ES2007S Blog post #3: Application letter

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Jung Nguyen, a second-year undergraduate student from the National University of Singapore (NUS), majoring in Communication and New Media.

I am interested in applying for the intern position at Pepperconn. Based on my educational and co-curriculum activity experience, and perhaps more importantly because of my interest and enthusiasm, I believe I am well suited to the position offered by your company.

I have a keen interest in the field of marketing communication and particularly social media. I am currently pursuing this interest through my study and participation in enrichment activities.

I actively participated in organizing “Dance Fest 2011” – an annual dance bash of Vietnamese Community in NUS. The event was held in Zirca Mega Club with the participation of a famous singer from Vietnam and over 200 visitors. As a publicity executive, I worked with my team to conceptualize and develop both printed and electronic publicity materials such as newsletters. I also did the maintenance of the event’s official website and Facebook page. Our event ended successfully and was covered by online newspapers. This activity helped me apply what I had learned during my course of study and also gain practical knowledge of media writing skills as well as social media marketing.

In addition, I worked as student assistant at Recruitment and Career Talks organized by NUS Career Center for ten months.  My role involves communicating directly with senior managers from companies as well as students to obtain their feedback and provide assistance promptly and efficiently. As a result, I developed good communication and interpersonal skills.

I believe with my skills that I have acquired, I am able to contribute as a part of Pepperconn’s team.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss with you further about the internship. I can be reached at +65 8108 5346 or dung.nguyen@nus.edu.sg

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Jung Nguyen Phuong Dung (Ms.)

National University of Singapore - Faculty of Arts and Social Science

Communication and New Media

HP: (+65) 8108 5346

Email: dung.nguyen@nus.edu.sg

ES2007S Blog post #2: Resolving interpersonal conflict

Here I will share with you the conflict among four females who shared a small two-bedroom flat during summer vacation. All of them worked as fulltime interns in three months of the vacation. Therefore, they met each other only at night and went out together at weekends. They have known each other before living together, but not all of them are close friends.

Let’s call them A, B, C and D. Their relationships are quite complicated. B and C are close friends. Due to many similarities they share, those two tend to have same opinions about a lot of issues. Moreover, they know each other quite well, particularly about the other’s habits and daily routines since they had lived together before. Both of them are friends with D.

D had been friend with A. It was her who introduced A to the other two. B, C and D are the same age while A is one year younger than the rest.

Before living together, they have never had conflicts or misunderstandings. However, the conflict started when B did comment on A’s behaviors which unpleasantly affect the rest. For example, A often left her utensils dirty and sometimes others’ also, after using.

B is a caring and sweet girl. As she thought they were like sisters, she talked to A face-to-face about how A’s behaviors did influence on others. However, it made A feel embarrassing and annoying, which she expressed on her face. She told B directly that B did not need to tell her what to do. Those two started quarreling as B considered A’s action and attitude were unacceptable. In fact, both C and D agreed with B. However, since D was the one who had known A before the other two, she was afraid of expressing her disagreement. The quarrel then led to a cold war.

Now the question is what should each person involved do in order to resolve the conflict and improve their relationships as they still have to stay together? 

[Edited] ES2007S Blog post #1: Reasons why effective communication skills are important for me

Effective communication skills are very important for me because of two reasons. One is that these skills are essential for my future career in the field of communication. The other reason is just simple: effective communication helps me to enjoy my life.

My aim in the next five years is to become a PR practitioner. For a person working in the PR industry, the ability to communicate effectively is a must.

Quite a few people may think PR practitioners are good at telling lies to the public in order to cater to their clients' interest. However, it is not the practice of PR professionals. The role of PR is to do strategic communication management in order to establish and maintain the mutual beneficial relationship between organization and its public. Moreover, the practitioners are required to interact with people from all walks of life. Therefore, there is no doubt that effective communication skills are the key for me to achieve my aim.

Not only is effective communication needed for my future career but it is also necessary for me to enjoy the life. As human beings, we communicate every day, just as we eat and sleep. Communication happens in many things we do such as talking, singing or even writing a blog post as I am doing now. However, successful communication is not always guaranteed since the skills are not something we were born with. An example is when a person want to share his/her happiness with someone else but that person do not get it, or even think that the first person is showing off. In that case, the shared happiness that was supposed to be doubled now leads to misunderstanding and inconvenience.

To conclude, I believe my life would be so much easier if I am able to communicate effectively. No one was born to be good at communicating and I am by no means an exception to that. As such, improving communication skills is my top priority in order to have a successful career as well as an enjoyable life.