Discussions

Discussions - Posts & Substantive Replies

1. There are no grades for each Discussion (Blog) Post. However, there are penalties if you don't submit the initial post and then respond to your peers.
2. They MUST be 250 words with substantive information / content AND substantive replies to at least two (2) of your peers (75 words each).
3. Continue the discussion thread / conversation as appropriate. Feel free to share your thoughts, experience and advice.

Completeness

• Posts that are less than 250 words are NOT considered "complete", and will forfeit credit for the week's post - AND
  • Contributors who do not respond substantively to at least two peers - will be marked as incomplete - and forfeit credit for the week's post.

REPLIES DUE: Fridays by 11:59 pm

Tip:

Be aware of:

• Timeliness
• Connection / Alignment to Week's Theme
• Focus on what you Learned
• Writing / Presentation Quality

• Final Discussion Post MUST include SMART Goals - SMART Goal for What You Are Going To Do Differently - http://www.hr.virginia.edu/uploads/documents/media/Writing_SMART_Goals.pdf

Discussion Topics

Week 1: Discussion - Introduce Yourself: Your Name, Major / Field of Study, Future Goals and the Types of Jobs / Companies you want to work for

Getting to know your classmates is essential to building a supportive and trusting learning community. Please introduce yourself as follows:

• Share an image/picture/audio/video that describes you
• Explain why you chose that image
• Tell us who you are; your field / degree; and what you want to do when you graduate
• What do you hope to learn from this course - and why?

You may reply to this post in writing, or in audio, or in video. To reply in audio/video, use the Record/Upload Media icon in the text editor menu above.

Looking forward to our learning journey!

Week 2: Discussion - Share three (3) CAR Stories from Your Work Experience (Aligned to the desired Job Description / Ad)

1. CAR Story 1
2. CAR Story 2
3. CAR Story 3

Week 3: Discussion - Research Your Desired Job & Company + Highlight Your Abilities

Many people believe the resume and traditional job applications are not as important as what you share and communicate online through blogs and social media. In Week 2 class, we watched Jason Shem from Etsy's TED Talk - where he spoke about highlighting his abilities. He researched the company, and went through Etsy's IPO (Initial Public Offering) document to raise investment funds. He read the IPO document from cover to cover, and then created a website with four (4) ideas. When he went in for an interview, he discovered the company was actively working on two (2) of these ideas. As a result, he was uniquely-positioned to share his thoughts, experience and advice.

• Watch Jason Shem's TED Talk / video - Highlight Your Ability Not Your Experience. - https://www.ted.com/talks/jason_shen_looking_for_a_job_highlight_your_ability_not_your_experience

1. What do you think about Jason Shem's approach - is it original or old hat? Why / Why not?
2. As you prepare for a new role / company, what will you do to research the job and company?
3. How will you use social media to gather information and insight (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.)
4. Which sources other than social media will you use? What do you hope to obtain - that will help you secure this job?
5. How are you going to stand out from the crowd and out and get visibility in your job search.
6. Provide examples of your own success - CAR stories, images, website, portfolio, articles, links, etc.

(: This discussion will be of greater value to you and your peers if you analyze Jason' Shem's Approach - and Use it to inform / develop your own strategy instead of listing or describing what you will do. I want to see CRITICAL THINKING here - expressed clearly and concisely.)

Week 4: Discussion - Changing Nature of Work & Universal Basic Income

Read: This California Town Will Give $500 to Every Resident (Universal Basic Income theme) - https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/11/tech/stockton-california-basic-income-experiment/index.html

1. Identify 3 groups of people (i.e., audiences) who will be affected by the example above.

• Be specific and examine the characteristics of each of the three (3) audiences.

2. Then, focus on one (1) group, and explain how the group of people (i.e., community) would benefit from the funds?

• What would it enable them to do? Analyze Why.

3. How would individuals in the group benefit?

• Why is that important?

Week 5: Discussion - Labor Standards, Risks & Research

Read: Are you an employee or a contractor? Carpenters, strippers and dog walkers now face that question, in LA Times, by Margot Roosevelt, February 23, 2019

1. What ideas do you have about new regulations, or changing existing regulations to fit today’s context? What is the issue? What would be your proposed solution?
2. How will different groups (stakeholders) be impacted by the proposals?
3. What factors would you need to consider when drafting proposals to present to policy makers, public, workers, businesses?

Week 6: Discussion - Gig Economy; Temp Work, Automation & Anti-Unionism

Read: Break up Amazon Before it Does Any More Damage - https://nypost.com/2018/10/09/break-up-amazon-before-it-does-any-more-damage-to-america/

1. Identify three (3) groups of people (i.e., audiences) who will be affected by the example above.

• Be specific and examine the characteristics of each of the three (3) audiences.

2. Then, focus on one (1) group, and explain how the group of people would benefit from the funds / investment?

• What would it enable them to do? Analyze Why.

3. How would individuals in the group benefit?

• Why is that important?

Week 7: Discussion - Workforce Impacts

1. Choose three (3) of the Stakeholder Groups from your Memo Draft
2. Now, choose 3 of the top impacts per group.
3. Explain specifically what is involved regarding the impact - remember I LOVE DETAILS!
4. Explain why you chose the impacts, and why you consider them to be most important. Be sure to share your knowledge from previous situations / experiences or readings.
5. Make sure, when you write this up - that it IS NOT A BRAIN DUMP, but rather a well-thought out and WELL-WRITTEN SUMMARY.

Week 8: Discussion - Curiosity & Empathy for Stakeholder Groups (3)

• Choose three (3) of your Stakeholder Groups
• Put yourself in their shoes - Empathize with them as to how they might think / feel about the change affecting them. How would they react? Positively or negatively or just don't care? How would you explain their reaction? How would you anticipate / expect them to behave?
• Respond to at least two (2) of your class peers - deepening your empathy and analysis.
• Feel free to be curious about their rationale for how their stakeholders respond.

Week 9: Discussion - Research & Discovery Interviews

Who are you interviewing for your Discovery Interviews?

• What is their name, position/title, organization.
• What is the organization's website?
• Describe what they do in their organization, and what the organization does (i.e., their products / services / programs).
• Share any relevant research and be sure to attribute the source. (Use Chicago style - see: https://wikieducator.org/Writing_in_labor_and_employment_relations/References)

Week 10: Discussion - What You Learned from Your Discovery Interviews

For each of the people you interviewed, write up what you learned.

• Person 1 - Name, Title, Organization, What You Learned
• Person 2 - Name, Title, Organization, What You Learned
  • Be sure to share your assumptions, and whether these were true / valid or not true / invalid.
  • Share what you surprised to learn, what was new / interesting, and how your thinking / awareness has changed / evolved.
  • If you had the opportunity to interview them again, what would you ask? (Or, what do you wish you would / could have asked?) Why?

Week 13: Discussion: TBD

Tip: In this course, we use Chicago Style

• See: http://wikieducator.org/Writing_in_labor_and_employment_relations/References