Work Readiness Skills

One work readiness skill that I used in my internship this past week was being professional. I arrived to my internship 15 minutes ahead of time on my first day which allowed me to finish filling out my paperwork with HR before I began working. Because there are many things that could slow down work for me it is important that I arrive early in order to deal with unforeseen events. I also used communication as a valuable skill at my internship as I was able to effectively tell my supervisor the bugs I was experiencing in the game. Finding something wrong in the game does not help anyone unless I can describe in detail what I did in order to create the issue in the first place. One thing i can work on is working with diligence. In my internship I am supposed to be taking detailed notes of my first run through of the game they are working on. Looking back at what I did I should have taken more detailed notes and critique in order to give my supervisors more information to work with.

Work Readiness Skills

How I used the Work Readiness Skills in my internship in a positive way:

• Professional: We were sent a time sheet to fill out, but the other interns around me and I couldn't submit it because there was an error. I demonstrated professionalism by sending the person who sent it to us an email which stated the problem and question we had. He promptly responded and helped us out. 
• Communication: On the third day of my internship, I had a meeting with my mentor. We discussed my tasks and responsibilities. It was easy to communicate with her and I was able to ask questions and give some suggestions.

How my Work Readiness Skill weakness/area of growth caused me to have to work harder:

• Literate: A challenge I faced during my internship last week was understanding different acronyms and some of the technical terminology. I asked clarifying questions, but sometimes I was still unable to fully understand the meaning.

Week 2 Readiness

During my internship, I used:

Honesty: I was being honest throughout my time as an intern the first week. When I encountered a problem, I immediately reported it.

Dedicated: I was being dedicated to my work throughout the first week. I was assigned to fill out an excl at my workstation, and I was focused on completing as much as I could.

The skills that I was struggling were:

Communication: Although my communication skills were alright, I still felt this was a weakness. I had to call the IBM services desk a couple of times, and in some instances I was having a hard time telling the operator what my problem was.

Week 2:Work readiness

Week 2: Work Readiness Skills

Being professional is an extremely beneficial work readiness skill to have, as employers will respect you more and treat you like an adult. I dressed professionally for my first 4 days at my internship, and my employer complimented me and I earned his respect quickly. I was early to work and I worked efficiently when I was working.

Being literate is another important work readiness skill to have. During the first few days, there was a lot of  written instructions for us to read and we were expected to execute the task fairly quickly. For example, although it seems simple, setting up my voicemail for the phone on my desk was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. I had to read the written directions multiple times before I finally understood how to use my desk phone. However, comprehending and performing this simple task was important.

An area I struggled with was communicating effectively. There were lots of acronyms and new information given to me, and I didn't always ask questions when I should have. I understood how to perform the task I was given for the first few days, but I didn't quote understand the significance of what I was doing. The way I saw it, I was entering numbers into a computer, but the way my employer saw it was that I was organizing the forms in the database, helping him determine how much work his employees could get done in a certain amount of time.

Week 2: Work Readiness Skills

     One example where I used a work readiness skills was when I was researching grant opportunities for my company.  Although it wasn't something I found enjoyable, I was dedicated to my work.  I continued to put effort into the research untill I was needed for a different project.  I learned that this was important when people looking after me at my internship were impressed with my work and pleased with the amount of effort I put into researching.
     Another instance in which I used work readiness skill effectively was when I was transferring data from a word document to an excel sheet.  Since I could read and understand written information, I was able to easily figure out what pieces of data went where in the table I created.  I learned that the ability to interpret information is important whether you are reading words or analyzing numbers.
     An example of a skill that I needed to work harder at was communicating effectively.  When I attended a meeting of most of the people in the company, I could not participate because I didn't think fast enough to come up with relevant ideas or questions.

Work Readiness

This week I demonstrated my ability to serve the needs of others. I was helping a woman try to create a kindle account so she could read books on her iPad. I told her that she was able to synchronize the books that she had on her kindle with the books she had on her iPad so she wouldn't have to buy books twice. I was able to listen to her and her needs and was able to express my advice to her in a friendly and clear way.

Also, this week I was able to demonstrate my dedication. I demonstrated my willingness to work by approaching my supervisors about ways for me to benefit the company. I showed them that I was glad to update the class schedule on the company website and to begin creating a database of all our costumers. Additionally  I showed enthusiasm over putting advertisements on "The Patch" so more people can hear about what we do at Technology 4 Life.

Something that I had to work harder at this week was to work diligently. I had a student ask a question where I wasn't completely sure what she was asking. I should have asked her a clarifying question so that I could have given her a more accurate response.

Week 2: Work Readiness Skills

It's Sunday evening and guess who just remembered to post on this blog! This week in review:

• I demonstrated effective communication when I met with my supervisor to confirm specifics of the task I was assigned. I'm not sure my agreement of confidentiality lets me explain the specifics of what I was doing, but I'm pretty sure it's safe to tell you all I was comparing lists of people.
• I demonstrated professionalism the entire week, wearing work-appropriate clothing and arriving early every day. Even when I slept in later than usual, I managed to get to work on time.
• I need to work on my diligence, as I found myself tempted to use my smartphone outside of my break time. I did remind myself that I would have a break soon, or that I would be done for the day soon if I felt that I wanted to check something on my smartphone, though.
• Similarly, I have a problem with dedication, because I tend to drift off a bit. Reminding myself that I was being paid for my work at Fireman's Fund Insurance kept me on track.

Week 2 Work Readiness

My supervisor and I went to see an incorrectly marked water pipeline that needed repairs. He told me what dimensions the blueprints said it was, and then we measured the actual length, they were considerably different. I asked him a few questions about what they planned to do about it, and he told me a few options they had. He had me pick one and defend my point of view with why I thought the idea would work better than the others. He then told me the advantages and disadvantages of my choice and the other choices.

This scenario demonstrates the work readiness skills:

- Demonstrate a willingness and ability to learn

- Can communicate effectively

- Asks clarifying questions

- Demonstrate a willingness to work

I could have read the blueprints and the remade blueprints more closely so I would have had a better idea in my head of the pipeline structure so I could understand where everything was on the job site right away, instead of having to think about it for a minute.

I learned the value of having an expert there, that completely understands the structure of the pipeline, and has the ability to map its locations from ground level of a pipe that is 8 feet underground, and can make the decision to purchase a critically important and expensive part(valve) to fix the problem.

Week One: Goals/Habits/Allies

Goals:    
                    Now- I want to receive a 4.0 my Junior year and gain experience and understanding of my field.
                    Future- I wish to attend a UC or Cal Poly and decide the specific type of engineering department I with to pursue. Eventually I hope to have a well paid job in my desired field.

Habits:  
                    Now- I work within a time frame (good and bad) procrastinate (bad) hard worker (good)
                    Future- Finish tasks quicker and more efficiently. I would like to become a better multitasked. I also wish to become a better public speaker.

Allies:
                    Now- My parents, teacher, and college counselor
                    Future- My employer and previous boss

Peter Jake Daniels

Goals, Habits, Allies

Goals:
     Short Term
           -Take and succeed in 5 AP classes next school year
           -Determine colleges for my interests
           -Maintain grades while playing sports
     Long Term
           -Become a Mechanical Engineer
           -Learn through experiences
           -Find a good job that I am happy with

Habits:
     -Hardworking, and willing to do what it takes to complete an assignment
     -Need to work on staying busy to keep interest
     -Don't procrastinate

Allies
    -Parents
    -Friends in workplace
    -Cousin (engineer)
    -Hopefully will gain more as I work in the internship and other future experiences

Goals/Habits/Allies

Short Term Goal:

Applying to College
 I want to get into one of the colleges of my choice such as University of Puget Sound or Lewis and Clark.

Long Term Goal:

Becoming a Computer Scientist
 I hope to become a computer scientist once I have graduated from college.

Habits:

Being Proactive
 In order to achieve my goals I will need to be proactive in everything I do. I will need not to procrastinate and stay on top of things.

Take Opportunities that Will Help Me in the Future
 I will take opportunities that are beneficial to me. I won't let anxiety keep me from doing things.

Allies:

My dad, my brother, my mother, my friends Lark, Sarah, Mattie, and Erica. I hope to find more allies with new friends I am making and will make in college.

Week 1: Goals

Goals:

I want to learn what working in the corporate world is like and if I like it. I want the experience of life with a career. I want to benefit people with my work. I want to be able to play violin really well and be able to perform in front of people. I want to get into the college of my choice.

Habits:

I am very punctual, reliable and dedicated. I am ambitious and work until my job is done. I am honest. I am not afraid to completely take responsibility for my actions. I want to communicate more efficiently.

Allies:

I know I can rely on my parents to help me get to where I want. My liason, Ms. Horton has helped me get this internship and enrolled my in this class and I know would help connect me to related things in the future. My mentor could potentially be a great ally.

Week 1: Goals, Habits, & Allies

What are my goals, habits and allies? Well...
For now:

• I hope to graduate high school with a GPA of 4.5 or higher
• I have a good habit about being on time
• I don't have any allies, unless you count my mom, who got me a data entry internship at the Civic Center last year, or my teachers for education

For the future:

• I want to be fluent in at least one programming language
• I'd like to have a better habit of completing work before the deadline
• I hope to have an ally with connections within the computer programming or video game industry

First Blog: Goals,Habits,Allies

My current goal is to help in the release of the new Skylanders game at Toys for Bob. Because I am coming in to this internship at a very stressful time I would like to make sure I am useful and helpful in the release of this upcoming title. For my future goal I want to get a computer science degree. By completing my degree I will be able to find work in the field I enjoy.

Currently an effective habit of mine is to respond to communication quickly and appropriately. For the future a habit I need to work on is making sure all work I am assigned is completed in a timely manner.

My Current ally that will help me achieve my goals is Toby Schadt my contact at Toys for Bob. He helped me get the internship position and I will be working with him during my internship to learn how to use the tools at Toys for Bob. For a future ally I will look to meet up with computer science professors. In order to achieve my goal of a computer science degree it will help a lot to have a good relationship with the professor at the school I will want to go.

Goals, Habits, Allies

Goals:
-Work on understanding directions better.
-Work on not over thinking things.
-Don't procrastinate.
-Do good in school and get into a good college.

Habits:
-Communicating.
-Turn my work in on time- be timely.

Allies:
-My mom's friend could get me an internship at her son's work for graphic designing.
-I want an ally that can introduce me to some good job opportunities.

Week #1 Post (Emily Oreste)

Where are you now? What goals do you have for the upcoming school year? Who are your most important allies to reach your goals? What habits do you have, and do you need to build, in order to reach your goals?

Goals:
My two most important goals that I have at the moment are applying to colleges by the end of 2014 and trying to not stress about school work during my senior year. In the future I hope to graduate college and find a job that can not only support me, but is something that I enjoy doing.

Habits:
Habits that I have right now include always being respectful and courteous to others along with being friendly to those around you.  Habits that I would like to have in the future would be to use my time wisely (don't procrastinate).

Allies:
People who can help me reach my goals are both of my parents because they have gone through high school before, so they know how to deal with the problems one might face.  I believe that my internship supervisor will be my ally in the future along with my other bosses in jobs that I have.

Week 1 Goals/Habits/Allies (Neil Nachnani)

Goals:

Now: 1) Want to be able to dunk a basketball.
          2) Want to learn how to play a certain song on piano.
Future: 1) Want to be able to to speak in front of audiences comfortably.
            2) Want to get into a college with a great computer science and engineering program.


Habits: 

Now: I'm always on time or early to events, meetings, or classes.

Future: I want to develop a habit of working efficiently and not getting distracted(usually by my phone).

Allies: 

Now: My teachers at school have helped me throughout my academic career and will continue to help me succeed till I get to college.

Later: I want an ally who works as a sports journalist or in the sports broadcasting field. I want to connect with other journalists across the country and see if they can point me in the right direction if I choose to pursue a career in this field.
 

Week 1 GOALS

What my goals are for the following categories:

GOALS:

Now:

-I want to be successful in collaborating with my peers and my supervisors during my time as an intern at Fireman's Fund.

Future:

-I want to get accepted to a top tier university and major in either Computer Science or Computer Engineering.

HABITS:

Now:

-I am unorganized with physical documents

Future:

-I want to manage my time better and focus more on productive activities

ALLIES:

Now:

-I have teachers, my parents, my friends, and my school counselors.

Future:

-I want connections with business personnel and computer engineers.

Week 1: Thomas Brawley


Goals Now:
To be accepted into my internship and learn a lot about my field of interest this summer

Goals Future:
To get into a good college for architectural design after high school


Habits Now:
Honest and respectful

Habits Future:
Need to stop procrastination


Allies Now:
Family

Allies Future:
Boss or supervisor

Welcome!

Welcome to the Summer Career Academy Blog for Engineering and Computer Science.  This includes all types of engineering and information technology.  Create your blog posts here.  Don't forget that each week you must (1) write a blog post, (2) comment on a post within your blog, and (3) comment on a post in a different blog group.  Any questions, just let your instructor know!

Best,
Professor Duran and Mr. Morales