This past week focused on three main projects: finalizing my resumé, beginning cold calls, and beginning to think about a topic for my mid-term research project. All three projects are big steps towards entering the professional environment and actually beginning work in the research field. The mid-term research project is a big task, so small steps, like I took in my research assessment this week, are a big help. My resumé was a relief to have done; however, cold calling presents an entirely new set of difficulties.

 

Finishing my resumé was actually not too difficult, as I had done most of the work prior to submitting the rough draft. This week we took time to really focus on the details, as well as receive tips from our peers. The peer review was extremely helpful, because several people were able to point out things that I hadn’t noticed or even thought about. One of the tips I found most helpful was on the color of my subtitles. I had chosen to use a bright blue which looked really good on the dark half of the resumé, but I hadn’t noticed that it was difficult to read on the white portion of the resumé. Someone pointed this out to me, and I was able to change the color to something more appropriate. I made a few other minute changes, and am now very happy with my final resumé.

 

Now that resumés are done, however, I have to begin cold calls. The steps I took to ensure I would be successful included recording a voicemail, which I tried to keep simple and professional, studying the template for calling professionals, and determining which professionals I want to call first. This last step (choosing which professionals I want to call in what order) was based on who I wanted to work with most. I chose the people I most wanted to work with to be the last ones I called so that if and when I mess up on the earlier calls, it won’t be as big of a deal. I am excited (but nervous) to begin cold calls, and I think the things I need to focus the most on are not being scripted, being professional, and not using filler words.

 

The final project I worked on this week was the weekly research assessment. I used this assessment as a chance to begin to explore what I would like to work on as my independent project for the december presentation. I did research on the flu vaccine, and learned that only about half the population chooses to get their flu shots. This might be an interesting project because I could look at how many people get vaccines (flu and otherwise), and how to make vaccines more accessible to the public. I would have people fill out a google survey, do more research, and proceed from there. I think I would really enjoy this topic, but I don’t want to close myself off to other possibilities yet, so I will keep looking.

 

Overall, the week has been successful in getting ready for the business symposium next week and getting ready to meet professionals. In addition to the tasks listed above, I brought in materials for my portfolio and began work on my digital portfolio. I also purchased a folio and set up my professional email.