Pre-course: Assess yourself as an Analytical Thinker

 

According to this assessment I tested out at the "average" range for Analytical Thinking skills.

I guess I'm no Sir Isaac Newton!

Pre-course: Assess yourself as a Creative Thinker

 

According to this assessment I came in as "strong" in my creative thinking skills area.  This doesn't surprise me as I've always leaned towards artistic and alternative means to solve problems.

 Leonardo Da Vinci is a prime example of a creative thinker, coming up with many innovative machines and concepts through his "outside of the box" style of thinking.  These results aren't shocking because Leonardo was always my favorite ninja turtle..

Pre-course: Assess yourself as a Practical Thinker

 

The lowest of my scores for thinking skills was Practical thinking.  Although these tests don't determine that you are ALL of one type of thinker (you often utilize several of these ways of thinking at once) they show you in which way your brain solves problems and functions the best.

Setting Career Goals: Activity 1

Brainstorming Goals:  Self sufficient, travel to australia, new zealand, europe, travel to NY, Boston, Arizona, Missouri, New Orleans, Open LF stores, Have magazine distributed, Clothing line in at least 24 stores, get a degree, have my own home, new car, new computer/laptop, finish my chevy nova, have an advertising firm, produce movie ideas, have children, get married, be worth over 1 billion, change the world in some small way, publish a book of my writing, publish a childrens book, be the creator of a new social network.

Priorities:

 In the next 10 years I want to have my clothing line in stores around the world.  I want to have my magazine distributed to all the far reaches of the globe and have it translated into all the languages possible.  

I will also have an advertising firm representing all of the popular brands that are trying to reach the consumer market.  I will learn how to be more organized and assertive, as well as, a more outgoing person in a social setting.

I will have traveled to places such as, Australia, Ireland, South America, Germany, UK, New Zealand, and Russia.  These trips will be for both personal and financial growth, as I will meet with companies interested in helping me achieve my goals with my clothing and magazine ventures.  

I will have houses and places to stay in just about all of these countries as I will be constantly flying and meeting with my business partners in order to keep all of my interests in line.

These priorities tell me that I would like to be the captain of my own ship and be successful at it.  I also lean towards being secure and wealthy enough to travel a lot and making my mark on the world.  

Right now I'm in the process of getting my magazine distributed and finding new stores  and markets to get my clothing line noticed and purchased by people.  I'm also in the process of going to school to acquire the skills needed to be successful on a higher level. 

My highest priority wishes are already strongly fixed in my sights and the only trade-offs I see right now is my social life. Although they are replacing my social life in a way as I'm now "business oriented" and being social in a business like manner.  It's very possible to be still social and throw parties when you are engaged in magazine and clothing line promotions.

Plan for success: Career Goals - Knowledge and Skills Activity 2

Three skills that will help me in my career that I want to develop this year:

SKILL:  Acceptance

• By six weeks from now, I will find a person I have a problem with and talk to them
• By four months from now, I will better understand people I get mad at by understanding their differences.
• By the end of this year, I will have brought myself into a more peaceful mindset by letting go of the frustration that not accepting others for what they are brings me.

SKILL:  Goal Setting

• By six weeks from now, I will set a bare bones guideline for Gore Noir Magazine
• By four months from now, I will have a marketing plan for LF clothing.
• By the end of this year, I will have long term plans and an exit strategy for both of my businesses. 

SKILL:  Teamwork

• By six weeks from now, I will reach out and find people to help me with my magazine.
• By four months from now, I will have a team set up and their roles set forth.
• By the end of this year, I will have a group that I can take a leadership role with and guide them in the direction I want the magazine to go in.

Self-Portrait Think Link Activity 3

Generating Ideas for Interships Activity 4

Career areas that I'm considering:

1. Business Owner because I'm a creative thinker that likes to utilize all of his ideas and likes to be in charge of and directly responsible for the companies future success.
2. Limo Driver because I'm an excellent driver and would like to meet new and interesting people that may help in my business endeavors.
3. Xray Technician because I like working with computers and would love to be able to see into the human body.

Potential people I could interview about their fields/professions:

1. A clothing line owner because they would have direct insight into the does and don'ts of the clothing business and how exactly to go about expanding it.
2. A professional limo driver because they will know what attributes you'll need as well as the ups and downs to being a driver of people.
3. A medical office manager because they'll know what kind of people they are looking for to fill xray technician positions and what schooling is needed.

Creatively envision your intership experience!

My internship would be to shadow and do all the tasks needed to run a business, such as, developing contacts, basic accounting, analyzing markets, developing marketing strategies, and training employees.  Each day I would set a goal for my employees for leads in getting our products more exposure and keeping in contact with distributors and manufacturers.  Each week I would take a look at key indicators to make sure that all my plans are being followed and that we are headed in the right direction.

I would take business trips to places like Australia and the UK to talk to overseas distributors about getting my products into new stores.  I would also set up parties to get new people interested in my products and show exactly what our company is about: FUN.




I would work closely with my business partners and my customers to make sure that we are providing the best product available and sticking with our company's mission.  I would also work closely with artists and musicians in order to make sure that the parties come off without a hitch and everyone is on the same page.

My main gifts and talents are my vision and creativeness.  I can come up with party ideas and clothing ideas as well as bring the proper people together.  Knowing exactly what you want your vision to end up as is key to setting goals and making sure people know exactly what they need to do in order to achieve that end vision.

Reading Skills on the Job Activity 5

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Matching Career to Curriculum Activity 6

On-the-Job Testing Activity 7

A possible career for me is Business Owner

1. What tests are required and what do they test on?

The closest thing to a test for a business owner would be a business plan and whether or not you get funding based on the plan would be your pass/fail grade.

2. When, in the course of pursuing this career, do you need to take the test?

In my case this test comes about a quarter of the way in, just before "getting serious" about my prospective businesses.

3. What prepartion is necessary for the test?

You need the projected numbers, all ideas and plans are based on who you are targeting and where.  You'll need to know what area you want to be established in, what the main demographic in that area is, and how much money is made by these individuals.

4. Will the tests need to be retaken at a later time?

If you need additional funding you'll more than likely need to revise and update your business plan in order to reflect any changes in the business structure, projected income, etc.

5. Venture into the Learning Resource Center and see if they have any sample test on hand.  What did you find out?

The best place to find sample business plans is the SBA, or Small Business Administration, and also the Business section of many libraries will also have sample business plans available.  These are good guidelines to follow and excellent sources of information when a future business owner goes to set up their business plan.

Writing Sample: A Job Interview Cover Letter Activity 8

Compiling a Resume Activity 9

⌘FSearch the document

F3Find next

⇧F3Find previous

Edit online

⌘SDownload original

Save in Google Docs

⌘PPrint (PDF)

Zoom in

Zoom out

Fit page to screen

Fit two pages to screen

⇧⌘FCompact controls

Plain HTML

Wellness at Work Activity 10

What health care is available for full-time employees?

My current employer has Blue Cross health care available for full-time employees.

How are health care options different for part-time or freelance employees?

Health care is only available for full-time employees there are no options for part-time employees to get health care.


What is the policy regarding sick days (how many are allowed, are they paid or unpaid)?

My employer allows up to 6 paid sick days per year.

List some ways your current employer promotes wellness for employees.  If you are not employed, what activities are you aware of which potential employers provide for wellness?  (ideas include clinic care and discounts on health club memberships)

My employer currently doesn't have any programs that promote wellness among it's employees.  The only things provided are for our safety such as gloves, ear protection, and goggles for eye protection.  It would be nice for my employers to offer discounts on gym memberships, maybe provide access to dietitians and things like that, in order to keep down the costs of health care in the future.

Be Specific About Your Job Needs Activity 11

 

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Revisit Your Successful Intelligence Activity 12

 

For each area, note two instances where you grew as a successfully intelligent thinker.

Analytical Skills You Employed

One:  I had an issue with inventory with my clothing company and needed to figure out a way to solve the problem.  I considered the pros and cons of several inventory methods and chose one that best solved the problem and utilized my strengths while minimizing my weaknesses.

Two:  I needed to deliver a unit of melamine which is really slippery plywood that a previous driver had fall off their truck because of it's slickness.  I needed to be able to deliver it without it falling off the truck and still not strap it down so tight that it broke the ply.  I made sure to provide protection for the ply so the straps didn't break the edges and tightened them down tight so it wouldn't slip off the truck.

Creative ideas You Developed

One:  I had an idea of getting my clothing line into more shops and didn't have a means to do this.  I thought of skateboard shops as a possible means of getting my stuff out there.  Skateboard shops are usually independently owned and operated and would be more open to edgy clothing lines than say a Hot Topic or Tillys would be.

Two:  Most clothing lines go through the normal means of advertising but I thought a novel idea would be to act like a band merch without the whole "band" part.  I would contact people about being part of a street team for the company and send them stickers and advertisements for the clothing in order to get the word out to more people without too much in way of cost.

Practical Actions You Took

One:  I had an issue with inventory with my clothing company and needed to figure out a way to solve the problem.  I considered the pros and cons of several inventory methods and chose one that best solved the problem and utilized my strengths while minimizing my weaknesses.

Two:  I needed to deliver a unit of melamine which is really slippery plywood that a previous driver had fall off their truck because of it's slickness.  I needed to be able to deliver it without it falling off the truck and still not strap it down so tight that it broke the ply.  I made sure to provide protection for the ply so the straps didn't break the edges and tightened them down tight so it wouldn't slip off the truck.