many of the companies tend to let their employees act with honesty in the social networks as they resemble the company in front of the people. I have learned that the employees should be polite and respectful in order to give a good image of the company as many of the people directly judge on the company from the behavior of their employees. I have learned also that many of the companies tend to force the employees to release their names when they want to talk on behalf of the company and they also force them not to post anything that they have doubts in. in addition, I also learned that as an employee I should be responsible of my work and should give credit and not violate the others right because my local post in these kinds of social networks can have a global significance as the world is now a days connected through the social networks. I learned also to be very careful on what I post on the social networks because the internet is permanent and my posts may stay for a very long time, thus many people from many different countries around the world will be able to see my post.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 7

The Weekly Reflections

Week 7:

During the 7th week of the course; I have learned a lot about the job interviews. Like how should I be dressed, how should I talk and how should I be prepared before going to the interview. This week was very helpful to me as I learned many of the new things that I havent known previously. I have learned that before going to the interview I should update my CV and my Cover letter based on the requirements of the specific job that I am going to be interviewed for. I should also search about the company that I will be interviewed in like I should know some of the basic things in the company such as their mission and vision, their chairman, their Emiratization policy and some of their values, goals and strategies in order to be able to answer any question that may be asked to you about the company confidentially. Before going to the interview I should be dressed professionally and not as if I am going to a party or to a mall as the first look and the first impression really gives an idea and an image about your personality and your way of work. While I am in the interview I should behave properly, I should have good attitude, I should also be polite with the interview and respectful. For example, if the interviewer was wrong about something I can let him understand it properly politely in a way that he will not get mad at me. There are also some kinds of questions that I can ask and some kinds of questions I shouldnt ask; I should have a look over these questions before going to the interview because if I asked a question that I shouldnt ask the interviewer will have a negative idea about me such as if I asked about the salary I will get and I also should not ask any question that its answer is or may be in the companys website. On the other hand I have learned that if the interviewer gave the permission to ask any question I should ask at least 1 or 2 simple questions such as In which branch will I be?. I also have learned that during the job interview I should be calm and not nervous because being nervous will give the interviewer an idea that I may be not confidante which will let him think that I dont fit the company or the job. I should also show my process of thinking and that I have good skills such as the communication and negotiating skills. All of what I learned during this week helped me a lot to be well prepared for the mock job interview that I will be having later.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 8

The Weekly Reflections

Week 8:

During the 8th week of the course; I have learned many things about the team work. I have learned that the team work skills is an essential skill that I should have in order to be successful in my career path as most of the jobs no a days requires good team work skills, communicating and negotiating skills. I have learned that I should be able to deal with different people from different nationalities and cultures as they may be working with me in one group for a period of time. I have learned that the group members should know each other well, they should collaborate well, they should also be well organized in order to let the work get stuck and not finished until the end of the deadline. I have also learned that while I will be working in a team I should have good behavior with my group members, I should respect each single person in the group and most importantly I should be part of the group while doing the work. I have learned that the group members should help each other in getting the work done and accomplished and not to rely only on one person to get the tasks done because when the whole group works together the work will be done much more professionally and there will also be much more ideas and thoughts which will make the task be done efficiently and effectively. I have also learned that I may face some difficulties while I will be working in a group but a skill that I should have is being able to deal with the problems and obstacles that the team may face. I have learned that all of the team should have the ambition and the commitment to do the work assigned to the group. I also have learned that the teamwork is very important in different kinds of jobs and especially for the major I want which is the accounting major.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 9

The Weekly Reflections

Week 9:

During the 9th week of the course I have learned about the conflicts that I may face during my career and how to solve these problems politely. I have learned that I may face many obstacles, many problems and many conflicts either individually or if I was in a group but the only thing that I should do is to manage the conflict and try to solve it quickly without causing any much more troubles to others in the work environment. I have learned that some of the conflicts may be caused when the members of a group do not understand each other like each one of them are seeing his point of view without looking to the others perspectives and points of views. I have learned that these conflicts could be avoided if I have the skills of negotiating, expressing my ideas and thoughts and having the ability to listen and understand others points of views. I have learned also that I can avoid these kinds of conflicts if I avoided making assumptions about the individuals without really knowing them. In addition I have learned many different ways to solve the conflicts that I may face such as I should be calm when facing a conflict and not to get angry and emotional because bing emotional and hurting other peoples feelings will make the conflict bigger and much difficult to resolve. I have learned also that I should have good negotiating skills in order to be able to solve the conflicts easily such as I should be a good communicator as I should know how to express, explain and clarify and at the same time I should be able to listen to others carefully in order to understand their opinions and point of views. I have also learned that I should offer some solutions and put myself in the other person place in order to see if the solution fits him or not. I have also learned some ways to avoid having a conflict with others such as I should control my response and think before I say or act. I have learned also to be emotional and hurt other peoples feelings and most importantly I have learned that I should apologize if I was the wrong side of the conflict to resolve the problem. In addition, I have learned that if the conflict was very hard and difficult to be resolve I can seek the assistance of my colleagues or manager inside the company or I can also seek the assistance of people outside the company. For example I can let a mediator to come and help us in solving the conflict because as he is not part of the conflict he can see the two points of views and resolve the problem between us.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 10

The Weekly Reflections

Week 10:

During the 10th week of the course I have learned what is the empowerment, accountability and the responsibility and I have learned that these three factors contributes to the success and the strength of the company. I have learned that the empowerment is an essential thing that the managers should do because when they give the employees the power to take some decisions that is related to their work; the effects of this particular action will be very good on their mental and physical actions because the empowerment will give them the ability to be creative, innovative, to give the best quality standard that they can and then all of these will contribute to the customer satisfaction and the increase in profit. I have also learned that the empowerment in relation with the accountability and the responsibility that will be assigned to the employees will not only improve their performance but will also improve the customer satisfaction level; because I knew that when the manager give the employee the control on taking some decisions and when the employee accepts the responsibility that he is assigned with he will be much more accountable to his tasks and job which in turn will improve his performance. I have learned that each single employee should be accountable and responsible to himself and to his own actions this may include that he should make sure himself that he reaches to work on time, he should also make sure himself to not take and waste the sick leaves he have when he is well but not in the mood to go to work, he is also responsible and accountable to do the work that he is assigned to and that the manager is expecting him to do and finally he should be responsible and accountable himself to what he do during the work hours because these work hours are for work and not to have rest or play and talk with others. All of what I have learned in this week gave me a background on the things that I might be responsible and accountable of when I start working and it also gave me an idea of the actions that I should and shouldnt do in the work environment.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 11

The Weekly Reflections

Week 11:

During the 11th week of the course I have learned about the electronic communication that is a part of the communication skills and tips that I should have in order to be able to communicate well. I have learned that the electronic communication is the communication that takes place on the email, mobile, texting, instant messaging, blogs wikis and the audio and video conferences. I have also learned that there is several tools use for the electronic communication such as the Internet, the Software, the Email, the Mobile, any smart device etc I have learned that some of the employers and the companies may provide the employees with these tools in order to let them be able communicate electronically. However, I knew that these tools should not be used for the things out of the work (out of the business). I have also learned that the companies set some policies for the use of these technologies such as the potential misconduct issues, the improper use and the use of them at the wrong time or place. I have also learned the tips and the proper ways to have a conversation on the email or when i want to send an email to someone in the company. For example, I have learned that the email includes a subject and I should avoid the improper subjects such as Hi or Hello instead use a proper subject that would explain the email in a short sentence. I have also learned not to the tag (!) all of the emails instead I should tag (!) only the very important emails. I have also learned that during the written communication either in the email, texting or instant messaging I should revise the written email in order to avoid the spelling or the grammar mistakes. I have also learned to be positive in the written communication and that I should include the key points, I should also consider the readers perspective and if I can I should use the bullets or number points to have a good look. All of what I learned will help me a lot in my career because no a day most of the communication is done through the emails and the mobile phones.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 12

The Weekly Reflections

Week 12:

During the 12th week of the course, as I am a business student in the 3rd years I have been given from the teacher the list of the majors that will be available in the next year (year 4). This list included the courses of each single major in order to let the students have a clear view about the subjects that they will be enrolled in when they start in the particular major that they will be in. during that time the teacher gave us enough time to read the whole list carefully in order to choose two of them and inform her. And according to me as I have read the whole list I had 2 majors in mind that I was interested in because I think that their roles and the skills that are needed for each one of them suites me. I have chosen the accounting as the first choice and the international business as the second choice. The teacher have told us at that week that she will inform us when the program choice will be available on the portal in order to let all of us chose there. I have chosen the accounting as my first choice because of the reason that I have studied many different courses in the last 2 years in college but the only courses that I was really interested in and found myself really effective and efficient in and that I really have the skills to accomplish the tasks assigned to me regarding those majors were the accounting and the international business. I chose them because I believe that I have the ability to communicate well as I can negotiate, express, explain and clarify my point of view effectively while at the same time I have the ability to listen and understand the other peoples opinions and point of views. Another thing also is that I have the ability to work under pressure without complaining and I can take multiple tasks at the same time if requires. And most importantly I have the ability to perform the work, take decisions and solve problems with a limited supervision. During that week also our teacher informed us about the session called network with industry expert that will be conducted with some of the excellent companies in Dubai which were; Barclays, Bayt, FedEx, PWC, Standard chartered, Jumeirah group and Al-Mashreq Bank. I have understood from the teacher the purpose of the session which is to let us have the opportunity to have a contact and to have an idea about the skills, the qualifications and the requirements that these companies want to recruit us as nationals. We also discussed some of the questions that we could ask in each of the 4 sessions such as how to be a good employee? and what are the skills that I need to be employed?.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 13

The Weekly Reflections

Week 13:

During the 13th week of the course we had a presentation from Athija from the career center regarding the work placement that were going to have in the next semester. Athija explained to us about the work placement, I have known from her that there is a list of companies that the career center in the college will provide us with and from this list we can choose three companies and order them according to their priorities. However, she also added that we can chose one company that we want from outside the list and two should be from the list. In addition she also asked us to update our CV and Cover letter in order to let them fit the three companies that each one of us will choose. She asked us to give our choices and the CV and Cover letter to our teacher before the last day of submission. According to me I have chosen the following choices: 1. Dubai Customs 2. Dubai Airport Free Zone 3. DP World I have chosen these three organizations after I had researched and asked about them. I chose them because of the same reason, I found that all the three of them values there employees a lot. They believe in their employees and they believe also that their success and their strength is because of them. And also they have good Emiratization policies and all of them tend to develop and enroll their employees in training programs to improve their skills and abilities. These reasons will fulfill my career goal to get the appropriate knowledge and to keep on growing in my career path. In addition, I have also learned about the career change during this week as I knew the tips that I should follow when I want to change from one career to another and how to respond to the interviewer of the new job if he asked me about my previous job.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 14

The Weekly Reflections

Week 14:

During the 14th week we had the opportunity to enter a session that were previously told and got ready for with the teacher it was called Network with industry expert and it included several companies they are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Barclays Bayt FedEx PWC Standard chartered Jumeirah group Al-Mashreq Bank

The session was divided into 4 parts in each part there will be different experts from these companies in order to let us be able to gain enough knowledge about these companies and how to get recruited there. Session 1: in this session I learned about how to market myself and how to search for a job it included three companies which are: Bayt, FedEx and Barclays. Session 2: in this session I learned about the professional skills that the employee should have and what are the employers expectations it included three companies which are: FedEx, Jumeirah group and Al Mashreq Bank Session 3: I learned from this session about the diversity in the workplace and the importance of the intercultural intelligence that the employees should have; this session included three companies which are: FedEx, Barclays and PWC Session 4: I learned from this session how the career path may be and the career discovery wheelthis session included three companies which are: FedEx, Standard Chartered and PWC.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 15

The Weekly Reflections

Week 15:

During week 15 we had the mock job interview assessment. We had to choose a private company and a specific job in order to be interviewed on them. According to me I had chosen the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) as the company and the job title that I chose was a Credit Officer. I have found its job advertisement on the Gulf Talents website. I have chosen this job because it is considered to be part of the accounting and finance majors. I have looked in the qualification that they are requiring for this specific job and I found that they need a bachelor degree in accounting or finance. I have looked also in the role of the employee who will be positions in it and the skills that they need the employee to have and I found that the aspects that they are requiring are found in me and also the job role is suitable to me and my qualification and knowledge. I chose this job because I have the ability to analyze and track the financial records of the bank, I have the ability to analyze and keep the records such as the balance sheet and the net income. I also have the ability to work under pressure without complaining and to take multiple tasks at the same time if required. And most importantly I have the ability to perform the work assigned to me and to take decisions and solve problems with a limited supervision based on my knowledge in the accounting, banking and financial fields. During the mock job interview I believe that I did well in terms of being confident in my answers, in not being nervous and not sure of my answers, in having good eye contact and in terms of my good communicating skills that I have showed. But I believe also that I should improve my ability to end the interview much better than what I did in order to impress the interviewer and let him be interested in meeting me again. And I also believe that I should improve my way in showing that I have a good thoughts process and good knowledge.

The Weekly Reflections

Page 16