My major is Software Engineering, so the person investigated must be a engineer. The details are in the no.1 file

Kim H.

LLD 100A, Section 9

Sanders

Semi-final (3rd) draft

April 15,

2

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DISCIPLINE INVESTIGATION ASSIGNMENT

INTRODUCTION

A Discipline Investigation essay is a type of essay which guides students to explore the profession that they hope to join. After interviewing a professional of a particular field of study and doing outside research, students will learn the rules and patterns of a specific field that they wish to start their career in.

I choose business administration with a specialization in international business because I want to take a leadership role, such as a manager or a chief officer in a company. Since globalization has become a trend in doing business, an international business degree would provide me with sufficient knowledge to do business with people outside the U.S. This degree provides me with necessary skills to plan, organize, direct, and control an organization. Throughout the program, I will be studying theories and principles of accounting, finance, statistic, marketing, management, economy, and decision-making. All of the knowledge in my major will provide me with a framework to achieve my goals in my future career path, and the understanding of business administration encourages me in dealing with entrepreneurs such as the chief operating officer, business owners, managers, customers, etc. One of the reasons that leads me to choose this career is that I want to stand out from the crowd. I am a fluent user of many languages such as Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. Therefore, I want to take advantages of knowing multiple languages since I believe multilingual users have competitive advantages when they do business internationally. I know that being a manager of a firm is very stressful; however, it pays a high salary. Most of the time, managers have the opportunity to travel abroad for business. By traveling to different countries, managers would have a chance to learn new things and meet with people from different cultures.

My interviewee is Mr. Ivan, and he is now the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at company X. Company X is in the medical device industry. He has worked in the medical device industry for ten years. In this Discipline Investigation Assignment, I will introduce Mr. Ivan’s background and career path, his role and responsibilities as a COO, and his communication skills. At the end of this assignment, I will share my thoughts about what I find in my interview and research.

INTERVIEW REPORT

Background and Career Path

Mr. Ivan is Chinese-Vietnamese. He can speak Vietnamese, Chinese, and English. He immigrated to the United States of America when he was twenty-two years old. Life was not easy for him when he first came to the USA. He encountered many difficulties like language barrier, culture barrier, financial difficulties, etc. It took him eight years to obtain his first college degree in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley because he had to work and study at the same time. I asked Mr. Ivan what motivated him to pursue higher education since he had to work full time to survive. He told me that he believed education is proportional with income; it means the more you learn the more you earn. Mr. Ivan was not the only one who believed that education would help people become more successful. In the article “IMF recommends ways countries can fight income disparities without slowing economic growth” by Christopher S, the author presents one suggestion to reduce income inequality from International Monetary Fund (IMF) is that “Governments should ensure that poorer citizens have access to higher education and health care. More education can help low-income people earn more and move up the income scale.”

Mr. Ivan informed me that at the time, when he came to the USA, anything related to medical industry could have a good potential future; this was the reason why he started his career in the medical device industry. Mr. Ivan worked at many companies prior to the start at company X, and all these companies are in his field of interest. Mr. Ivan started working as a technician at a medical device company since he was in community college. After obtaining a bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley, he worked as an engineer. After two years working in his initial position, he was promoted to manager, and then director. He worked in Research and Development, and Manufacturing Departments. Since he was the director of a company, he realized a need for obtaining a MBA degree. He said that a postgraduate degree could assist him to move to the top position. In the article “When having an MBA is Important” by Beth Braccio Hering, the author cites the book The MBA Student’s Job-Seeking Bible by Elizabeth Freedman to emphasize the importance of having a MBA degree, and she cites: “Having an MBA — as opposed to just a bachelor’s degree in business — is sort of like traveling someplace by plane instead of taking the train. With either business degree, you may eventually wind up at your final ‘destination’ — but the MBA will get you there faster.”

After he had obtained his MBA degree from the University of Phoenix, he decided to leave the company and started his company X. Ivan’s position at company X is now Founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO). Mr. Ivan said that it was not easy for him to be the COO of the medical device company because not only did he have to acquire business management knowledge, but he also had to get a good grasp of mechanical engineering. He said that the qualification for COO at his company requires a BS, MS or PhD in engineering. Therefore, to him, a degree in Master of Business Administration is highly desirable. There are specific trade skills that are helpful such as medical device manufacturing technology, plastic processing technology, accounting, project management, human resource, and communication skill.

Mr. Ivan’s company has been operating for ten years. At the beginning, on one hand, Mr. Ivan had to look for investors in order to seek funding for the company. On the other hand, he had to work very hard to manage the company. He told me that writing was very important because a good writing skill would contribute a lot to a successful business plan. Having exceptional writing skills enables Mr. Ivan to compose remarkable business plans, in order to attract investors to fund his company. After putting tremendous effort to run company X, Mr. Ivan’s company is in good shape; however, Mr. Ivan also mentioned that a current job market in the medical device industry is quite unfavorable. Since the product takes a long time to achieve FDA approval, and it is costly to develop. Therefore, not a lot of companies in this field are established.

Role and Responsibilities

Mr. Ivan’s responsibility as COO consists of developing business strategies, hiring capable teams, managing budgets, designing products, overseeing manufacturing operations, interacting with a variety of people (customers, investor, physician and FDA) as well as executing marketing strategy. Mr. Ivan said that the biggest challenge is to hire the right people and keep them focused. He mentioned that it is not easy to find an employee with both technical skills and interpersonal skills, that is, someone who was capable and got the right skill set, and someone who had the right attitude, and willing to learn. In the article “Facing Down The Biggest Challenges In Manufacturing Today” by Tom Bonine, President, National Metal Fabricators, Bonine also presents the same point of view; in his article, he said that one of the most challenging issues in American manufacturing right now, from a manufacturer’s view, is finding good employee. Bonine said:

Manufacture companies today have a hard time finding employees who will show up and be on time for work, stay at their work stations, and, bottom line, stick with their jobs. When it’s hard to find reliable personnel, employers have to spend excess time hiring and training new employees, then rehiring and training new employees. This is difficult both in terms of financial costs and efficiency.

I questioned Mr. Ivan about as the COO, what smaller day-to-day tasks and skills are involved. Generally, he said that his daily tasks involve many meetings, phone calls, project reviews, talking to investors, calling meetings, reviewing budgets, and checking emails. He has lots of email correspondence. He said that every day is different. Some days he has to look at product with the design team, then reports to his investors. He also needs to talk to the CEO of the company to review complaints and resolve human resource issues. He said that the good thing is that he has his administrative assistant, who usually reviews his schedule at the beginning of the day.

Mr. Ivan also noted that his position requires lots of traveling. Some trips are to see customers and for training, others are for doing offsite tests. He also visits investors to seek funding for the company. He said that learning foreign languages would have many advantages when doing business with international partners. He mentioned that it would be easier to approach a foreigner if you can speak their language and understand their culture.

Communication skills

I asked Mr. Ivan what have been the most important communication aspects of the job. He said that he has to carefully write quarterly and monthly meeting speeches. He has to compose speeches that are motivational. Mr. Ivan said that the main objective is to make employees happy and establish trust between management and staff. He believes that when the employees are happy and trusting their managers, they could be more productive. He emphasized that it is imperative to communicate frequently with employees in both formal and informal ways. While he values frequent talks to employees in an informal manner, he prefers writing for employees’ performance reviews as he sees this is an appropriate way to formally communicate with employees. In each employee performance review, he rewards the employee for his or her positive performance, and carefully points out their deficiency in a constructive way. He said that employee performance review is a good way to give feedback to employees. In the article “Performance Reviews: Tips, Phrases & Examples for Bosses” by Chad Brooks, the author presents the same idea that most of the managers find it is useful to write the employee performance review. Brooks said, “While managers might not enjoy spending time writing their employee evaluations, they do see the benefits that come from them. A recent

study by the staffing firm Accountemps

revealed that more than 90 percent of executives feel their performance reviews are effective.”

Mr. Ivan said that, in business, good writing skill has been one of the necessities of communication. He implied that the business field involves a lot of writing; for example, he has to reply to a lot of emails regarding customer complaints; he needs to write concise reports; he also has to prepare a business proposal that is interesting but tempered with managed expectation, etc. In addition to writing skills, his job also involves a lot of reading. He reads a lot of testing protocol and reports because he has to ensure the quality of the products. He also reads medical journals such as Neurosurgery, Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Endovascular Today, Metech Insight, Today’s Medical Developments, Journal of Neurointerventional Surgery, and Medical Device Manufacturing. By studying these medical journals, on one hand, he could keep his knowledge up to date in the medical field; on the other hand, these medical journals will provide him better insights into the market in the medical device industry and help him answer questions such as what are the consumer needs? Or what medical device should he invent to satisfy the consumer needs and keep his company growing?

CONCLUSION

After interviewing Mr. Ivan and conducting the Discipline Investigation Assignment, I have learned many lessons and absorbed numerous useful information and new ideas. First, as an immigrant, I admire Mr. Ivan’s perseverance. He is a conscientious and hard-working individual who works very hard to reach his goals. Second, I learned from him the way he manages his company and deals with his employees. He pointed out to me the importance of communication and establishing trust between management and employees, which reminds me that I have to learn how to communicate effectively with others in both writing and speaking. On the one hand, it has worried me that COO positions involve a lot of writing because I am an immigrant, and I find it is difficult to write in English. However, I know that there is no other substitution; if I wanted to be a COO or manager in the future, from now on, I have to practice my writing skill. On the other hand, it is also a surprise to me to know how important the MBA degree is. After finishing my BS degree, I may obtain this postgraduate degree because I believe it will send me to the chief officer position faster.

References

Facing Down The Biggest Challenges In Manufacturing Today. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.manufacturing.net/articles/2014/03/facing-down-the-biggest-challenges-in-manufacturing-today

IMF recommends ways countries can fight income disparities without slowing economic growth (3/13/14 4:06 pm). (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.therepublic.com/w/US–Wealth-Gap-Fiscal-Policy

Performance Reviews: Tips, Phrases & Examples for Bosses. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5366-performance-review-tips-for-bosses.html

When having an MBA is Important – CNN.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/worklife/06/09/cb.when.mba.important/

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DisciplineInvestigation

D. Vo

April 3,

2

013

Introduction

The popular stereotype of a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is not all that there is when describing this profession. The typical description of accountants are detached, calculating and impersonal. Being part of accounting discourse community, accountants can prepare financial reports and statements, apply concept of accounting principle to analysis financial information, and do with the numbers. My interview with Bob Smith, a seasoned professional within the accounting field, proved that this depiction is not always right and there is much to learn about the finer details of this type of work.

Being an accountant was my accidental choice. When I was a child, I liked to play with the numbers although I did not think I would be an accountant. After graduation from high school, I applied to University of Technical Education for electrical engineer major. Then I studied there for four years but I did not graduating. When I came to the US, my brothers and sisters told me that accounting is not difficult to study and get a job, so I chose this major. My first worries disappeared since I have taken some accounting classes, and I found out that I love it.

The purpose of this essay is to relate my gathered interview information to demonstrate what I learn from the interview. This essay will give a report that communicates important information regarding the many differing aspects of this career. I will explain in detail the background and career path of my subject before describing the roles and responsibilities of Bob’s work. I will also comment on the necessary communication skills that are required to be an accountant.

Interview Report

Background and Career Path

Bob was drawn to accounting and proclaimed that he fell in love with the numbers when he began taking finance and accounting classes and the lifestyle that accompanies it. He received his bachelor’s degree business in accounting and got his job at a factory managing a warehouse. Eventually Bob went back to school and received his MPA degree. Then took CPA tests and had this certificate, making his transition into public accounting. Bob has been employed as a tax accountant for 5 years before he was an accounts receivable clerk.

Bob told me that private accounting jobs are stereotypes, boring, and little human interaction because he did not meet and talk with a lot of people. When he worked at an accounting receivable, in his department had three people work for a $320 million dollar per year division. Bob believed that this was too much work to do for this size of a group. He was overworked and did not like it.

Bob believes that public accounting fits his personality better because accountants only are busy in January or February. Bob enjoys his time and takes a break after tax season is over. He feels that he can relax and learn the new tax laws for the next year. The pacing of this job feels right to him.

Bob expressed that there are some difficult obstacles to getting hired as a CPA. These requirements which are depend on the companies. His firm requires that he has a CPA and have MPA degree. At the other companies which Bob worked for, he must have only an associate’s degree in accounting in order to do his job. Earning your MPA is essential if you really want to take your career to the next level. His coursework earning his MPA was more enjoyable than his undergraduate work due to his accumulated experience he gained before being accepted into that program.

Roles and Responsibilities

Bob’s job description is varied and entails many challenges. His business’ structure requires that he travels around to meet with his clients, so they do not have to go for hours to some offices for their taxes done. Bob spends a lot of his time at his clients’ locations preparing and working through tax forms. Furthermore, he also consults with them about how certain transactions in their taxes are made and how much tax return they can get or pay. According to Dubin et al (1992), third party accountants

“are not just passive scribes whose function is limited to relieving their clients of the mechanical requirements of return preparation. To varying degrees, they provide information on legal requirements and the penalties for their breach, develop strategies for reducing tax liability, provide counsel on the risk of executing such strategies and inform clients of topical enforcement priorities” (p. 75).

Bob is essentially a tax consultant with a negative stereotype surrounds the profession. He thinks that many people believe accountants to be stuffy people who do not get out much. This is not the case with Bob as he spends many hours traveling around the state to get agreeing or refusing by his clients. During tax season things can become intense, so Bob also enjoys spending long vacations with his family when it is over.

Traveling and meeting with clients, according to Bob, is the best part about the job. Bob stressed that it is very beneficial to have a firm and complete understanding all of the new tax laws. He finds this task of researching and locating new laws very interesting. Getting ahead of these rules and knowing them thoroughly helps him stay competitive, so he can be predicted when a certain unexpectedly happen.

Shattering another stereotype of the accountant, Bob tells that his job can be very unique and exciting. Bob’s day to day routine satisfies his personal approach. He certainly enjoys the satisfaction that he receives when he completes a long and complicated the package of tax forms about a hundred pages long. After that his clients can get their refunds. Bob’s CPA role is varied and this allows him to have a change in his day to day routine preventing it from getting old and tedious.

The seasonal approach to this job is definitely something that one must appreciate to be successful in this type of profession. He is quite busy during tax season, but to him it is not a problem because he garners much job satisfaction from his current career. There are problems at his work, and it can be stressful at times, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel for Bob. He motivates himself by always looking forward to late April when tax season is over, so he is able to pay more attention to his family and friends and rewarding himself with some more time.

During the months of January and February, his time is limited and has the bulk of his year’s work in this tax season. Bob claimed that he seems to be overwhelmed and might be making four or five trips per week, staying on the road for extended periods of time away from his family. During this heavy tax season, spending Saturdays in the office is normal. Bob knows that this is a cyclical event and he will be rewarded for his hard work later in the year as his company offers extra vacation time for those who spend over time working during this season.

Bob feels as though he is very well compensated for his efforts. Bob receives an annual salary of $79,800 per year. In the article “Best Business Jobs Accountant” in the US News website states that “According to the Labor Department, the median annual salary for an accountant was $62,850 in 2011. The best-paid 10 percent earned roughly $109,870.” Bob also receive a bonus which totaled nearly four thousand dollars on top of his salary if he meets certain expectations. The more work Bob can get done, the more he will see at his end of the year bonus.

Bob said that the qualification his current job requires a CPA degree. He would recommend accounting as a career if you hold the right personality and are not discouraged from the negative stereotypes that usually follow accountants. CPAs should be able to work with figures, numbers and regularly meets customers. These two qualifications seem simple but they are very necessary in order to achieve some success within the field. Bob feels there is a certain natural aspect to his attraction to this type of work and feels that he was drawn to it in a mysterious way. Regardless of this fact, Bob truly enjoys his work and it is perceivable. Overall, during our interview he was very excited and informative, acting almost in a proud manner but not bragging about his accomplishments.

Communication Skills

The type of reading and writing that are required in his job are reports, letters, e-mails, and narratives of financial statements. For example, He writes letters to his clients, government agencies, and his professional fellows, and they are written about his clients’ tax situation and information need for an audit. The letters are also about the agreement and management advisory. His writings are clear, completed, easy to understand, logical, friendly, and showing specific concept of accounting or tax laws which he applies. His reports are the analysis of an accounting problem and application of accounting principles to his clients’ situation. Moreover, he usually writes memos and e-mails to his supervisor and co-worker. He always double-checks everything which he writes about grammar, spelling, and words before he sends them, and he always makes sure his documents are polished and professional.

Additionally, Bob job requires communication skills because he works directly with his clients. In order to get the trust from his clients to allow him to discuss their tax return with the IRS, he has to have good oral communication skills. Bob emphasizes that communication skills are also very important to his job. If he wants to have the clients, he has to use his great communication skills so that they believe on his knowledge of tax law and accounting. Whereas he does not have these skills, he will lose the clients. Thus, he has a lot of clients, and he is very successful.

Conclusions

I was very pleased and quite surprised after my interview with Bob. It appears that being a CPA is not only not boring, but also can be exciting and fun. What struck me most was Bob’s attitude towards his work and his insistence that he was born to do this type of job. This is a very comforting and discomforting feeling at the same time. As someone who is considering a career as a public accountant, I am beginning to realize that it takes a lot of internal motivation and drive. The numbers and legal aspects of this career seem almost secondary to the fact that one must be enjoying their work to some degree in order to be successful at it.

Through discipline investigation assignment, I know that I have to improve my communication skill and writing a lot in order to get a job in this career. That is the reason why I am taking LLD 100A course, and register in Writing Center at SJSU for help me developing my writing. Furthermore, I have to look for an internship in which I can practice a lot about communication and give me more experience in this field. Last, I will take some more Public Speaking courses which also help me to improve my communication. Hopefully, after I have done all of these things, I would have a very good preparation for my job in the future.

Works Cited

Jeffery Dubin et al. “The Demand for Tax Return Preparation.” The Review of Economics and

Statistics (1992): 75-87.

State University.com Website. “Public Accountant Job Description, Career as A Public Accountant.” Viewed on March7, 2013. Retrieved from

http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/189/Accountant-Public.html

U.S.News Money Website. “Best Business Jobs Accountant” View on

March 7, 2013. Retrieved from

http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/accountant

George Mason University Website. “Effective Writing: A Handbook for Accountants (2003)”

View on 7 March 2013. Retrieved from

http://classweb.gmu.edu/WAC/somguide/accounting.htm

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LLD / ENGL 100A
Discipline Investigation Assignment
2020

Purpose and Audience

Purpose: To investigate a discourse community* (e.g. profession) you hope to join and to learn about the kinds of texts (genres) that community uses.
This assignment will enable you to identify some of those rules or patterns by interviewing a professional in your field of study and by doing outside research

Audience: Your instructor, your classmates, and other faculty members on the 100A portfolio committee.

*Discourse Community: Any group of people who form a community—a family, a neighborhood, colleagues, practitioners of a particular profession—and establish informal and formal rules regarding who gets to join their community and how spoken and written interactions (i.e. discourse) occur within the community. Anyone who wants to join that community has to learn its discourse rules and patterns.

Writing Steps

Step 1: Interview

For this assignment, you will interview a professional in your future career field to gain insight into your future discourse community. Try to select someone at a senior level, with at least five years of experience working in this field, who can provide you with a broad view of the types of work and opportunities that are available to you. Your professors in your field of study may be able to give you advice on finding a suitable interviewee. Unless you hope eventually to become a faculty member at a research university, you should not interview one of your professors.

It is preferable to interview the subject in person. The interview should cover 1) your subject’s background and career path; 2) your subject’s current role and responsibilities; and

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) your subject’s insight on the types of communication skills required for advancing in your field.

In preparation for the interview, you will work in class to develop a set of questions for your particular interviewee. You will also discuss various interviewing strategies. Before the interview, you will need to discuss with your interviewee the confidentiality of the interview. Because people sometimes share sensitive information in an interview, you may assure them that the information will be confidential and that you will not use their real name or the name of the company without their permission.

Step 2: Outside Research

Find a minimum of 2 outside sources (articles, journals) that give you additional information about your future discourse community – for example, what types of work or jobs someone in that field would have, or what the requirements will be for those jobs in the future. The outside sources must be cited
within

the Discipline Investigation report.
Make sure that the outside sources you add are relevant to the content you are discussing in that specific section and are meaningful. You must also provide in-text citation where you add these sources.
You might also research additional genres of writing that might be used in your field. Note: Step 2 can be done while you are arranging the interview. You do not have to wait until your interview is done.

Step 3: Prepare Report

Your Discipline Investigation will report the information you learned during your interview and outside research, providing an introduction and conclusion to share how your own expectations about the field may have changed or broadened in doing this assignment.

Suggested Organization

INTRODUCTION

Your introduction should include a brief overview of the discourse community you investigated for this assignment and provide a very short background on why you chose your field of study and what your expectations were before you conducted the interview and outside research.

INTERVIEW REPORT

Background & Career Path

Introduce your interview subject, giving details of the subject’s background and education to show why the subject chose that profession and how he/she got started in the field. You will also need to give some explanation of the subject’s career path so far, highlighting particular positions or stepping stones to the current role. Possible topics to discuss in this section include:

· What requirements or skills were needed before entering the field

· The expectations and surprises your subject had in entering that profession

· Jobs your subject had leading up to the current position

Outside sources (articles) that add additional or supporting information may be used in this section.

Roles & Responsibilities

Provide an overview of your interview subject’s current role at his/her place of employment, explaining the responsibilities of that position and how it fits into the overall structure of the company or organization. Your subject should also give you a general sense of the types of jobs and career paths common in that field. Possible topics to discuss in this section include:

· The subject’s job responsibilities in his/her place of employment

· Types of jobs people in this profession have

· The skills and qualifications your subject’s job requires

· The biggest challenges the subject faces in this job

Outside sources (articles) that add additional or supporting information may be used in this section.

Communication Skills

Explain the types of reading and writing typically required in your field of interest. Provide an overview of the communication skills that are most important in your field. For example, some occupations demand the ability to work collaboratively on reports, while others may require an ability to respond clearly and concisely to time-sensitive email inquiries. Possible topics include:

· The types of reading and writing required in your subject’s daily responsibilities

· The typical audience for written communication (co-workers, clients, general public, etc.)

· The communication skills your subject finds most important in his/her role

Outside sources (articles) that add additional or supporting information may be used in this section.

CONCLUSION

Share your thoughts on what most surprised or interested you about your interview and research. Did it change your expectations about your chosen field? For the remainder of your undergraduate studies, what further skills, knowledge, or experience (such as an internship) will you need to develop to help prepare you for the start of your career?

REFERENCES

Include a list of your outside sources (at least two are required). Use the style that is used in your field of interest (for example, APA, MLA, etc.).
Do not forget to include in text citations in the report

.

Format Guidelines

Your final draft should be approximately 1500 words, with 1-inch margins and 12 point font, Times New Roman. The report should have headings (in capitals and bolded) to guide the reader. Please number your pages.

Peer Review

All students must bring the following to the peer review:

· A draft of the complete report; include links to the outside sources you used.

· A copy of the interview questions you used

· A copy of the peer review sheet; remember to include any questions which you would like your peer reviewer to answer about the content and organization of your draft.

During the peer review session, you will provide written feedback on his/her paper.

Teacher Conference

Use the feedback from your peer to revise your writing in preparation for a conference with your instructor. Bring to the conference:

· A draft of the final report (you will annotate both the document and your own report based on your instructor’s feedback); include links to the outside sources you used and a list of the interview questions you asked;

· A copy of the peer review.

Important Dates

First draft due (1300 words min); Mandatory peer review

Conference with instructor — bring a 2nd draft based on peer review (1400 words min)

Semi-Final draft due on Canvas (1500 words)

Things to Keep for the Portfolio

· All drafts produced for this assignment

· A copy of your instructor’s comments and your peer’s comments on your earlier drafts

· A clean (unmarked) copy of your final draft.

� This assignment has been adapted from a similar one developed by Julian Heather and Fiona Glade at CSU Sacramento.

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Adding research to the DI

Requirement—Two references from different sources (given in the DI assignment guidelines)

· Use references to support points you make – what you have learned from the interview

If you say that the job is very well paid you could cite some source that gives average salaries in the field

· Be sure the reference really supports the point

If you say the job is well paid and your reference gives low numbers, the reference is not effective

· Be sure the reference is connected to the point

If you are talking about salaries the reference should be about salaries and not some other aspect.

The job is very well paid. In an article it states that today there are many jobs in the field.

· Be sure the reference furthers/ strengthens the point, it contributes to the point being discussed, and has not been put there simply because it is required.

XYZ shop is doing well since it is located downtown. XYZ is situated on First St. The website for XYZ states that the address is 2100 First St.

This is a totally ineffective addition, and has been thrown in only to fulfill the requirement of two references.

· References should be worked into the paragraph. There should be a flow and the reader should not feel the reference has been abruptly thrust into the paragraph.

In this paragraph the reference is tied to the point being made and there is a flow:

1) According to the article, “Royal Clinical Medical Record Analyst / RN – Registered Nurse,” a registered nurse must “be prepared to produce an outline of time spent; organizing a chart for review, gathering documents pertaining to the record as needed, research as indicated.” In other words, a Registered Nurse must have the ability to write routine reports and talk about it in front of members of the health teams. Mrs. C said that she had to everyday write reports about her patients’ illness, how they were feeling, and the types of medicine they took. After that she had to report it to the juries.

· If the quote needs explanation, be sure to explain it and connect it to the idea in the paragraph.

Source:R. Joseph

Choosing a person to interview for the D.I.

When choosing a person to interview, keep in mind the purpose of the interview:

· to gain insight into your future discourse community

· to explore the types of work and opportunities available in your chosen profession

The person you choose must be:

· a professional in your field (preferably working in a job you hope to do in the future)

· someone with experience (minimum three years experience in the field, to be able to give you a broad view of the field, work and opportunities)

·

someone who you can interview in person (at least the first interview should be in person), preferably in English (this makes it easier to write about in English)

· someone willing to share information about their background, career path and knowledge in the field particularly on the communication skills required for the field. (This should not be a problem since most people do like to talk.)

(The first two are requirements; the second two make for good interviews)

Do not interview your professor unless you plan to become a professor. (In some cases, you may have a professor who has worked or is still working in the field. In such cases, you can interview the person, but only about work in the field. If your professor has not been in the field for a long time, it will be better to find someone who will have current, working knowledge of the field.)

Finding a person:

Talk to your professor (in your major) for suggestions (your best source, they often have

strong contacts in the industry)

Talk to family members

Talk to peers, seniors who have started working (their boss could be a good candidate)

Talk to members of a fraternity or association you belong to

Talk to friends, neighbors (a student of mine found someone by talking to her

hairdresser, who referred her to another client of the hairdresser)

Discipline Investigation Outline

Introduction –

* overview of the field being investigated (what) and the writer’s connection to this

discourse community (why)

* brief preface to who was interviewed for the assignment (“name” and specific job title)

* brief map of the organization of the paper to follow (preview statement)

Interview Report

Background and Career Path

— How the informant began his/her “journey” in the career:

* Initial interest and requirements and skills needed (“stepping stones” – education,

training, etc.)

* Expectations and any “surprises” or challenges the informant experienced along the

way

* Any additional reference to enhance this discussion of the field

Roles and Responsibilities

— the informant’s detailed job description

* Overall qualifications and responsibilities + how the position fits in the overall

structure of the company (macro-level)

* Smaller day-to-day tasks and skills involved (micro-level)

* Challenges of the job and how the informant deals with them

* Other types of jobs/positions related to the profession

* Any additional reference to enhance this discussion of the field

Communication Skills

* The types of reading and writing mostly done on-the-job

* The typical audience for written communications

* The most important communication aspects of the job (especially in regards to writing)

* Any additional reference to enhance this discussion of the field

Conclusions

* A reflection of what was learned through this D.I. – new insight(s) the writer

gained, and any “surprises” that differed from or added to the initial expectations of the

field

* A discussion of what the writer believes is still needed in his or her preparation and

development for the profession

Works Cited/References – list of outside sources used

* full citations of sources included under “Works Cited” or “References” at the end of the report

– no separate page needed

** A minimum of 2 sources to supplement information about the career/discipline must be integrated into the report – these references may occur in any section(s) of the body of the paper. Sources cited in-text should follow a consistent citation style.