2_HenschK

Dear Professor Kim,

In the remaining weeks left in the quarter I hope to develop my skills in business communication and receive assistance in the areas that I am struggling in. First of all, I think it would be helpful to discuss my working environment outside of school. I work as an intern for Southern California Edison and am going into my second year there. I work full time during the summer and part time during the school year. When I started my internship I had to learn firsthand what the business world was like and the type of professionalism that is expected. I work in the General Office of the company where the executive members of the company work. For instance, I have found myself riding down the elevator with the CEO of the company. While working in a professional environment I have been able to develop business communication skills and find out what areas that I could use guidance in.

My work as an intern for the Human Resources department at SCE involves creating presentations and emails that need to go out to my team. I must be able to write two different versions of a report knowing that they will have two different audiences. One will go directly to the general office population and the other will go to upper-level management and senior executives. Executives do not need to know the nuances of the project so I must filter out the unnecessary information. The management needs a high level overview of what is going on and how it affects the company as a whole. The report that goes out the general population must be written at an appropriate level as well. My strengths involve my general writing skills. Something that I would need to improve on is being able to create documents that are concise. I tend to write emails or general overviews that are too wordy. I feel that what took a large paragraph probably could have been said in just a few sentences.

In my working environment I am one of, if not the youngest person in every meeting. I believe that some of my mannerisms do not portray me as professional as I would to be viewed as. I frequently have to switch environments from that of a college student to that of a business professional working in a corporate office. Sometimes I unknowingly speak in a manner that is acceptable with my peers but is not fully appropriate for a working environment. Being able to make professional presentations in your class will help me blend the two mindsets together. I will be able to get feedback on what I believe is professional, which would not happen if I was giving a presentation at work. You see presentations from college students frequently and are able to give advice on what some common downfalls may be. At work I receive feedback on my presentations but in the business communications class I would be able to find out what common mistakes were before I made them myself. I feel confident in my presentation skills at work when I am teaching a class how to use a system or instructing a group on process changes. I struggle when I have to speak off-hand about a topic when I wasn’t aware that I would need to be presenting. Without the forewarning about a presentation I stammer and speak too quickly. Being nervous only seems to be a hindrance when I’m in front of executives or don’t feel completely confident of my knowledge in a topic.

I would greatly appreciate any assistance you would be able to give me in portraying myself as a serious businessperson and not just as a college student who is an intern. Being seen on the same level as my coworkers is something I strive to accomplish. I look forward to learning all that I can during this quarter and applying it directly to my job.

Best regards, Kaitlin Hensch