Reflective Post #12: The Conclusion of my Internship

As the semester quickly approaches its end, I am disappointed that my internship experience has gone by so quickly and is now complete. However, I am glad that I had such a positive experience as an intern at the National White Collar Crime Center, and I know that I have developed skills through my internship that will be very beneficial in the future. After learning more about my classmates’ internships, I began to consider which specific qualities of my site helped to make my internship a rewarding and enjoyable experience.

As an intern at NW3C, I felt that I was welcome within the organization and that I fulfilled a specific role in the curriculum development team. I feel that the friendliness of my supervisor and coworkers was a major contributing factor to my experience. Although I new little about white collar crime prior to the start of my internship, I did not feel intimidated by the topic or by the content of the documents that I was working with. Instead, I felt that the people that I worked with were encouraging and willing to assist me in gaining a better understanding of the material. As a result, I became quite eager to learn more about the organization and to find ways that I could use my professional writing and editing skills to help improve the documents created by NW3C.

In addition to the kindness of the NW3C staff, I also think that my prior education and experience in professional writing and editing helped me to make the most of my internship experience. I started my internship with the confidence that I had the necessary skills to work as a writer and editor in a professional environment. Still, I was not yet sure as to how I would make use of these skills. However, I soon discovered that the National White Collar Crime Center was an excellent place for a professional writing and editing student to gain valuable work experience. Through my internship, I was able to make use of the skills I had acquired as an undergraduate and also develop new skills in writing and editing. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to work with an organization that was such an excellent fit for my studies and interests and to also work with a group of people who were extremely helpful and encouraging of my abilities.

Reflective Post #11: Choices for my Final Portfolio

When I started planning my final portfolio, I considered how I would make use of my poster materials and incorporate the writing I already completed for my poster into my electronic portfolio. I decided to use the same three main topics that I used for my poster in my portfolio. I listed these main headings, Research, Layout Design, and Editing and Revision, in the menu bar at the top of the homepage. In addition to these three headings, I decided to also include my reflective essay and my résumé as subject headings. I felt that this type of layout would be easy to navigate through. If a potential employer were to view my electronic profile, he or she could easily see the skills that I have chosen to highlight and could also access my easily access my résumé.

I was initially unsure as to where in my portfolio I wanted to include my reflective essay. I viewed portfolios of previous students and found that some of them used their reflective essay as their introduction on their homepage. While this approach functioned well in some portfolios, I instead decided to include my reflective essay as the second to last item in my menu bar on my homepage, prior to my résumé. Since I used my reflective essay to summarize what I have learned about successful professional writing, I felt that it was best placed after I explained the specific skill areas I have worked in. My reflective essay builds off of my explanations and reflections in the Research, Layout Design, and Editing and Revision sections. Therefore, readers will better understand my reflective essay if they first read the previous sections.

Although I was not required to include my résumé in my final portfolio, I decided that this addition would help readers to learn more about me as an individual and my interests and experiences outside of professional writing and editing. Writers and editors work in an assortment of fields, and my various work and volunteer experiences could serve as a valuable background in many professional writing positions. Thus, if I were to distribute my portfolio to potential employers in the future, they could easily view this information on my résumé and even print out the PDF version.

Reflective Post #10: Planning for Final Poster Project

With the end of the semester quickly approaching, I have been very busy working on my Professional Writing and Editing poster as well as my final electronic portfolio. I first started gathering my work and organizing my thoughts in preparation for my poster. Since I cannot display specific documents on my PWE poster, I needed to develop a different method for highlighting my work. I knew that I would need to use my reflective writing skills to describe the types of tasks I have been working on and the skills I have developed through this work. However, I did not want my poster to be weighed down by text and to be less visually interesting to viewers. Therefore, I tried to vary the content of the poster and to include graphics and, when possible, examples in each section.

In addition to the title and the National White Collar Crime Center logo, I have divided my poster into five different sections. The first section is titled, “The National White Collar Crime Center: What Do We Do?” In this section, I explain what type of organization I worked for and what type of products and information the National White Collar Crime Center provides. I also include the vision and mission of the organization in this section. The next section of my poster is titled, “My Internship.” This section discusses my role as a curriculum development intern and my key responsibilities within the organization. I plan to display these two sections in the center of my poster. The right and left sides of my poster will feature explanations of my work. These explanations will be divided into three sections, page layout, research, and editing and revision. In each of these sections, I explain the details of the projects I worked with and how I contributed to their completion and/or improvement. Throughout the different sections, I include various graphics and examples of my work.

Though I have not yet constructed the poster in its final form, I feel that the format I have planned will be a successful method for displaying my work. Looking forward to the planning of my final electronic portfolio, I am curious as to how I will incorporate the information I am using on my poster in my portfolio. Although the design of the portfolio will be somewhat different from the design of the poster, I think that my work in planning and creating the poster will provide a helpful starting point for the final portfolio.

Reflective Post #9: My Professional Personality

After reading chapter 2 of Portfolios for Technical and Professional Communicators, I began to consider how I would like my final portfolio to represent my professional personality. The chapter, titled “Creating a Portfolio Identity,” encouraged me to consider my own strengths in the workplace as well as my preferences in work environments. The chapter suggests that students take an online personality and career test. Therefore, I decided to take the Keirsey Temperament Sorter assessment to discover more about my personality will be influential in my future career.

According to the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, I am an idealist. Idealists are “passionately concerned with personal growth and development.” As stated by my Keirsey Temperament Sorter results, “idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self – always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination.” I feel that this assessment is a very accurate description of my professional personality and my motivation to pursue a career in technical communication. The results also say that “idealists are naturally drawn to working with people.” I think that this is very true about my own working habits. Although I am sometimes shy when working with individuals that I am not familiar with, I am eager to interact with others and I enjoy working within friendly, social environments.

The chapter also encouraged me to consider how I see myself as a professional. I view myself as a highly motivated and enthusiastic professional. I am eager to learn, and I seek out opportunities to study topics that are new to me. I also think that I strive for success and I enjoy the sense of accomplishment I feel after completing a task or an assignment. I have also recently realized that I prefer to work on assignments that allow room for creativity. During one of our earlier class meetings, we discussed the importance of bringing our own creativity to our work as interns if possible. Prior to the start of my internship, I was somewhat nervous as to how I would take a creative approach to my writing. However, I now feel that my portfolio will provide me with an opportunity to creatively present my work and to demonstrate my acquired skills. I feel that as I enter the professional world, I will strive to continue to take creative approaches to my work. In terms of work environment, I think that I would like to work in an organization where I would interact with other people but also work independently. However, I am very flexible and would be willing to work in a variety of environments.

Smith, Herb J., and Kim Haimes-Korn. Portfolios for Technical and Professional Communicators. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007. Print.

Reflective Post #8: Revising, Brainstorming, and Portfolio Planning

Recently, I have spent much of my time at my internship working with other members of the curriculum development team revising presentations, brainstorming, and discussing my options for my final portfolio. This work has differed from my past projects, which mainly required independent work. When working with others in revision processes, I have had the opportunity to observe editing techniques and to see first-hand how suggested edits are incorporated into final versions of documents. When I revised text on my own in the past, I sometimes faced dilemmas regarding company format. However, working with more experienced writers has helped me to resolve these concerns and to remember important elements of grammar and format that will likely be beneficial in my work later in the semester.

Brainstorming in a professional environment is a task that is somewhat new to me. Though I have participated in brainstorming sessions in some of my professional writing and editing classes, I was still curious to see how these sessions would contribute to the production of a NW3C course. The goal of the brainstorming session I participated in was to develop an activity for a course that is currently in production. The brainstorming process was used to exchange ideas and to receive input on possible activities. After the group decided on a specific activity, we distributed the work by assigning each person a separate task. I enjoyed participating in the brainstorming group because I observed the importance of teamwork and the valuable input that each person’s perspective can make on the production of a final product.

In addition to revision, editing, and brainstorming, I have also been spending time exploring my options for my portfolio of internship materials. Since I cannot publish my materials on the Internet, I have decided to use a CD format for the presentation of my work. I am especially excited to start working on this CD because I feel that I will be able to incorporate my own creativity into the style and formatting of my portfolio. Also, it will be interesting to see how my portfolio is similar to the courses I have worked on that are also accessible in CD format. As I will be working with NW3C staff members to create the portfolio, it will be interesting to learn about the programs used to create CDs and to gain experience in this area.

Reflective Post #7: Response to “Moving Beyond the Academic Community: Transitional Stages in Professional Writing”

In reading Chris M. Anson and L. Lee Forsberg’s research study, “Moving Beyond the Academic Community: Transitional Stages in Professional Writing,” I noticed both similarities and differences between my internship experience and the experiences of the interns described in the study. I was surprised by the severity of the struggles the student interns faced and the alienation they felt in the workplace. Many of the interns that participated in the study found it difficult to find their place within the organizations they were working for. I realize that I have been fortunate in that my experience has been largely positive thus far. Although I have faced my own challenges, I feel that my work as an intern throughout the first half of the semester has been productive, and I look forward to continuing to work with NW3C throughout the rest of the semester.

Though my feelings towards my internship experience differ from those of the students described in the research study, I do feel that Anson and Forsberg provide valuable insight into the role of a writing intern in a professional organization. In the “Transition and Resolution” section of the study, Anson and Forsberg state, “Most of our writers took initiative to gain experience in their internship and to make a contribution in the workplace. It seemed to be a point at which they could merge their own goals with those of the organization” (219). I feel that setting realistic goals is key to a rewarding internship experience. I also feel that it is important to remain flexible in regard to time frames and deadlines. However, as further stated by Anson and Forsberg, “the ability to achieve success in a new writing context [does not rest] solely with the writer” (226). Of the interns that participated in the study, “the two (Louise and Joan) who had supervisors willing to act as mentors, even to a small degree, made easier adjustments than did interns who had less communicative supervisors” (226). I am fortunate that my supervisor, as well as the other members of the curriculum development team, is willing to assist me and to answer my questions about my writing.

Anson and Forsberg go on to discuss the process of transition from the academic to professional community in stating that, “the writer must first become a ‘reader’ of a context before he or she can become ‘literate’ within it” (225). I have found this to be especially true in my own experience as a professional writing intern. In order to make effective edits and revisions, I must first read over the documents I am working with in order to understand their context. Most of the documents I have worked with are intended for a specific audience, and I have found that it is helpful to consider the audience when reviewing the documents. I also must remain aware of information that changes with time and must be updated in order to ensure document correctness. While Anson and Forsberg’s study describes experiences of specific interns, I feel that their discussions and conclusions are reflective of writing interns in a variety of professional environments and situations.

Works Cited:

Anson, Chris M., and L. Lee Forsberg. “Moving Beyond the Academic Community: Transitional Stages in Professional Writing.” Written Communication 7.2 (1990): 200-231. Online.

Reflective Post #6: Various Roles of an Editor

As I complete my work on my first long-term project, I am reminded of discussions I have taken part in during my Professional Writing and Editing courses concerning an editor’s participation in the creation of a document. I remember discussing the differences in the role of an editor depending on when he or she begins working on the project. I have considered whether it is more productive for an editor to be involved in a project from the start, before the actual writing begins, or to view the document after it has been created. When an editor has the opportunity to work with the writer from the start, he or she can offer input on stylistic choices as well as the format of the text. Also, the editor can correct grammatical errors early on so that the writer does not frequently repeat mistakes. Still, an editor who has not been involved in the composing of a document brings a different perspective to the writing and can notice flaws in a document that the writer and even other editors have overlooked. Though an editor’s responsibilities and level of involvement with a document may vary, his or her presence in the writing process works to ensure accuracy and reader usability.

My own editing and revisions thus far have mainly involved previously completed documents. I have found that I enjoy this type of editing because it allows me to learn from writers that currently work for NW3C or who have worked for the company in the past. Although I offer my own opinions concerning the text and possible changes to the documents, I continue to take note of the ways that NW3C writers present complex information and how they direct their writing to meet the needs of their intended audience. I feel that paying attention to these details will be helpful as I continue to complete tasks involving writing, editing, and revision in the future.

In addition to considering the diverse roles of an editor in a professional workplace, I have also started to think about how an editor’s level of expertise influences his or her edits and revisions. At first, I thought that my lack of experience with and knowledge of white collar crime may become an obstacle in my work as an intern. However, I now realize that many of the individuals who take the courses created by NW3C are not experts in the field. Therefore, I hope that I bring insight into how a student who has not been previously exposed to the course subject may respond to and learn from the presented information. As I continue my work, I hope to learn more about the study of white collar crime, as well as how the curriculum developers at NW3C communicate information to course students.