Part II
As an international student who has been exposed to a number of cultural and social backgrounds, I would like to use my experience and learning in managing that part of an organization which deals with marketing or man-management.
After two years of study at the university, I can confidently say that I can express myself and my ideas clearly and effectively. This is not to say that I can communicate in English very well, but yes, I have definitely improved my English in the two years. I will however, have to concentrate on improving my English to be more effective in a professional work environment. Why I would choose marketing or man-management is because, during the two years I have been here in the university, I have understood the importance and advantages of working in a team. When I joined the university for the first time, I was a little apprehensive of my ability to work in groups because of my limited communicative skills, but today, I gel well with my team members and contribute to its success. This means that I know the importance of teamwork and how motivation can go a long way to making a team successful. I have also understood how sharing of information among team members can mitigate difficulties and develop a number of solutions to challenges that may occur during the execution of an assignment. I have also, at times, taken the role of the leader and asked my team for solutions to problems by asking questions.
I am well aware of the importance of time. From past experiences here, I have developed my own way to manage my time. As I have to manage all my work on my own, which includes cleaning the room, cooking my own food, ironing my clothes, making my weekly purchases, and studying, I was a little erratic with my timing to college in the beginning. I would have to rush to college as I stay a little far from college. I used to stay up late and complete my assignments and study what little I could in the available time. Therefore, it was difficult for me to get up in time and finish my morning ablutions before taking a bus to college. This has changed now, and I have structured all my activities in a schedule that has helped me plan my day without any hiccups. My fluency in Chinese and Japanese can help me interact with professionals from these countries effectively, and as I learn Spanish, I will be suitable candidate for a position as a global manager. I am also improving my English. The only area where I still need to concentrate harder is in problem-solving. As a manager I need to improve my cognitive skills and this can be achieved only when I engage myself proactively in problem-solving exercises. As I used to ask questions to elicit answers from my team members, I need to reverse the role and find solutions to problems on my own. This is an area where I have to work hard.
Part III
Objective
As a management trainee, I seek to work in a highly challenging global work environment, where I can enhance and develop my knowledge and skills in the field of marketing and/or man-management. I hope my presentation and analytical skills will be an asset to the organization and it will help me do justice to my role as a management trainee.
Education
Masters in Business Management From To
Under-Graduation From To
Skills
Managerial:
As a management student, I am well aware of the advantages of working, and building team work. I have led a group of students in a number of team exercises and can confidently lead a team. As an international student, I have a working knowledge of the cultures of Japan and China. My strength lies in my being able to set my own goals, and focusing my entire attention toward it. I am a keen observer and have keen eyes for details. I am also highly proficient in understanding the functions and views of the management as it affects all phases of the business life-cycle.
Communication:
I can speak Japanese and Mandarin fluently. I can speak in English, and even though it is not fluent, I can do so effectively. I have improved my English speaking capability multi-fold after coming to the U.S., and I am also learning Spanish so that I will be able to speak a European language that is used widely across that continent.
Professional:
I am extremely creative. I have also developed the skills to probe and trouble-shoot problems. I was extremely effective leader of our group in college and helped the team develop a marketing plan to launch a cloth line globally.
Strengths:
I am good at remedial interventions, have a working knowledge of business and personal etiquette, and strong in inter-personal relationships and behavioural skills development.
Part IV
Firestone is looking for graduate management trainees in Medford, NY. The company is not looking for experienced personnel, and anyone with a recent graduation can apply for this position. The company seeks for its retail operations, ambitious candidates with high energy. The candidates should enjoy meeting and helping people, in addition to building team capability and retention; customer satisfaction and loyalty; provide tire and auto products and services; and create results for teams, customers, and the company (Firestonecompleteautocare-bridgestone.icims.com, 2013)
As a fresh management graduate, I qualify and meet the desired qualifications the company expects. I have worked in teams and also led them to know how to manage and run teams. I have also actively involved myself in finding solutions to assignments within teams to tackle customer difficulties. I enjoy working with people and so, when working as a retail store management trainee, I will be able to continue developing my cognitive skills and interact with team members to devise programs to trouble-shoot problems that may be difficult for me to do so on my own. Motivating my colleagues has been my forte, and so, I can use whatever strategies I use in motivating my team members at work too. Since I will be exposed to product and other training programs, I will be able to provide tire and auto products and services to customers most efficiently. I will also be able to develop my contacts with customers because of the other international languages I know and speak. This will create a personal rapport with the large number of migrant workers in the country and who could be my potential customers. By interacting with these customers in a common language, I will be able to influence them and increase our database of Chinese, Japanese and Spanish-speaking customers.
Part V
I need to pay a lot more attention to developing my English speaking capabilities. Till now, I have only felt the need to speak in English to clarify or answer my friends and colleagues in college and outside college. However, this will not be enough if I am to engage employees and customers in discussions. I may have to talk on a wider range of subjects and unless I am able to convince them, my efforts will be lost. I also need to improve my cognitive skills. It is easy for me to talk to my team members to solve problems that are forced on us through assignments, but if I am to become a successful manager, I need to develop my cognitive skills to solve problems on my own. Therefore, I will need to start thinking on my own and try and come up with solutions that I can then discuss with my team members. As a retain stores management trainee, or a retail store manager later on, I cannot risk of learning this from experience, and so, I need to start working on developing my problem-solving skills from now on. I need to read a lot more on various case studies and improve my critical thinking capability. I must also put these thoughts into practice to gauge its effectiveness. Once I’m able to convince myself that I can tackle problems on my own, I will be ready to lead a team of professionals at work.
In order to understand what I need to do to improve my employability skills, I need to assess SMART. For S, I need to target my English language proficiency needs and develop my cognitive skills. For M, I will use every weekend starting now to assess how much progress I have made in my attempt to overcome my areas for improvement. For A, I can say that in the available time from now to leaving college, I will be able to show positive results in English speaking and problem-solving. As I am surrounded by friends and colleagues who speak English all the time, I will have to become more involved in discussions with them so that i can correct myself and grow in confidence in speaking in English. I will also involve myself in trouble-shooting exercises more proactively and correct myself from the mistakes I make. However, the problem-solving skills development will not be completely overcome, and i will have to assess myself on a gradual progress level. Regarding R, it is important that I am able to speak in the native tongue clearly to convince customers. If I am not able to speak fluently, or be convincing enough, customers may lose confidence and go elsewhere, which can be disastrous for the business. As for my cognitive skills, if I as a manager cannot solve problems on my own which my team expects or hopes, they will lose confidence in me and the organization and leave. Finally, for T, I can say that I will be able to improve my English language considerably by the time I leave college. I say this because I have understood the importance of speaking in English and will now; spend my entire time in college, speaking in English. It would be hard for me to learn to speak in English after I begin working. My cognitive skills can only improve, and as I learn to solve problems on my own, and read books, it can only get better. I will be able to solve some of the common problems that happen in business by the time I leave college, and gain more experience once I start working.
References
Firestonecompleteautocare-bridgestone.icims.com, (2013). Retail Store Management Trainee. [online] Available at: https://firestonecompleteautocare- bridgestone.icims.com/jobs/38095/retail-store-management- trainee/job?mode=job&iis=Indeed&iisn=Indeed.com&mobile=false&width=590&hei ght=500&bga=true&needsRedirect=false [Accessed 8 Dec. 2014].
