Professionalism can be describe as; “The strict adherence to courtesy, honesty and responsibility when dealing with individuals or other companies in the business environment. This trait often includes a high level of excellence going above and beyond basic requirements.” However, work ethic is usually concerned with the personal values demonstrated by business owners or entrepreneurs and instilled in the company’s employees. The good work ethic may include completing tasks in a timely manner with the highest quality possible and taking pride in completed tasks.
Considering the paragraph I just mentioned and taking the Business Professionalism class here at Kirkwood. The class itself has put these two factors, along with other important subjects, first impressions, cultural awareness, dining etiquette, professional organizations (D.E.C.A), clear communication, professional communication and add networking to complete the overall class curriculum. Learning about these subjects has been enlightening and a good refresher course for preparing for life in business after school. What I will do now is elaborate on what specific professional skills and knowledge from these topics I learned.
My thoughts on first impressions in a business, is as taught in the class. You must be dressed to impress, but not only look the part. You must show that you are a polished individual in the art of professionalism because it only takes three to five seconds to make a first impression. Speaking clearly when you have the opportunity to voice your thoughts. Keep your body movements positive because you can give off the wrong impression with body language and the pitch of your voice. The sound of it needs to be measured because you want to be sure not to over talk someone. This covers the three face-to-face components, words, tone of voice and body language. I have used these three components in many jobs that I have interviewed and worked for. These components help in working in a team environments and when working with managers. I have also learned these subject components participating in the Kirkwood Continuing Education program called the “Customer Contact Training Program”. Which I will revisit this program later in my paper.
But what we learned overall from the First Impression topic is to make sure you stand up when greeting individuals of power in a company. Shake their hands firmly, but not aggressively, and give no “Queen Handshakes” to women in power positions. Maintain eye contact to make sure that the person you are communicating with understands that they have your full undivided attention. Smile and have good posture to demonstrate a positive image about yourself.
Continuing with the learning of unit two which covers proper Dining Etiquette in a business setting. This topic continues to be the most interesting topic of the entire class. Simply because I have not used it before and it is good to know how to have proper dining etiquette if I am ever on a business dinner with professionals in the same office or field I am in. I will definitely use these skills to make a good impression and that may lead to closing a deal or help concluding an interview process for a new position. Simple things, like learning about proper placement of silverware on a dining table, working from the left to the right with the silverware and leaving your napkin in your seat so the waiter knows that you are coming back to your seat and not to remove your dinner plate. Interesting to say the least of this topic and how I will use it in the future. Cultural Awareness is a topic I also appreciated about the class. With the growth of diversity in the business world and the global changes included, makes this topics worth paying attention to. I say this because when you pay attention to a company like Rockwell Collins. You see the international employees that have come over from other countries to work for the company. How is this knowledge put to good use? You understand the do’s and do not when communicating with someone from another nationality. The four dimensions to understanding cultural differences, which are. Individualism, to help you understand personal space. Formality, understanding other cultures valued traditions and indirectness. Communication Style, understanding how other cultures may not be as literal as people from the US can be. Time orientation, be clear to understand that other nationalities see time as infinite and a never ending resource. Among other things to understand about cultural awareness is to minimize misunderstanding when dealing with people of other cultures. Usage of simple English, enunciate, encourage feedback, accepting blame, and learn to adopt local lifestyles. I will have to make sure in the future to understand this topic because it is definitely likely to happen in my field of study. Being culturally intelligent and able to function with this change in the business world. Can go along way when working in a diverse company. Another topic I will most likely struggle with in future endeavors, is joining organizations. D.E.C.A is a great organization that we learned about in Professionalism class, however, I am not inclined to join or participate in these type of events. I know that it may hurt my ability to network and possibly make connections that could only help me, but it does not work for my current lifestyle. I would not be able to make the trips to the events and participate in the business meets. From what I understand about D.E.C.A from the videos we watched. Is that people adore these events and the time they spent connecting with others. I know that there are awards given for accolades earned, hands on experimental learning methods, projects based activities that strengthen creativity, improves your ability to compete in a business environment, and encourages leadership qualities. I understand what I would be missing, but I still look forward to the virtual class simulation in the upcoming semester.
The Networking factor however, I appreciated this topic very much. Learning how to create a networking base to make your job searching abilities more powerful, which would help you gain a job faster than you would, if were not using these practices. Planning and researching the jobs you plan to apply for can help you greatly. Sharing copies of your resume, asking for ideas about where you might turn to look to be more successful in your searches, and notifying those who helped you find the new opportunity and thank them for the lead. This goes the same for when you accept a new position to send an email to your interviewer and thank them as well for selecting you. Learning how to start contacting people you already know to start your job hunt, giving your contacts adequate information, keeping records of your networking activities and following through on the information that you are given about job leads.
These tips can help you in the networking process through Social Media outlets. Another topic we covered during our class time. The person to person networking factor also works in conjunction with social media networking on sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. However, making sure that these media outlets that you are using remain professional. The last thing you want to project about yourself, is that you are not professional all the time. You do not want to damage the image of yourself or ruin your opportunity to make a first impression. I would not use Facebook, but I would make sure that my LinkedIn social networking site has a professional picture.
I use this class topic all the time. Even you though you have a job, you cannot stop looking for the next best thing or opportunity in the business world. Staying flexible and willing to accept change will help you. Which leads me to the next subject we covered, Career Services. I have been to the Kirkwood Career Services Center and I have asked for help from them. But, I found that their skills are no different than those at the Iowa Workforce Development Center. I participated in resume and cover letter workshops, how to interview stronger when asked certain questions made to make you stumble in your words to project inconsistencies about your statement and answers the interviewer questions. Which also brings me back to something I said I would revisit later, the Kirkwood Customer Contact Training Program. In this program we had to visit the Career Service Center to receive help with how to create a functional, chronological and working resume to draw attention to your resume from the company you are applying with. It also involved some networking as well with receiving business cards from prospective hiring companies we were training for. As you can see, outside of D.E.C.A and Dining etiquette. I have been doing some of the essentials of the Business Professionalism class for a very long time and this class has reinforced the basics and given me updated information about changes in the business world and that makes me a stronger applicant when applying for new jobs opportunities. The Interviewing Assignment process was new to me. I interviewed a very strong candidate who has vast knowledge and networking outlets, Lori Merlak. With this assignment, I had the chance to see how it feels to be on the other side of the interview process. Understand how to read an applicant and understand the information given and ask for clarity when a question is not fully answered. Although we had a set of questions that were already implemented into the assignment for various learning reasons. I tried to gain some insight from her interviewing skills and how she spoke when asked a question. Being eloquently spoken, using action words, and adjectives for description without saying so much. Answer the questions and do not provide details if not requested by the interviewer. I learned a lot from that interview process and it help me gain employment soon after. Also applying skill sets from the first unit. Introducing myself by first and last name, shaking the hands of everyone I met in the office during my interview process. Thanking each and every individual once my interview was over. Staying in contact and following up on the selection process. Communicating well verbally in person or over the phone and via email. All of these steps learned from Mrs. Merlak help me with my own interview process. You asked me to provide specific professionalism skills and knowledge learned during this class section. I have provided many skills learned and some skills I already had that were reinforced with new ideals of what to expect in the business world my field of study is leading me into. Specific professional skills that were strengthened as a result of this class section. I have provided details on how communicating in interviews and in person can make or break you in your job search. Making a first impression when meeting people in power positions of a company. How presentation of yourself can be big in helping you gain employment, teamwork when working with individuals in a culturally diverse company. How dining etiquette is important and learning the basic of table etiquette can be intriguing. I covered past experiences with the IWD, Kirkwood Career Services, and how the Customer Contact Training Program provided prior information on how to network with companies that you visit during your training process. This also correlates with the job fair the students had to attend to get an idea of what companies are looking for from their applicants. This process was the same as the Customer Contact Training Program, when trainees had to take tours of facilities and meet with staff to gather information on which company we wanted to apply for, but also pick the staffs brains to find out what they were looking for from us as prospects. I have covered many things learned and appreciated about Business Professionalism class.
In closing, I hope that you have gained a clear understanding of my time in the Business Professionalism class this semester. I hope this paper meets the standards of professionalism and structure set by the guideline expectations of the final reflection. Thank you for taking the time to read this paper.