Personal Branding and CV

Similar to brand that represents a product, personal branding represents an individual. It is how an individual manipulates, the way other perceive about him/her, in order to achieve objectives and goals, defined by (Montoya and Vandehey, 2002). A simple definition by Schawbel (2009) proves that personal branding is “how we market ourselves to others”, just like how a corporate brand like Apple Inc. to the product brand of Apple Inc. like Apple Iphone 5c influences potential consumers.

As undergraduates, we are under tremendous competition worldwide. The ability to have an edge over all of the others in a particular is a crucial yet difficult task to achieve. However, there are several strategies involving, commitment that help to become a standout. Clark (2014) lists some tips for personal branding:

• Sharpen Your Narrative – Take, maximum when there is opportunity, participating in public speaking, spread the character you are amongst people, take part in group conversation and teams.
• Expand Your Network – Talk to long lost contacts, get in touch with old friends, use social media like; Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.
• Explore Emerging Trends – It may be technology, fashion, etc. make sure that you are thorough with your field of expertise and dress the way that best represents you.
• Learn New Skills – expand your skill set through personal and professional development.
• Start Creating Content – create CV, resume, blogs, own personal website, video logs and voice logs, etc. using free tools from the internet.

This, list is also supported by Schawbel (2009), with some additional attention to documents required to apply for jobs, like the curriculum vitae, resume, references documents. Top Counseling Schools (2014) statistically proves the importance of a good CV/resume and shows what HR managers look and guidelines to improve a CV/resume.

• Summarize – Tell employers the person you are, skills and qualification to cover up and prepare for the most common interview statement “So tell us about yourself”.
• Confidence – Take the opportunity and show confidence through writing, talk about accomplishments, positive changes made in previous roles.
• Language – Avoid starting sentence with I, we or our, avoid use of full sentences and frequently use bullet points with strong action verbs. Lastly, check for spelling mistakes.
• Keywords – According, to Top Counseling Schools resumes are often, scanned by a person or machine for specific words that match the hiring criteria. So pay attention to the job description and customize the resume.

CV Essentials

1. Contact information
2. Objective Statement
3. Experience
4. Skills
5. Educational and Professional Qualification
6. Extra Curricular Activities and Sports
7. Referees

The module Applied Research Methods and Professional Development requires a curriculum vitae prepared for any preferred job application as a partial requirement for module completion. I would prepare a CV for a part time job as a Trainee Business Analyst/Project Manager at Dotnutz Solutions (PVT) Ltd. The layout of the CV will consist, the list under the CV essentials subtopic.

Software Development Methodologies

Software projects are, said to have a high failure rate when it comes to cost, time and scope. To overcome the previous statement there are certain methodologies that are, followed by software development teams.

• The following are some recognized software development methodologies:
• SDLC – Software Development Life Cycle (Waterfall)
• SSADM – Structured System Analysis and Design Methodology
• RUP – Rational Unified Process
• Agile Methodology
• Scrum Methodology

SDLC (Waterfall)

Software Development Life Cycle has several methodologies. However, the focus is on the waterfall methodology, one of the first applied by software development teams to manage projects.

The following diagram shows the steps involves in the Waterfall Methodology:

Source: tutorialspoint.com (2014)

This model is ideal for small projects, simple and easy to use too. On the contrary, it is not flexible for large project, as the name waterfall suggests that once a stage is complete, there is no going back.

SSADM

Structured System Analysis and Design Methodology is a waterfall method that is heavy mostly on the analysis and design phases of a project.  

Rational Unified Process

      RUP is a software development method, developed as a guide for Unified Modeling Language (Rational,       1998). UML is a standard designing tool used by developers, it includes use case diagrams,      activity         diagrams, sequence diagrams, etc.

      RUP divides the software lifecycle into four phases:

• Inception
• Elaboration
• Construction
• Transaction

The following shows the structure of the RUP methodology:

Source: ibm.com (2004) Adapted from: http: //www-01.ibm.com/software/rational/rup/

The advantage of using RUP is ability to break down a process into smaller iteration. These iterations result in a release of a tangible working product. Compared to other methodologies RUP has a tangible product within few months into development unlike waiting till the very end for the product.

    Agile Software Development Methodology

Sequential, software development was, criticized by Dr. Winston Royce in 1970, stating that software is not produced through assembly lines (agilemethodology.org, 2008). This implies that is quite similar to RUP when it comes to iterative development. Agile is usually, referred to “iterative” and “incremental”.

  

Source: tutorialspoint.com (2012) Adapted from: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/sdlc/sdlc_agile_model.htm

The diagram reflects the setup of the agile methodology, which supports development by completing all software development phases as iterations. Allowing teams to make changes and add any new requirements that were not, recognized during analysis.

Personally, out of the four methodologies described above, I prefer the RUP methodology mainly because of the ability to iterative development allowing completion of software by developing module by module.

Moreover, RUP was first, introduced to me for the module Object Oriented Methods. It was interesting and I applied this methodology for my project management course assignment, giving me thorough knowledge as to how this methodology works. I will be using RUP as a software development methodology for the final year project.

Primary Data Collection

“Philosophy of the Science Method”, written by John Stuart Mill during the 19^th century introduced primary research as a theory investigation (Lowe and Zemliansky, 2011). Primary data otherwise known as first-hand data is obtained through various data collection methods. The following are a list of methods discussed during ARMPD lectures:

• Participant Observation
• Structured Observation
• Case Study
• Focus Groups
• Surveys

Participant Observation

Participant observation is a data collection method well suited for qualitative research areas (Dewalt and Dewalt, 2002). Dewalt and Dewalt (2002) further state that it involves the researcher settling into a natural background to observe and learn the behavior of specified group of people. The data gathered will reflect the contexts, norms, values and behavior of people investigated. Non-participant research, the opposite of participant observation, leaves the observer anonymous to the observed group of people, similar to eavesdropping.

Structured Observation

Structured observation, a systematic approach for carrying out research, may involve a planned experiment in a natural environment to note down the changes in behavior of subjects due to the experiment.

Case Study

A case study is an in-depth analysis of a person’s or a company’s life span answered by Cherry (2012). It concentrates on every detail of a subject’s life in order to apply the findings to a general scenario, in other words results to general from specific.

Focus Groups

Aim of a focus group is to get the thoughts and ideas of a group of people when exploring an interesting topic for study. Nielsen (1997) limits focus groups to maximum of 5 to 9 individuals discussing a topic that is maintained by a moderator.

Surveys

A survey is a strategy to carry out research and it is not a method. Surveys are also defined as a process of collecting data using methods like; interviews, questionnaires, document reviews and observation.

Types of surveys:

• Postal Surveys
• Face-to-Face Surveys
• Telephone Interviews
• Email and Internet surveys

Steps to designing a Survey

The following are some steps to consider when designing a survey based on ARMPD Lectures:

Step1 – Specify Information requirements (What)

Step2 – Construct Questions

Step3 – Determine population (Who)

Step4 – Choose instrument (How)

Step5 – Pilot the Study

Step6 – Analyze and present the data

Survey Role Play during Lectures

The following is an analysis of a role-play conducted by students during ARMPD lectures based on surveys.

Postal Surveys involves sending questionnaires to people over via post.

Advantages	Disadvantages
Very honest opinions from people People could respond leisurely Participants are anonymous allowing them to answer with an open heart Have good reach to rural areas	Low responses, people do not take the trouble to send the answers back via post. It is takes time to reach the participant Can get lost during delivery Participant’s interpretation can be different from the researcher’s

Face-to-Face Surveys similar to a interview or a typical conversation between two people.

Advantages	Disadvantages
Ability deduce body language Covers plenty of qualitative aspects of data collected Flexibility to change and explain the question Obligation to answer	Takes time to individually interview participants Participant can lie Causes inconvenience to participant

Computer based (Internet and Email) involves sending the questionnaires to participants via email or social media sites for data collection:

Advantages	Disadvantages
Ability to collect a large volume of data Has a larger reach since many people use the internet Less costly mostly free Participants can answer leisurely	Some surveys can be given to the same person There is no control over reliability of the data collected Limited to only internet users

Telephone interviews are interviews conducted over the phone.

Advantages	Disadvantages
Large target participants Phones are always on meaning high chance of answering the call Ability to communicate verbally Feedback can be judged with verbal conversation	Participant can lie making data unreliable Telephone call charges are applied making it expensive if there is a large base Judgment is based on tone of the participant

Interviews

Interviews are set of questions asked by the research from the participant as a method of data collection. There are two types of interviews; Closed and Open ended.

Closed ended interviews are specific questions that have straight-forward answers like yes or no (Mindtools, 2014). Participants must select the most applicable answer out of list options. Commonly goes hand in hand with structured interviews that have well a defined and a planned set of questions.

Open-ended questions are flexible and broad questions that require explanation to answer if required. Mindtools.com (2014) further supports this by stating that open-ended questions have long answers. Commonly goes hand in hand with unstructured interviews that do not have a well defined set of question rather questions can vary based on the answer.

Approaches for interviewing

Pyramid - This type interview aims at starting with specific questions and moving on to broad open-ended question.

Funnel – It is opposite of the pyramid approach which starts-off with broad, open-ended questions and finishes with a specific question.

Diamond – A mixture of both pyramid and funnel approaches. It commences with closed ended questions, expands to broad questions and again narrows down the questioning for a specific problem.

Use of Data Collection Method for FYP Proposal

The business enterprise Pyramid Agencies Development will undergo a research/survey that will include a series of interviews, questionnaires and document reviews for data collection that will be, analyzed, later for problem statement clarification.

• All five employees will go through an unstructured, open-ended interview.
• Questionnaires will be, given, to the five employees for closed ended questions for specific problems.
• Documents review will take place, important reports for maintenance and repairs will be, reviewed.

Searching the Literature

When conducting a research, there are primary and secondary forms of finding data for analysis. The focus for this topic is on secondary data collection. Typical sources of secondary data are literature reviews, scientific papers, technical papers and other academic papers.

Guidelines to reading research paper based on ARMPD Lectures:

   Ø  Start-off by reading the abstract

o   Identify if the insight is similar to one’s research area

o   Read the conclusion if the paper is applicable

   Ø  Read the paper critically

o   Relate the paper to other papers to clarify the quality of information

o   or Check if it criticized

   Ø  Read the paper critically

o   Apply the finding to an interesting topic in the domain

   Ø  Summarize the document

o   Entire paper summarized to a maximum of two lines

o   Finish with a single page review

Keshav (2007) describes an approach called “The Three Pass Approach”. As the name suggests it has three phases when it comes to reading a research paper.

The Three Pass Approach

The first Pass

The objective of this pass is to decide if any further reading is required. Reading the title, abstract, introduction, conclusion and reference will indicate if the paper will be helpful for the reader’s research. The result of this pass should enable the reader to answer the five Cs:

                              ·            Category

                              ·            Context

                              ·            Correctness

                              ·            Contributions

                              ·            Clarity

The Second Pass

The second pass involves reading the paper with greater care rather than glancing through it, like done in the first pass. The second pass focuses on diagram, graphs and illustration. Keshav (2007) insists on taking an hour for this process. After this, the reader must be able to summarize the paper.

The Third Pass

This is an optional pass. It is only required to completely, understand the paper. Keshav (2007) phrases this as “virtual re-implementing” the paper, which is to recreate the paper with the original author’s assumption and compare it with the actual paper to identify hidden failings and assumptions.

Both the mentioned methods of reading a research paper are quite similar. As, an undergraduate, most assignments involve research. Unfortunately, I never followed a method to read a research paper. Usually, glance at a paper through and when something that is applicable to my scenario pops up, it is used in the assignment. However, I start by reading the abstract and if required the conclusion.

As a whole, during a lecture we were asked to reflect on a research paper’s findings. The approach was systematic and involved most of the steps that both the methods explained. Conclusively it proved to be productive and did not take all that long for an eight page, research paper.

Research Methods

Research is an important skill that is required for analysis at undergraduate level. It is a never-ending exercise for knowledge accumulation. The University of Bradford defines research as a process of investigation done methodically and systematically, to find a solution to problems and discover knowledge.

Types of Research

Exploratory	Research of a field with no previous studies and objective is to provide a foundation for further research.
Descriptive	This type of research deduces specific characteristics or elements of a particular field.
Analytical	Is an extension of descriptive research that evaluates as to why an incident occurs.
Predictive	Is a speculation of a future occurrence based on analyzing evidence.

Approaches to Doing Research

Qualitative	Quantitative
The findings are difficult to present and interpret. It is involves in investigating the subjective aspects of a research area, like values, opinions.	This concentrates on measuring and analyzing numerical data to come with statistical presentations.
Deductive	Inductive
Deductive research digs from the bigger picture deeper into the minor details.	Opposite of deductive research, moves from a specific theory to a more general theory.
Basic	Applied
Performed , to simply improve one’s knowledge.	Applied research involves application of the findings to a particular scenario.

Other Approaches

• Experimental research
• Causal-comparative research
• Co relational research
• Historical research

The Scientific Method for research

1.              Identify Problem
2.       Create a hypothesis
3.       Develop a Research Plan
4.             Data Collection and Analysis
5.             Frequently perform step 1

Research Methodology for My FYP

Source; Author’s Work (2014)