Today, I spent long hours working on a new project from something that I have been working on since the start of my mentorship. Dr. Tiell wants me to switch columns and rows in the alumni project to make it more organized. It probably sounds easy at first but the way I had the database set up made it complicated. I couldn’t use the transpose feature. Even if I used it once per data set of students (I have hundreds), it wouldn’t do it right. So instead, I have to use copy and paste. I was able to get the years 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 done today. I did stumble across a couple of updates on LinkedIn. While I was rechecking the place of residency for a few, I noticed that what I had noted in the original database changed. For example, I listed a students’ job at Boise State University since it said that was their present job. When I was rechecking it, I noticed that that job he left in 2014, and he now works at Oakland Unified School District. I assume that a month ago was the first time he’s been on LinkedIn in a while. Thank God I caught that. I plan to keep checking for updates throughout the project. I also found out that one of the former students had a name change since she got married. I emailed Dr. Tiell right away about the fact. She always has been editing the original list of mentorships.
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Today, I finished up Dr. Tiell’s first test for MGT 511. Like I mentioned in my last journal, I had taken this course sometime last year so this was basically just a review for me. I learned some things that I forgot about such as “The Big Five” personality framework. The framework is important to me because it can help in determining the behaviors of individuals in organizations. The dimensions in the framework are Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness. If one scores closer to the left side of each dimension, it is more positive in the organization. The right side is less positive. Another thing that I enjoyed reviewing was emotional intelligence. All of the topics in MGT 511 are extremely critical to the effectiveness of a manager. An example of one of my test questions is: “Evaluating an employee’s work behaviors by measurement and comparison with previously established standards is referred to as what kind of performance management?” I gave them four choices with the correct answer being 360 degree feedback.
I spent today working on two projects. The first project was to email nine former and current students and try to get their feedback on their careers. Dr. Tiell supplied me with the questions and then I sent out the emails. An example of one of our questions asked about their experience covering World Cups and the Olympics during the mentorship. We also asked about classmates helping each other get their mentorships. These were things Dr. Tiell has knowledge about. So far, one former student has reached out and another said she would reach out after her mission trip overseas. In the emails, we also requested that they each send us a picture of themselves. We want to use their comments to help enhance the MBA Sport Management website. We will share the information with the office for marketing and public relations. Currently, Dr. Tiell is in the process of getting a “permission” form to send to each student prior to publishing anything.
I also started to work on creating a test for Dr. Tiell. She is teaching a seated class next semester and needs me to create two tests of 60 questions each. The class, Organizational Behavior, is familiar to me since I took the course last year. So it is basically a review for me. I was able to do the first four chapters today and still have another four to go. The first test is on chapters 1-8 and the second is on chapters 9-16. Today was a busy day as I finalized the alumni contacts project. Again, I saw some more students still with their mentorship organization. Each day I worked on this project, I learned something new. For example, the vast number of opportunities that are out there and how a mentorship/M.B.A. can play into your future. I also went through the project for spelling mistakes to make sure I had everything spelled correctly. I made sure I had all of the broken links reported to Dr. Tiell. The biggest problem of the day came when one of our alumni had messaged me. I had just connected with him on LinkedIn and sent him an invitation to join our TU alumni page. He did not initially receive the invites after twice sending him one. So he decided to just click on the group name and he found it then. For some reason, my invites are not sending out. People should get an email to join. I am going to message LinkedIn tomorrow and find out what is wrong. Currently, I have only 16 members out of somewhere close to 100 that I invited, and they have all connected with me. Overall, this was a fun project and I’m glad to be finished with it.
Today, I spent the day working on the 2016 section of the alumni project. It came with a couple interesting facts. I learned that one of the alumni has the exact same title as he did during his mentorship, a Wellness Director. The organizations were also similar as he swapped YMCAs. It is a pretty cool thing when a mentorship helps you get your next job. I am not sure if that is the kind of job he wants. Even if what you do at a mentorship isn’t your preferred career path, you can still enjoy the work and continue doing it. I also saw a few people that are still in their mentorship or they got a part or full-time job with them. It goes to show that people are enjoying and taking advantage of their mentorship opportunity. These were great stories to find out.
Today was another day of working on the alumni project. I spotted that the most recent students, some starting in 2015, posted their LinkedIn profiles. I think that was a really good idea by the creators of this course to include them. This allowed me to skip the LinkedIn search, which sometimes I’ve been struggling with, since students haven’t updated it to include TU or their mentorship job. But overall, today was a productive day. I feel like I’ll be able to finish it by the weekend after rechecking/editing it.
Today, I worked on more of my alumni project and I finished up all of 2015. So now I only have 2016 and 2017 to do and I’m done. I also talked to Dr. Tiell about some more projects that she would like help on. Among those projects is to provide recommendations and help enhance TU’s M.B.A. Sport Management website. This would help us attract people who take a look at it. I would choose about 10 alumni and ask them questions via email. Maybe someone has a story of how their mentorship got them a job or how their M.B.A. got them a job. Also, Dr. Tiell needs my help in creating some more tests, both on chapters 1-8 and chapters 9-16. These will be fun projects and I can’t wait to get started!
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