Final reflection

Instruction:

“For this final post, reflect on the communication/life skills that you have developed in this module, on your interactions in class and via the blogging and on your overall learning. Again, this should be done analytically, with consideration of the 7Cs.”

About the skills

Looking back at the lesson shedule, I was amazed at how much we did in just one semester. We did peer teaching, group research, oral presentation. We learnt how to write cover  letter, resume, business proposal, transmittal letters and blog posts! We also learnt/taught skills related to interviews, surveys, wikis, and many more.

I think I learnt the most through the research project, all the group work and peer evaluation. I had the best group mates and we had a good time working together and talk nonsense/watch youtube together. I am very worried that this is going to be my last group project in NUS.

About blogs and facebook

Although I had been in Singapore for a long time and was rather comfortable with the English environment, English was always only an “acedemic” tool to me. I am not at all active on facebook. I do not own a twitter account. And I never write English blog posts nor comment on my friends’. Through this module, I gradually pick up the habit of expressing myself in English under such voluntary circumstances. I am not sure whether I will continue to blog. But I guess I will definitely be more active on facebook.

About the overall learning

I enjoyed the in-class interaction the most. Brad is a great teacher! Witty and knowledgable.

I said in my first post that “I think these are the types of lessons which I applied to the university for.” Now, I would remove the “I think”. These ARE the types of lessons which I applied to the university for. How I wish all the modules I am going to take will be this fun and meaningful.

However, that is hardly likely to happen as I am only going to take core modules in the following two years. Maybe what I will count on is my one semester in the US. Hopefully the statistics modules are taught in a more interactive way there.

The non-analytical part

I was never very much attached to any of my previous classes, even in JC and secondary school in Singapore. I see myself as an outsider and I accept that position. I wasn’t at all surprised that I am the only one who did not receive any comment at first for the first blog post.

However, at the end of the last tutorial, I felt as if we have spend three years togther in the same classroom taking all the same courses and going the graduation ceremony together.

It has been too long a time for me feel in such a way. I love the class, which includes the teacher, all the classmates, the classroom setting and all the lessons and activities. To me, this is more than just a module. So, thank you Brad, Cynthia, Luqman, Jinq Horng, Vanessa, Gregory, Ahmed, Mark, Hwee Teng, Jake, Stella, Zoe, Chuan Ting and Wellens.

Thank you everyone for making that happen.

Hope everyone of us will have a joyful and fruitful life ahead!

reflection on oral presentation

This is the first group presentation I had in university. What a life I had!

I think overall, our team worked well together.

The content of the presentation is well-organised and cohesive. The power point was professional looking with minimum amount of words. However, I was wondering whether a bit more key words would help the audience to grasp the main points. From the Q&A session, I had the feeling that my classmates did not quite get the focus of the project very precisely. Of course, I have to say that it is very easy to get focused about the focus. We deviated from the focus now and then throughout the project as well. However, in order to make the proposed solution relevant and feasible, we have to define the problem we want to address in this way. 

The delivery of the whole presentation was well received. Thanks to all the rehearsals and hard work our members put in. I did not perform very well. I was kind of nervous and searching through my mind for the next line at times. Thanks Vanessa for the affirmative eye contact :) Hence I think I should still practice more next time.

Questions during Q&A were answered well. I answered too many of them though, my bad. In addition, we should also rehearse about possible questions as well.

It was a rewarding experience working together with all of you :)

cultural conflict

Around five years ago, my junior A came to my room in boarding school for help. She just had a fight with her roommate B. They both came from China, though distant parts. As single child at the age of 15, it is their first time leaving home and stayed with strangers. A came from a major city in Southern China  and brought toiletries from home. The idea of sharing toiletries never appeared in her mind. On the other hand, B came from a smaller city in Northeastern China, used to share everything with her friends. B was upset that A put another soap in the bathroom after B put one. B thought A had a problem with B as A did not gladly share B’s soap. A thought it was odd for B to use others toiletries. Slowly the tension built up between them. And they started accusing each other behind the back.

I understood the situation perfectly for I myself went through the same confusion when I first arrived and shared a room with girls from distant parts and different culture. People from Northeastern China are famous for their generosity and warmth towards new acquaintance. However, not everyone share and enjoy their warm attitude. It can be strange and offending to other people who need a much longer time to be comfortable with their “invasion” of individual’s private space.

After all, I do not think this is a serious problem. Being confined within their city prevented my juniors from noticing the existence of different interpretation of the same behaviour. So I suggested them to explain to each other their thoughts of the issue and conflict became a laughing matter after all.   

job description

Operations Summer Analyst Program

The Operations Internship Program is a three-month full time internship that provides the opportunity to gain a practical understanding of the financial sector and serves as a pipeline into our full-time Analyst Program. We provide summer analysts challenging assignments, which allows us to assess their skills and contributions.
The program includes an orientation to the Firm, a thorough overview of our industry, presentations that give a broad understanding of the organization, professional development training, and social and networking events. Summer Analysts work closely with colleagues to process complex transactions, solve operational problems, respond to business issues and client needs, assist in risk management, conduct revenue analysis and participate in firm reengineering projects. Summer Analysts are also assigned peer advisors to aid their smooth transition into the organization.
The Program will commence in June, where Interns will work through August on a full-time basis. Provided good performance, internships may be extended for the school semester on a part time basis. Placements are communicated to Interns before their start date and are based upon business needs and feedback throughout the interview process. Provided exceptional performance, summer analysts will also be considered for our Operations Analyst Program.

Qualifications
Analysts expected to complete their Bachelors or Masters degree between December 2011 and July 2012 with a minimum GPA of 3.2 out of 4. Strong candidates will also possess excellent leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills. Fluency in English is essential.

Application letter draft 2

Song Haotang, Susan

#13-199, Block 4,XX Drive, Singapore XX

Contact: (65)-XX Email: XX@hotmail.sg

Jan 11, 2011

Human Resources, Morgan Stanley
#16-01 Capital Square, 23 Church Street
Singapore 049481

Dear Sir/Madam,

This is regarding a career opportunity with Morgan Stanley Singapore, Summer Analyst Programme in Operations Division. I am a penultimate year Statistics student from National University of Singapore.

The following attributes of mine will make me a suitable candidate for your programme.

1.     Analytical mind and excellent problem-solving skills

From years of intensive statistics training, I developed an analytical and systematic approach to new problems.

2.     Communication skills

I am an enthusiastic and spontaneous person who enjoys interacting and collaborating with people. I have undergone diverse past experiences that allowed me to develop effective rapport and teamwork with others. I was the marketing secretary for NUS Harmonica Orchestra, where I worked with 52 external orgnisations and schools, including National Arts Museum and Library Board. Back in junior college, I was the ambassador of the annual PRC scholar recruitment and school exchange programme.

3.     Ability to rapidly learn and grasp new knowledge

I am usually regarded as a fast learner. During my research attachment, I completed an independent research project with minimum supervision. I obtained various financial service certificates within one month despite the tide schedule of school examinations.

I am eager to immerse myself into this talent-intensive environment at Morgan Stanley. With my aptitude for learning, passion for winning and thirst for new knowledge, I am well prepared to take the duties and excel at Morgan Stanley.

Please consider my qualifications for Summer Analyst Programme in Operations Division. I can be reached at (65)92751460. I look forward to your correspondence to discuss my qualifications and qualities further.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Song Haotang, Susan

Application letter draft 1

Jan 11, 2011

Human Resources

Morgan Stanley
#16-01 Capital Square
23 Church Street
Singapore 049481

Dear Sir/Madam,

This is regarding a career opportunity with Morgan Stanley Singapore. This is Susan, a second year Statistics student from National University of Singapore. I am very interested in applying for the Summer Analyst Programme in Operations Division. I came to know the opportunities at Morgan Stanley through a career talk given at my school last year.

As Morgan Stanley is a world leader in the financial industry, I am eager to immerse myself into this talent intensive environment. I believe with my aptitude for learning, passion for winning and thirst for new knowledge, I can indeed fit well into this challenging work environment and excel at Morgan Stanley.

 I believe the following attributes of mine could contribute to the nature of this position.

1.     Analytical mind and excellent problem-solving skills

From years of intensive statistics training, I developed an analytical and systematic approach to new problems.

2.     Communication skills

I am an enthusiastic and spontaneous person who enjoys interacting and collaborating with people. I have undergone diverse past experiences that allowed me to develop effective rapport and teamwork with others.

3.     Ability to rapidly learn and grasp new knowledge

      I was usually regarded as a fast learner. During my research attachment, I completed              an independent research project with minimum supervision. I obtained various financial service certificates within one month despite the tide schedule of school examinations.

Please consider my qualifications for Summer Analyst Programme in Operations Division. You can expect to hear from me next week to talk further and discuss opportunities to meet personally at your convenience. I will be in Singapore until Jan 5th 2012, before I embark on my overseas exchange to the United States. I can be reached at (65)92751460.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Song Haotang, Susan

#13-199, Block 4,

XX Drive, Singapore XXXXX

65-9XXXXXX

XX@hotmail.sg

Post 2： Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

Ben just graduated from NUS engineering last year. Being a scholar since the age 15, Ben earned a life without a hitch with his academic abilities. He was very active at CCAs and did quite a lot of internships in the finance sector. Finally, he was offered a full time position at an investment bank. Ben felt complacent about himself.

As soon as he met his direct boss, he realised that life has stopped going smoothly for him. His boss, James, was a pilot before joining the bank. Same as Ben, James had no financial background. Furthermore, they are both from single child families.

Ben thought that James, who worked in this field for around five years, had neither experience nor professional knowledge about the financial market. Ben tried to mask this attitude. However, sometimes he just could not agree with the way James handled clients’ requests. He even refused to send the emails James told him to.

James, on the other hand, could be really rude to Ben when there was no other colleague around. He was always very harsh to Ben when Ben makes mistakes but easy on other colleagues. Ben thought that he was treated unfairly and wanted to file a complaint against James to the higher authority. However, his friends suggested him to change his job.

The Question is: Does quitting his job solve the problem for Ben?

Post 1: Why are effective communication skills important for me

I believe that a lot of people recognise the importance of effective communication.

I lived the first twenty years of my life dreaming about becoming a scientist. However, I decided to try something else after extensive exposure to research work. Subsequently, I transferred from life science to statistics and started to attend career talks and exhibition. As I started my career exploration, I realised that I need to learn to present myself better. As a student, our target audience of communication are generally from defined age band, education level and occupation background. Once we start working, we are going to communicate with people from very different background. Now I am working with AIA as an insurance agent. Effective communication is of tremendous importance to a sales person. Fresh graduate usually need to learn these kind of soft skills in the hard way. However, I always hoped for an opportunity to develop such skills in a relatively protected environment. 

Hence, when I came across the E-news letter sent by Science faulty regarding ES2007S, I immediately put in on my wishing list for the New Year. In addition, I took SP1202, Communication with the academia under Ms Susan Tan back in 2009. I enjoyed the active atmosphere during class and close interaction between teachers and students after class. I think these are the types of lessons which I apply university for. And I am not disappointed after two lessons of ES2007S.