Interview Reflection

Since I just got finished I figured I'd go ahead and reflect on the interview.

Personally, I find the SecondLife interview is much different than the in person interview. The questions and answers are about the same, but the timing effect is interesting. I felt like my answers were running long because it takes a minute to type. Also on timing, because you can think about what you are saying I felt like I was making Angie wait for an answer. In person I wouldn't want to make the interviewer wait so I might fumble an answer a bit trying to formulate ideas. Of course with proper preparation that really shouldn't happen, but it's possible.

I think the mock interview went well but I have to say I still prefer the in person interview. It all goes back to body language. I felt (for some reason) awkwardly stiff in the SL interview. Maybe it's because I was typing in full punctuation and I had the time pull every word I wanted to use out of my head. In my co-op interviews, one of the interviewers and I were more laid back. We kind of joked around through more of the interview. They ended up offering me a job, and I ended up taking it. It's just...well...different on SL.

Free Write

I don't have too much to randomly write about this week, so I'll just give a run down of what my weekend consisted of. Friday I went back home to Goose Creek to see my parents and sister. They were finishing up a new sun room on the back of the house and a rebuild of the back deck. It looks great. Saturday I went with my mom to Circuit City to look at TVs for the new room. We picked out a nice one and got a great deal on it. Of course we had to go through customer service to get the no interest financing which took about two hours to complete all the paper work because whoever runs the employees over there at Circuit City decided to schedule one woman to work the Customer Service desk in the middle of a Saturday. So after being at Circuit City for three hours or so, we finally got our brand new TV, Home Theater, and TV stand.

Being that I was in Goose Creek and a couple of old friends were in town, we tried to find something to do. I forgot that there isn't ever anything to do in Goose Creek so we failed at finding entertainment. I ended up going to bed early.

This morning I woke up, set up my parents' new speakers in the sun room and left to come back to Clemson. The drive was long, and boring. Overall it was a pretty lazy, uneventful weekend.

Cover Letters

I think that most of the information that web site provided about cover letters was pertinent. It seems that they are saying a person should be very pushy, which I can see working in the large company world. In a small company I feel like a cover letter could be a bit more relaxed. I do agree with the idea that you cannot sit back on your hands and wait for the businesses to call you, though.

I was really not away of the idea of a cover letter at all. I went through the Co-Op process here at Clemson and have had my resume checked over a few times but they never mentioned a cover letter. That might be because there was not a formal introduction needed; the companies came to Clemson and we met in a room in Hendrix. So because of my lack of knowledge of the cover letter, I will use all the information as best as possible.

Second Life Interviews

I think that an interview in Second Life can only be considered apt in very specific situations. As a very brief introductory interview aimed at weeding out people who are purely bad for the position a SL interview would be applicable. It could also be appealing to a person looking for a position that is online, where no actual face to face interaction is needed in the job. A SL interview would be good for a tech support person because the interviewer could get an idea of how a possible employee talks and acts online.

It would be good for weeding people out because it would save time and money by not needing a possible employee to come in to the office to get an interview. If the person lived across the country an employer could get a general idea of someone's qualifications before inviting them out to be interviewed.

In the long run I think that a Second Life interview is about the same as a phone interview. It is an informal way to get a basic idea of a possible employee. I don't think it will ever reach the formality and utility of a face to face interview.

Persuasive Writing

In "Letter From Birmingham Jail" King is very persuasive by attempting to appeal to emotion. In one paragraph he speaks of the idea behind all his protest is love. He shows this in his writing by writing about all the atrocities committed by police and other white people upon black people during the Civil Rights movement. Even though it is a written letter, the reader can sense the emotion behind it. King is obviously angered by the events but does not come off in his letter as accusatory or venomous.

Being that I am a political science major I chose to look at the campaign website of Barack Obama, particularly his stance on the economy. Most of the writing on the site is not so much supported by emotion as it is fact and promise. His economic policy is mostly proposed compromises such as instating better health care and supporting small business. The web site as a whole is very different in ways of persuasion than "Letter From Birmingham Jail" because it lacks emotion. It is intended to inform and persuade a person to vote for Obama because of his stance on certain issues, not because he is emotionally and dramatically calling for change. I will note that Obama can certainly insight some emotion in people through his speeches as he is an excellent orator.