I decided to register for the career and placement fair as I wanted to get the opportunity to learn about the companies I am considering and also learn more about the application process

I began by attending the Professional Etiquette Practice – Are you ready to meet your employer? virtual session as I wanted to be better informed when meeting with the speakers of the different companies.

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Professional Etiquette Practice – Are you ready to meet your employer?

This session students will be advised how to be prepare yourself professionally to meet prospective employers.

Speaker – Donna Caldwell

Business etiquette refers to the professional manners and rules required and enforced in a professional environment. Having clear expectations of conduct contributes to a professional, productive, communicative and respectful workplace for both employees and management (Indeed, 2021). This basically mean having consideration for the basic rules and values of the employer

Professional situations in which you should practice good business etiquette:

• Network etiquette
• Interview etiquette
• Post-interview etiquette
• Introduction etiquette 
• Workplace etiquette

Networking etiquette

• To build a solid network, consider what you can do for other people and what they can do for you. You should be able to help your network when they need it, and they may be more likely to offer help for you.
• Have your “elevator pitch” ready—a summary of what you do, your experience and your goals. It’s called an elevator pitch because it should be no longer than what you could share with someone during an elevator ride.
• When engaged in a group conversation, be sure to include everyone. Make sure each person has an opportunity to speak and share their experiences.
• Follow up with the people you meet within two days. Try to offer them something of value instead of asking for a favor or introduction, such as a link to an interesting article they might like to read. Sample: Networking opportunity (Careers Fairs 11-14 Oct)

Interview etiquette

A good understanding of etiquette guidelines during an interview can help you make a positive impression. Here are a few etiquette tips to remember for an interview

•  Be prepared by researching the company and the interviewer if possible.
• Turn off your phone or don’t bring it to the interview.
• Greet your interviewer with a smile and a firm handshake (pre-Covid).
• Make eye contact with the interviewer, speak clearly and sit up straight.
• Take notes and ask questions if you do not understand something. example ” excuse me, sorry could you repeat that please?”
• Speak positively about your previous employer and anyone who works there.
• Let the interviewer ask about salary first. One could say “Looking at the average salary for placement students in Northern Ireland £18000”

Following up with interviewers is one more way you can stand out from your competition and make a good impression. Depending on the situation, you may follow up with an email or a handwritten, mailed note. A handwritten note is more formal, but the email approach has the benefit of being much faster. Try to send any follow-up communication within 24 hours of the interview. Here are some tips you can follow when creating a thank-you note:

• Be brief, conversational and professional.
• Reiterate your interest in the position and why you are a perfect fit.
• Thank the interviewer for their time.
• If you forgot to give the interviewer relevant information about yourself and your abilities, you can explain in the follow-up note.
• You should send a thank you note to the hiring manager even if you did not get the job. In the email, you can thank them for their time and express interest in any future roles that match your skills and abilities

Introduction etiquette

It is polite to introduce people to one another when they meet for the first time. Here is the proper way todo it:

• If face-to-face, stand up if you’re sitting down.
• If you’re giving the introduction, say “I would like to introduce,” “this is” or a similar phrase, followed by their name.
• Offer some information about each person. The idea is to encourage a conversation between the two of them, so try to find a topic of common interest.
• If face-to-face (pre-Covid, typically you would shake hands), using a firm grip and don’t extend the handshake past two seconds. Presently, elbow touching is permitted.
• If virtual, a warm smile (non-verbal) action should be used.

Workplace etiquette

You too can practice good etiquette in the workplace. Here are some examples of good work place etiquette, you need to consider after securing that placement or graduate role:

• Dress to your workplace’s standards. For example, you may need to wear casual, business casual or professional apparel. If you wear a uniform, make sure it follows the guidelines.
• Arrive on time to work or meetings every day. Not only does this express your positive attitude toward your job, but it is also considerate to anyone who may be waiting for you.
• Learn names as quickly as you can. This communicates respect and assures them you value your acquaintance with them.• Return phone calls within 24 hours, even if you do not have an immediate answer. Let the caller know that you’ll follow up as soon as you have an answer.• Keep your work area clean and tidy, especially if it is in a central, visible space or faces the public.
• Be considerate when using break room facilities, such as microwaves and refrigerators.

How to improve your workplace etiquette:

1. Maintain professionalism: while you’re working, it’s important to stay professional. Make sure your appearance is neat and that your apparel fits the situation. When speaking with coworkers, it’s acceptable to use a conversational tone, then use a formal tone when working with clients. Make sure you make eye contact during conversations and smile when appropriate.
2. Respect others: you should always respect others, including their opinions and actions. During meetings, consider ideas from everyone, even if they’re different from your own. Be polite when communicating with others. Treat everyone with  show your business etiquette.
3. Develop a skills set: there are certain skills you can practice to improve your etiquette:

• Communication: Improving your verbal and written communication skills can make a positive impact on your etiquette. When conversing with others, speak slowly and clearly so others can understand you. Use non-technical terms when speaking with those outside of your industry. Actively listen to others during conversation. Before emailing or sending a letter, review the document for possible grammatical errors.
•  Emotional intelligence: This skill refers to the ability to understand the emotions of others. To develop emotional intelligence skills,observe the actions and words of others to see how they react to different situations. Watch for nonverbalcommunication actions, such as smiling or raised eyebrows to determine how a person feels about an actionor statement. You should react accordingly.
• Time management: A large portion of etiquette is arriving on time or meeting deadlines. You may need to arrive early or on time fora work shift or submit your part of a project for coworkers to complete the next step. To manage your time, create a calendar that details meeting information, project timelines and your work schedule. Consider usingan electronic calendar that sends you notifications for each event.

    4.   Ask for feedback: If you’re unsure of how you present yourself to others, ask for constructive feedback from yourcolleagues or manager. Gathering an outside perspective of your workplace etiquette can helpyou realize actions you may not have noticed before. Try to incorporate their notes into yourdaily routine to improve your etiquette. If they offer you positive feedback, continue improving in that area.

Handshake profile

• My journey – mention what you study, achievements, and a wide range example of your journey to date.
• Education
• Work and volunteering experience
• Organizations and extra curriculars
• Classes – include EDGE activities you have completed
• Projects
• Skills – 4 or 5 is more than sufficient, anything you put down you must be able to talk freely if an employer asks you about it.

Plan of action for the career fair day

• You’ll need to be more direct and have a plan of action, but still be open-minded if you encounter an employer you haven’t heard of before. You never know!
• Look at which employers are attending (before the event) and research the ones who you’d like to have a conversation with and what questions you’d like to ask.
• Check your tech is working
• When attending networking events, it is key to know your professional pitch: how you’ll introduce yourself to an employer when you approach them.
• Think short and snappy. A few sentences summing up who you are, your academic and work background and why you want to talk to them.

Getting into  the right mindset

• • Give the virtual event your undivided attention – if you’re half-heartedly browsing while also juggling TikTok or Netflix, you won’tachieve much.
• Set yourself up for the day – have a few questions prepared.
• Make sure your background is tidy.
• Dress professionally. Employers won’t love your dressing gownas much as you do.

Prefessional communication

• First impressions count so make sure your communication with employers are professional.
• Ensure your CV is complete and reviewed via Vmock and finally by an Employability Adviser.
• Don’t use text speak or casual slang that you would use with your friends.
• Be courteous and, once you’ve finished talking, thank them fort heir time and advice.

Preparing questions

• How did you get involved in this role/company?
• How would you describe the culture within this company?• What are the most important skills required within your job?• What kind of projects are you working on currently?• What’s your favorite part of the job?• What are your main responsibilities?• What is a typical day (or week) like for you?• What do you like least about your work?• What kinds of problems do you deal with?• What kinds of decisions do you make?

Employability advisor support

https://ulster.joinhandshake.co.uk/appointments

Donna has kindly agreed to review my prepared questions for my 1:1 sessions with employers – d.caldwel@ulster.ac.uk

This week I started focusing more on my case study pages. I was going to follow the layout I had previously sketched out in my sketchbook but after doing some changes to the rest of my website to fine tune the mistakes, I started to see that maybe an image preview would best suit the layout and would inform the viewer of the contents in the page along with giving them a glimpse into the final product.

I started off by drawing up some wireframes – always start on paper.

I also further considered the information I would include. It could not bee too much or too little. Enough to give prospective employers a glimpse of the skills I can offer them. Give them enough to see my potential.

After talking to Kyle I also changed some parts of the layout and the typeface. I changed my typeface from Arial to Playfair Display as per Kyle’s instructions – It really elevated the look of the website and give it a feminine touch (something I was scared of doing).

Here are my results:

This is what I have accomplished so far with my case study page. I think it looks okay but there is still a lot of work I need to do to make it right. I also changed the footer and added my socials linked via logos but I am struggling to center align them. This is what I will be working on for the next few days – refining my design.

ESO – placement opportunities

Speaker: MT McCaan

She will really take care of the intern students and mentor them.

• Placement begins next summer for a year
• There will be 2 placement opportunities only

Company mission

To make a difference. Improve community health and safety through the power of data

MT – head of UX at ESO

• Ladies that UX Belfast
• Worked in Fathom
• Passionate about building strong, collaborative teams, ensuring accessibility.
• @BusyMomy on Twitter

ESO

• Started in Coffee house (Austin Java) in Austin Texas
• Offices in NI and US and Canada
• This is a product company not an agency
• Passionate about the health care company, many employees are previous first responders eg paramedics, firefighters

What does the software do?

• gives data directly from the first responder to the hospital so the staff there (Doctors and nurses) right until the patient is discharged so the patient care can be evaluated.
• Helps fire stations manage their operations and run more efficiently, run after their equipment, what training is needed, log incidents, emergency calls and any other data so they can then evaluate it and provide evidence to then get funded to keep providing care.
• Collects data to be researched and analyzed.
• Provide software for EMS (first responders), Fire agencies, hospitals and state departments. A real product ecosystem.

The company is very focused on the humans that use the software and how they can help them use their time fore effectively.

Their design is designed with clarity, simplicity and accessibility in mind – can they use it with gloves on while on site? They ensure the software isn’t overwhelming while still showing all the information they need on screen. They also consider what tasks need to be done on field and which ones can wait until after they get back to the office.

The reality of the scenarios – the software is in their vehicle and its viewed when they can. It’s on their mobile and work stations.

ESO Belfast office

• The headquarters are in Austin Texas.
• Washington
• Offices in Colorado
• Nova scotia (Canada)

The Belfast office

• opened in 2019
• 2 floors
• Remote/office work mixed and flexible
• Royal avenue near boots (Location)
• Art in office based on rich Belfast Maritime history – the sea horse is a symbol of Belfast – also in the city hall emblem. Symbol of health, vitality.

Design team:

• All about the user that uses the software – human centered design.
• Also keeping in mind that whatever is build makes sense in a business point of view.
• Their role is to bring together team members to  understand where the complexity in the software lies and making it clear for the user. Complexity into clarity.
• Format of design team – UX manager manages the UX and product designers.
• As an intern you would be part of the product team.
• They work and prioritize decisions with a trio of people.
• The role of the design team is to make something that will help simplify the busy lives of the users. Does the price point work for users? You can only make better decisions by talking to the user and by designing for them.
• Project trio
• Liza Torres – listen to one of her TED talks
• They have an agile work environment
• They use Figma, Storybook and Confluence

Benefits to your education

• join a fast growing company with an ambitions global vision.
• Driven by mission and purpose.
• Practice your new UX skills and get product experience in a growing UX team.
• See first hand the challenges and opportunities of growing a product internationally.
• Learn from product designers who you will be partnered with.
• Practice design methodology in an agile dev cycle org.
• See your features in users hands.
• Doesn’t matter what you are designing the process is the same

What they want from a placement student

Work and support each of the product designers.

Look up project Aristotle – research Google did – she brought it up, this could be a good talking point for interview. Liza Torres – listen to one of her TED talks

• Passion for healthcare and making a difference
• Full of curiosity
• Being energized by the companies mission
• Cares about people and has the right mindset
• Empathetic and caring for the people this software is aimed at
• natural problem solver
• Critical thinker – don’t just go for your first idea, explore, research, stress test it and improve, show you are willing to ask for help if needed.
• empathy for our users and desire to learn as much as possible about their needs in various scenarios
• desire to build accessible interfaces.
• loves teamwork and bringing people together
• can also work independently
• great communication skills
• high emotional intelligence
• flexible/agile
• Natural collaborator
• positive attitude and common sense
• Seeks challenges – as UX and product design is about solving challenges
• Someone that can lead in our new technological world
• Work with teammates
• ask questions
• don’t keep quiet

Knows the basics

• Naturally creative
• know your way around Figma, Miro, Dovetail
• Be able to show process: sketch > wireframe > prototype > test > iterate
• user research methods
• usability
• product mindset

How to apply

mt.mccann@eso.com

deadline Fri 05/11/21

NOT LOOKING FOR A POLISHED PORTFOLIO

She just wants to see the process and why you want to join the team based on what was said today and what motivates you.

What to email MT

1. tell her the reason why you would love to join ESO
2. What motivates you and excites you in UX and product design.

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Reflection

I always wanted to make a difference and I think that this would be my dream placement.