Think of your audience when formatting information

This evening we learned our schedules for final examinations. As in previous years, the main part of the schedule lists the days and dates as rows of a table. Three columns of each row denote the different starting times for examination: 9 am, 2 pm and 6 pm. Within each box of the resulting matrix are the courses that have final examinations for those particular dates and times.

The school has been presenting information this way for years. It sounds reasonable when you first look at it or think about the schedule. However, think again.

To find the date and time of the examination for a particular course, a student might have to search every box of the schedule. Only after searching several boxes might the student find the required information. But then, that student has to do the same thing for the second course, and so on.

Think about it: does a student really care which examinations are on Monday, May 4 at 9 am? Probably not. The student cares only about those courses that that student is enrolled in. So, instead of organizing the examination schedule by day and time, why not organized it by course name instead? That way, students can look up their required information more quickly.

Think about your audience when you prepare a presentation. What's acceptable and useful to you may be less so for that audience.

Don't sell yourself short

This evening I was discussing, with a law student from China, her resume. In a paragraph regarding one of her previous jobs, as a judicial intern, she wrote about her responsibilities of cataloging files, conducting research and observing trials. When I saw her this evening, I asked her for more details about that job. Well, it turned out that she was one of several interns from her law program, at her university, in that courthouse. Not only that, but she actually was the supervisor of these other interns. Even better: she was the liaison between the court and the university, meaning that she reported to one of the deans of her university regarding this intern program. None of this information appeared on her resume. I made clear to her the importance of including this information, because it shows leadership and responsibility--traits that a prospective employer wants to see.

When you are preparing a resume or preparing to attend a job interview, don't sell yourself short. Go through what you are doing and what you have done. Don't just list tasks and responsibilities. List your accomplishments as well. How can you show responsibility and leadership? How can you show that you added value to the place where you worked? Take the time to think these things through, because they will only help you later.

Mom was right

What's that old saying? "We grow too soon old and too late smart"? I hate to say it, but Mom was right after all. When I was young, she sat me down and said, "Calvin, I want to teach you Chinese, because it's important." I did learn characters from her, and I have vivid audio recollections of her excellent Beijing Mandarin. But I didn't learn as much as I should have.

Well, she was right. The good news is that having spent four months in Beijing, I can say my Chinese has improved markedly. Even more interestingly, it has improved more since I returned to the US. Better late than never, I always say. If you have a chance to learn Chinese, do so. It can only help you in your career.

Taking flak for suggesting a thank you note

I still can't believe it: in my blog entry on avoiding job interview mistakes, I suggest that following an interview, the candidate send a thank you note. Boy, did I ever get lambasted for that statement.

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=425

One poster said, in particular, that my note would be hung on the cafeteria all, and people would laugh at it. I responded by saying that if a company did that, it wouldn't be the kind of company I would want to work for anyway.

Bathrooms in Beijing

It was good to move closer to Tsinghua University, in particular to Huaqing Jiayuan. Instead of a forty-five minute commute from Beiyuanlu North subway station, we had/have only a ten minute walk.

The only reservation we had about Huaqing Jiayuan was one we had when we first looked at the place in August: the arrangement of the bathrooms--in particular, the lack of a dedicated shower area. You know how, in the U.S., bathrooms usually have either a bathtub with a curtain, or a shower stall? Well, in Huaqing Jiayuan, no such thing exists. In other words, the shower is right there, out in the open. Therefore, the water from the shower falls to the floor and then travels to a drain in the floor.

We learned a few things as a result: first, keep the bath tissue covered, specifically in a covered canister. Second, watch where you're pointing the shower head. Third, wear flip-flops when taking a shower, and also if you have to enter the bathroom afterwards, before the floor is dry.

Anticipating the trouble spots

I just got back from AAA, having successfully obtained a license plate and registration for one of our cars. During my four month stay in China, that car was never to be driven. Therefore, I removed liability insurance from that car, and (in compliance with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation regulations) surrendered the old plate prior to my leaving for China.

Now that I have returned, I wanted to get a new plate and registration so I could drive the car. I went to AAA, and eventually was able to accomplish that task. However, it took longer than it needed to, because the AAA staff had trouble figuring out which computer screens and commands to use.

Looking back, I should have anticipated this problem, and prepared for it. Prior to leaving for AAA, I actually had called PennDOT to ask about what documents I needed. When I had them on the phone, I should have asked them, "Is there anything AAA should know when processing my request?" There's no guarantee of course, but maybe PennDOT could have told me to tell AAA to use a particular screen or command.

I know the customer shouldn't have to do the job of the service provider, but sometimes it's necessary if you want the job done right and done quickly.

Continental boarding pass--why make us guess?

I left Beijing on December 31, 2008, on Continental flight 88, nonstop to Newark Liberty. Great flight, but the information could have been clearer. All the boarding pass and reservation said was that my flight was leaving Beijing Capital Airport at 5 pm. Well, I got to the airport, went into Terminal 3, looked for Continental and didn't see them. I went to an information desk and guess what? I should have gone to Terminal 2 instead.

Fortunately, I had gotten to Terminal 3 at 2:15 pm, so I still had time to take the shuttle bus to Terminal 2. I checked in and boarded the flight.

Why couldn't the boarding pass simply have told me to go to Terminal 2 rather than 3? I realize that the gate assignment might not have been final. However, with an airport like Capital or JFK, where your terminal DOES matter (unlike, for example, Atlanta), knowing the terminal can save time and aggravation.