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.