Assignment

1.  National Sheriffs' Association
 http://www.sheriffs.org/

 National Sheriffs' Association is a professional association dedicated to serving the Office of Sheriff and its affiliates through education, training, and information resources. NSA represents thousands of sheriffs, deputies and other law enforcement, public safety professionals, and concerned citizens nationwide.

2. International Union of Police Association
http://www.ipa-usa.org/index.php

The IPA is a non-profit, worldwide fraternal organization whose membership consists solely of active and retired law enforcement personnel. Their organization is not connected with or influenced by any union, police or governmental agency or any outside interests. The association promotes global and cultural friendship among peace officers. Since this is an international organization, one of the major advantages relates to travel. The emphasis of the organization is friendship. There is an annual national, and an annual international convention.

3.  Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
http://www.finra.org

FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business—from registering and educating industry participants to examining securities firms; writing rules; enforcing those rules and the federal securities laws; informing and educating the investing public; providing trade reporting and other industry utilities; and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and registered firms.


Information was taken from the official websites mention above.

Informational Interveiw

Here are three credible websites that offer information on informational interview:
http://career.ucla.edu/Students/ExploreCareers/WhatIsAnInformationalInterview.aspx
http://hrweb.mit.edu/system/files/Sample+Informational+Interview+Questions.pdf
http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2010/summer/art03.pdf

These websites offer information on what you need to do when you go to an informational interview. They offer samples on what to ask and what not when doing an informational interview. All of the websites suggest that arranging informational interviews is helpful, because these interviews show your potential employer that you are serious about getting a job on that field. They also suggest to act and dress the same way as you would be taking a real interview.

I hope you find these websites helpful!

Chapter 7 and 10

            Chapter 7 talks about resumes. It explains how important resumes are when someone is looking for a job. The author begins by introducing the four popular stages to learning. These stages are: unconscious incompetence (when you don’t know what you don’t know), conscious incompetence (you know what you didn’t know and are completely overwhelmed), conscious competence ( you know but you have to concentrate to do it), unconscious competence (you do it so well that you do it without thinking).

 Author explains that a large number of applicants loose their opportunity for a interview because of the way that they write their resumes. This chapter includes suggestions how to build a better resume. Author suggests that we need  to ask these three questions when we write, critique or edit the resume: to whom am I writing and why will they care? Can I picture what I have written and can my claims be substantiated? Is every word spelled correctly and is my resume professional and attractive?

He then also gives a step-by-step guide on how to write the resume.

Chapter 10 talks about interviews. It gives us the tips what to expect and how to act with the interviewer. There are two types of interviews: short and long. The short interview is basically a screening interview where the potential employer will have the first impression of you. It usually lasts less than 30 minutes. The longer interview usually takes place at the workplace but it also can take place at a restaurant or a hotel meeting room. Any conversation that lasts more than 30 minutes is counted as long interview. Author also mentions that stories are important on the interviews, and a good story can get you the job.

I think these two chapters are helpful on understanding how to write a good resume and how to act at the interview.

Job interview

Hi friends,

Here you can find a couple useful websites on how to prepare for an interview:
http://otal.umd.edu/~sies/jobquess.html
http://career-advice.monster.com/job-interview/interview-questions/100-potential-interview-questions/article.aspx
http://www.baker.edu/departments/careerservices/intervw.cfm
http://www.jobinterviewtools.com/blog/

I think these websites are pretty helpful because they offer a lot of information in many of the questions that will be asked from most of the employers of different fields. These websites explain the mostly asked questions by employers, and they give examples on how to answer them in a better way. Having some prior information on the field  that you are interested it will make it easier for you to leave a good impression to the employer. Here are some of the questions that many employers ask:
1. Why do you feel you can be successful in this position?
2.Why should I hire you?
3.What is your greatest strength and weakness, and how will these affect your performance here?

These questions are going to be among many other questions that your employer will ask you at the interview, so that be prepared!!

Resume websites

Here you can find three credible websites that I thought will be helpful on how to write a resume:
http://www.rockportinstitute.com/resumes
http://www.bestsampleresume.com/resume-writing.html
http://www.e-bestresumes.com/resume_samples.htm

These websites offer explanation on how to write a good resume in different fields.
   The first website offers explanation on resume writting and breaks it down to six different parts on how to built a good resume. It also includes sample resumes to show how a good resume should look like.
   The second website offers many templates from different fields. Each resume is addobted to one field in order to pay more attention to a certain major.
   The third website also shows many resume examples which are adopted to different fileds. When you go to the website you will be able to see samples and other links that are helpful for resume writting.

Self Assesment

Hi everyone,

It was nice to take the self assesment tests and evaluate myself  in order to find out what kind of mindset I have. These tests suggested me that I like more to work on the field, but I also will be able to work inside of the office and analyze work material. I think I am an easy-going person and I also am very adobtable to different environments. I can be part of a team work, but I also can do work by myself. As I have mentioned before I have had work experiences in my past where I had to show my organisational and leadership skills.

 I like working with people of different cultures because it motivates me and it also makes me appratiate more of what I have. Working with different people gives me the chance to learn more and share my experiences with them. I like to have flexible hours and work around my schedule. As work it is important for most of us, I do my best to fullfill my duties. Patience is part of my personality, but I have a borderline which I don't like to be crossed.  It is important for me to pursue my career goals and contribute for a better society.

Chapters 3&4

“Good thinking will help you change how you interpret a situation”

 

I like this quote because it explains how only thinking itself can play a big role on someone’s actions. If someone has the right-mind is much easier for him to analyze and take proper action. When a person has right-mind, one can do very good in life because right-mind thinking creates a chain of success for everyone. It also helps people in coping much easier with the possible challenges in life.

“The easiest way to start taking action is paying attention”

 

I think it is important for everyone to pay attention to the way people deal with different challenges in life.  Observation of the behavior and the society around us can help us toward achieving our goals and dealing with different issues of our everyday life. When we observe and ask ourselves questions, we see what we need to do and how we best can handle our actions. Thinking and mindsets are vital and they play a crucial role in our actions. Practicing each mindset will give a person better opportunities in finding a job. Employers are eager to find people how show skills in different mindsets such as problem solving, creativity, big picture thinking, analytic etc.

“Work smarter, not harder”

 

This is a quote that is helpful in both school and work. It is important to concentrate on the more important parts of an assignment. In order to achieve better results we have to pay attention on the issues that play a crucial role to the problem. A good example in the book explains that focusing in the most important part of the reading helps a student to better understand and memorize important parts of the chapter. If a chapter has 20 pages there are going to be four or five pages that has the skeleton material of the chapter, and these five pages are going to be important on understanding the whole chapter.

Cover letter Comments

I like the way that these websites explain how to write a cover letter. I think Virginia Tech website has the best explanation as it shows how to write a cover letter step by step and it also gives information what to write in certain paragraphs of the coveer letter. This website also shows many examples that are helpful on writing a good cover letters. 
I suggest the following websites, if you want to write a well developed cover letter:

http://www.career.vt.edu/JobSearchGuide/CoverLetterSamples.html
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/CoverLetter_13348_7.pdf
http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/resources_services/career_services/current_students/career_resources/documents/CoverLetterTips.pdf

You Majored in What? Ch.1&2

     These two chapters explain how student should approach their career choices. They explain that most of the students don’t have a clear idea of what they want to do when they finish college. Most of the students think that they will get a job that is related to the major but the linear path isn’t the perfect solution for everyone.

    
     Book suggests that students need to relax and go with the flow in searching for jobs. Times have changed and it is easier for students to change their decisions about jobs. Many students end up changing their plans and working in other fields. Meeting people from other careers changes student’s decision. Unplanned events may shape students future career.
    
      Chaos theory tells student to relax because there is enough time to find a career. We live in a world of possibilities and students don’t need a specific goal. There are going to be many opportunities available, so that students can pick whatever they want to do when they are ready.

Portable Skills

  Skills that can be useful in different work situation are portable skills. Some of the portable skills may be communication, managment, budget, leadership etc. Other portable skills may be  hobbies or special interests that one carry with him such as cooking, gardening, sports etc. Information about the portoble skills should be geniune on the resume, otherwise the person that will be interviewed will loose the credibility. Documenting portable skills is helpful because it raises the credibility of the person that is being interviewed, and gives him/her a better chance to get a desired job.

  Through life I have earned some neccesary portable skills such as leadership, organization, communication, technology and security. When I was in high school I was part of a few youth organizations that gave me the chance to learn new skills and share them with my co-oworkers and friends. I have been part of activities where leadership was neccesary such as creating and participating in youth project proposals. One of the projects that I earned when I was in high  school was about keeping enviornment clean. In another project I created a survey where groups of students had to  survey people about the enviornment. During high school leadership and organization weren't the only skills that I learned. While I was in high school I also took extra English and computer classes .
   Computers were a part of my life since I was in elementary school. I began learning computers by myself and by observing others. After a few weeks I noticed a lot of progress on using the computer, but I didn't stop only with the basics so that I took private classes to learn more about them. Now, I can use many softwares and also do hardware and software computer repairs.
   In the recent years I have learned about security of our homes. I was interested to learn how we can secure our homes better. After I finished my training, I have been working for years as a security proffesional such as securing doors/windows and camera surveillance.

These are some of my portable skills,  but they will be growing in the future as well.



For a better understanding of portable skills I suggest you two helpful websites :
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/2099.pdf
http://www.academia21.com/blog/2010/11/23/importance-portable-skills-vocational-training/

Introduction

Hi everyone,

 I began my studies in Criminal Justice at LCC last year, and this is my my last semester at LCC before I transfer to John Jay college.

I was born in Kosovo and I lived there most of my life, but I decided to pursue my dreams in the states because of the better opportunities. I like to explore new ways of life, but education is on my priority list. I came to LaGuardia because it has a great program in Criminal Justice, and I hope this will help me toward my future career.

I am planning to do my masters in Criminology and then I hope to get a job in law enforcement and work in the field. I like to understand more about the way the people act, and why crime is an inseperable act of humanity.