Ryan C. Johnson
ENG 420
Prof. Blakesley
May 23, 2005
Employment Project: PART 1
Work Experiences:
1) What work experiences have you had? List them all, with the title of your position, the name and locations of the company or organization, your supervisor’s name, the dates of your employment, and the job’s requirements.
Title of Position: Non-commissioned Computer Sales
Location: Best Buy Store #325; Mishawaka, Indiana
Supervisor: Michael Kujawski
Dates of Employment: April 2000-Present (Summers only from 2003-Present)
Requirements: Sales of computers and computer related products to the general public in a non-commission atmosphere. Also had to deal with a sophisticated Point of Sale system as well as maintaining a clean and organized shopping environment for customers.
Title of Position: Membership Counselor
Location: International Sports Clubs; Lafayette, Indiana
Supervisor: Paul Fortwendel
Dates of Employent: September-December 2004
Requirements: Sell health club memberships to the general public while maintaining a clean environment.
2) Have you ever volunteered with a nonprofit organization? List the details.
I have yet to complete any volunteer work during my college career.
3) Do you have any internship experiences? Describe them in detail.
I have been working in an internship-like situation for Dr. Jessica Foster in the Purdue University Psychology department. This position involved learning the basics of running a research project in a lab setting using software such as Media Lab and a psychology statistics package. In addition to working in the lab, I was also mentored by Dr. Foster and provided with many opportunities to learn how to distinguish myself from the crowd when applying for graduate school.
Educational Experience:
4. What courses, projects, and other activities have taught you valuable skills? Describe them in detail.
A combination of classes within my major and classes in other academic areas have added to my skill bank. The core Psychology classes including 201 (Statistics) and 203 (Research Methods), both of which I earned an A in, taught me the basic skills that I will need to have in order to conduct research at the graduate level including statistical analysis, study design, and writing a proper research paper in APA style. Beyond the basic Psychology classes, the classes I have taken in Organizational Leadership and Supervision (252, 274, and 386) have given me a strong foundation in understanding the employee/employer relationship and has provided a great basis to continue my education in the Industrial/Organizational Psychology field.
5. Have you received any scholarships or awards? Describe them in full.
Upon arriving at Purdue University I was chosen to become a Liberal Arts Dean’s Freshman Scholar. Along with a financial award, this program gave me the opportunity to have a faculty mentor and provided help in choosing classes and getting to know more of the faculty and people that could help me in my undergraduate career. More recently, I was awarded the Outstanding Junior Scholarship (for my next year) based on the submission of my research paper from my Abnormal Psychology Honors class titled Crazy and Sad: Co-morbidity of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Depression from the College of Liberal Arts Honors Program. I have also been on the Dean’s List and Semester Honors for all three of my semesters at Purdue and am also a recipient of the Purdue Academic Success Award.
Skills:
6. What skills do you have that rise above the ordinary? What do you do especially well? Do you have any special talents? (Think broadly.) How do your skills and talents relate to the kind of job you seek?
My skills lie mostly in the realm of communicating with people. These skills are best exemplified in my sales job at Best Buy. As most of the employees were let go when they moved on to college, I have been asked to return every summer. I have always been able to make customers feel at ease when making major purchases. I am able to make people understand computers, something that is very foreign to most, and feel comfortable and educated while making their purchase. I am also good at communicating academic related topics as well. I often tutor people in classes that I have already taken and they tend to do much better with my help. In general I have good social skills. I find it easy to talk to new people and am very social in all situations. I work effectively with most people in groups and enjoy working with others.
7. Do you have any skills in working with particular groups of people? Do you speak more than one language?
I work well with almost any group of people. In my work experiences, I have found that I work particularly well with older people who needed extra explanations of the products they were purchasing. I also was commonly charged with helping people who did not speak English, mainly because I tend to be a very patient person. I have a basic proficiency in Spanish after taking three years in high school and three semesters in college.
8. Do you have computer skills? What software programs do you know well?
I have above average computer skills. I have experience in building, repairing, selling, and programming computers. I also have significant web design skills using Adobe GoLive and some Microsoft FrontPage. I am also proficient in Microsoft Office 2003.
9. Do you have any skills working with particular kinds of equipment?
Besides working with computers as mentioned above, I do not have any other equipment skills besides running a sophisticated Point of Sale system while working at Best Buy.
Description of Position:
I am going to be applying for a position as a graduate student in an Industrial/Organizational psychology program at Michigan State University. MSU has one of the top-rated I/O psychology programs in the country and is relatively close to home making it a perfect fit. The program would involve me attending a graduate level program at MSU for four to five years following my graduation from Purdue. The program that I am interested in is a PhD level program that would involve working closely with a professor as I complete research in my areas of interest. The research I would like to conduct would be in the area of work-life conflict and would involve conducting experiments with the general public about their experiences regarding the conflicts that occur between their personal lives and jobs and how it effects them psychologically. This position would also involve me working as a teaching assistant in an undergraduate psychology course in order to earn my living stipend.
Why this Position/Qualifications:
Commercialism, business, and organizational behavior have always been interests of mine. I am also interested in psychology, therefore Industrial/Organizational psychology is a natural fit for me. In this field I will hopefully be able to get a job as a private business consultant. Instead of just reorganizing and re-staffing organizations, I would like to concentrate my research and skills on the improvement of life for the average worker. The MSU program is one of the best in the country in I/O psychology, and I chose it for this reason. I also like the location because it is close to my hometown as well as in a location with a relatively low cost of living compared to schools in metropolitan areas. The program is also relatively large which means I will have the choice of a variety of professors to complete my research under.
By the time I complete my undergraduate career at Purdue I should have all the skills and experience needed to be a serious candidate for the MSU I/O psychology graduate PhD program. By that time I will have completed at least two semesters of research in Dr. Jessica Foster’s work-life conflict lab. I am also planning on completing Purdue’s Research Focused Honors Program in psychology. This program takes three semesters and involves very similar work to a graduate level program and is meant to prepare students for graduate school. I would work on a personal research project and complete a senior honors thesis. This experience will make me stand out in the application process and will make me an ideal candidate for the MSU program. Besides my experiences, the fact that I will have a bachelors degree in psychology as well as an associates degree in organizational leadership, a closely related field to I/O psychology. Along with my experiences, degrees, and skills, my excellent grades and outstanding standardized test scores make me the ideal applicant.