Writing in labor and employment relations3/Discussions spring 2019

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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 lose four (4) points off your Grade for the Final Paper; AND
 * Contributors who do not respond substantively to at least two peers - will forfeit credit for the week's post - and lose four (4) points off your Grade for the Final Paper; AND

REPLIES DUE: Fridays by 11:59 pm

 * 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

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: 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.
 * 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?

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.

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. 2. Then, focus on one (1) group, and explain how the group of people (i.e., community) would benefit from the funds? 3. How would individuals in the group benefit?
 * Be specific and examine the characteristics of each of the three (3) audiences.
 * What would it enable them to do? Analyze Why.
 * Why is that important?

Week 5: Discussion - Labor Standards, Risks & Research
Read: [https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-dynamex-contractors-20190223-story.html 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 (assigned by Prof. Naomi Williams)


 * 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 3 groups of people (i.e., audiences) who will be affected by the example above. 2. Then, focus on one (1) group, and explain how the group of people would benefit from the funds? 3. How would individuals in the group benefit?
 * Be specific and examine the characteristics of each of the three (3) audiences.
 * What would it enable them to do? Analyze Why.
 * 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 11: Discussion - Findings from Stakeholder Discovery Interviews

 * What were your findings from your Stakeholder Discovery Interviews? What did you learn? Why was that important?
 * What will you incorporate / not incorporate into your final assignment? Why / Why Not?
 * Be sure to indicate who you interviewed, their role and what organization they were from?
 * What additional questions do you have, that need to be answered - if you had more time with the interviewee? Why?

Week 13: Final Discussion: Course Learnings & Takeaways (400-500 words)

 * What Did I l Learn in this Course that was Most Valuable? Least Valuable? Explain.
 * What Did I Learn About Myself?
 * What Am I Going to Do Differently? Why?


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