j.chen68 – Freshman Seminar Fall 17 FRB

LinkedIn 101: Profile Development Workshop

Last Thursday, I attended a LinkedIn 101: Profile Development workshop hosted by the STARR Career Development Center with my friends. Like usual, we were told that they were experiencing technical difficulties, so it took a while to start.

They provided two handouts, which was a Profile Development CheckList (consisted of an in-depth breakdown of all the aspects of a LinkedIn profile, including suggestions of what to write) and a LinkedIn Summary Writing (included questions that would help guide you along the way of developing a successful profile).

In the beginning of the presentation, Gerald Tang introduced himself as the Marketing and Communications Manager, and told us that he was the one writing the STARR Search Highlights newsletter that we receive weekly. He then went into the different components of a LinkedIn profile. For the headshot, it’s necessary to make sure the picture is clear, professional looking, and waist height. We should also have a strong summary, public profile, and a customize URL. And for freshman like us, since we don’t have much job experiences yet, we can talk about clubs organizations, volunteer work, etc.

In comparison to a resumé, what makes LinkedIn unique is that it adds more to what you fit in an one page paper. In a LinkedIn profile, you can write in a more friendly and personal tone, use first person pronouns, have no length limit, as well as a section for media. In the media, you can display photos, portfolio, or maybe a really amazing powerpoint you have done. One point the speaker mentioned was that for personal work, don’t include the entire document. Instead, you may show two slides of a powerpoint, and if the employer is interested, you can add that to see more information, please contact me.

Another point the presenter emphasized was that what makes LinkedIn powerful is the third degree connection. You know Person A, who knows Person B, who connects you to Person C.

Overall, it was a very useful event in helping me develop my profile and expand my network via LinkedIn.

International Conference of Undergraduate Research

Last Tuesday, September 26, I attended one of the panels for the International Conference of Undergraduate Research at Baruch College with my friend, Amy. The International Conference of Undergraduate Research, short for ICUR, is an event held annually providing the opportunity for students in different universities around the world to share their research paper with a central theme. I heard about this event through my history professor who offered extra credit for those who went and wrote a response paper on it. Initially, I went for the extra credit, but also because I wanted to get some insight as to how other undergraduates conducted their research projects.

My expectations for the conference was completely different from the reality in regards to the physical environment. I had in mind this picture of a huge conference room with hundreds of people that I would have to arrive early to assure there would be space. As I entered the room, I was surprised to see that the entire room would be videoed. In total, there were about 13 students and 10 faculty members. After going through countless technological difficulties which prevented us from connecting with the students from the UK, the panel started.

The theme of the session was spaces, communities and culture. One of the speaker’s research topic was on the “Analysis of Volatility in US Equity Markets in years 2007-2014 in the framework of FOMC.” To briefly summarize it, the purpose of the paper was to focus on the effects of the stock market and the public’s responses since the Great Financial Crisis that occurred in 2007-2008. The FOMC also known as the Federal Open Market Committee controlled the interest rates and held meetings that released minutes [the details of the discussions] and statements to the people and the press. Did the release of these documents directly affect the volatility?

Helen’s research was conducted by gathering data using different tools and techniques. By analyzing the changes among statements, minutes, control days, and meeting days, she was able to discover things she didn’t expect. Her advisor assisted her in the process, and the most difficult aspect of the research to Helen was actually organizing and developing the quantitive data into visual charts and diagrams.

Because of this workshop, I got to learn about the procedures of how research was conducted, available resources, and even possible future research topics to consider.

UCLA GIM #1

When I first heard about UCLA, the first thought that hit me was, “The university in California? Are they linked to one another like an university scholars club of any sort?” I looked up the club on Facebook, and saw that it stood for United Chinese Language Association. I was interested in knowing more, and when I met some UCLA members at the Club Carnival, I got to know what the club was and the next meeting date.

On Thursday, August 31st, I attended UCLA’s first general interest meeting, and one thing I didn’t expect was a huge crowd of people. (I counted the number of heads in the group photo, and it was approximately 100. *gasped*) The meeting started off with a powerpoint presentation about what the club entailed: values that it stood for and promoted, activities and important events that UCLA organized and showcased, as well as introduction of the members of the executive board and committee. Two of the major events that UCLA holds every year are the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Lunar Festival. The goals of these two events is not only to celebrate the important holidays, but also to spread and connect the culture, tradition, and language of China with everyone.

Next, we played some games, which I forgot what they were called. The event was about half a month ago, so I didn’t remember the exact names. One game was about two teams given a scenario, in which each team played a character, taking turns asking questions and responding in question format without hesitation. There was a lot of laughter, and it showed me how relaxing and fun this club was. After taking a group photo together, refreshments were provided. 🙂

What I loved about the meeting was that the environment was very friendly and welcoming. I could imagine how everyone could be close like family in just a matter of time. I enjoyed it and had a wonderful time! About the selfie, I didn’t know we were going to writing a blog so I didn’t take one. As an alternative, I used pictures that UCLA took, credits to them.