Justin Andersen
Intro to Comm Studies
Reflective Essay
When I was younger, I always wondered what I would do with life. Especially in high school, I
had only one idea and I stuck to it. I wanted to be a music teacher and nothing else. But after two years
in college, trying to pursue music, I don’t want to do that anymore. I am now a junior at the University of
Northern Iowa and a Communication Studies major. After trying out Music Education, it occurred to me
that I can’t do that every day. The reason I chose Communication Studies is because I love interacting
with people and different communities. Looking towards the future, to me, is personally a scary thing to
do. Yet I would like to pursue a Human Resources Assistant job at a larger company. I want to be part of
a company, and yet have a relationship with many people. I think this would suit me very well because I
love interacting with people. I will list the skills needed, which one’s I have and don’t have, and the
importance of these areas to be a good Communication major.
The skills it takes to be a good Communication major involve a lot of social skills. In my informal
interview Cynthia Richardson, who is a Human Resources Assistant, states that you need a lot of social
skills for the job. You need them because you hold a lot of information that cannot leave between you
and the employee. When it comes to someone asking you about someone else’s personal information,
you need to know how to say their personal information. I feel like having a good skills like this would
help out a lot, especially when your job is to interact and talk to people. Having social skills will help you
keep confidential information and guarantees that you won’t be unethical in the workplace. I really do
think that having social skills will help.
Another skill you need to be a good Communication major is to have an online presence, stated
from the Pollak assignment. Having a good E-Portfolio and a clean social network profile is a must.
Companies are vastly changing to exploring and searching for your name on the internet. If you don’t
want something a future employer to see, then simply don’t put it up. Making a E-Portfolio will also
show that you are very professional. It also could have your contact information and other things that
you don’t want to put on a resume. It will show the different companies your strengths, essays, personal
examples, and that you are involved with a lot of different things. When it comes to your social media,
you should show that you are responsible but also a very involved person and you’re a social person. I
think that having a good image on the internet is very important because companies will look you up no
matter what.
The last great skill you should have is a good background in the art of persuasion, or rhetoric. In
the book, Boxing Plato’s Shadow, it explains the history of rhetoric and how it was handled. I think that if
you know how to use it in the right way, rather than the bad way, then you can be a great
Communication major. If you are good at persuading consumers to buy your product, then maybe later
down the road you can use that at your job. You can also list it as one of your strengths if you really
wanted to. Being able to persuade people in the right way can make you a great communicator and
show that you know how to talk to people. Overall I think that being able to use rhetoric is a great tool
for all Communication majors.
Now some there are some skills that I both have and don’t have under my belt. I personally have
interviewed someone that has interested job and asked about some of the requirements for the job. She
advised that I should have social skills, and luckily I already know how to interact with people. She states
that being able to communicate clearly and interact in a professional manner is recommended. Another
skill she also states that’s required is the ability to use computers. That is also another skill and
experience that I am good at and very knowledgeable about. We live in a digital world, and a lot of
documents are on computers. Having certain computer skills is recommended for any kind of job in a
workplace. Lastly, she also recommended that you have some management experience. I have not had
the experience of managing people at a workplace. I think that maybe I will pursue this to prep myself
for the bigger world and even just for the experience. These are the certain areas of skills that I both
have experience with and don’t have.
Out of the areas of importance to being a Communication major I would say that having social
skills is the best one. I say that because the main purpose of being a Communication major is the fact
you need to communicate with other people. Having this skill will make you better with speaking with
people and enhance the professionalism between you and your future employees. The second best area
is the use of computers, especially in our day and age. We are a digital community and a lot of business
is done over the computer. Having the ability to operate and use this machines will make you a better
Communication major and worker.
Overall I believe that being a good Communication major will help me pursue my interest in a
career in Human Resources. I think that having good social skills, computer skills and having a good
background in rhetoric will help me achieve my goal in becoming a good Communication major. I think
this is personally the path I want to go down and I already love being a Communication major. It will
take a lot of work, but in the end it will be worth all the time and effort I put into it.
Work Cited
1. Brown, M. Dues, M. 2004. Boxing Plato’s Shadow: An Introduction to the Study of Human
Communication. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill.
2. Richardson, C. Informal Interview. 2013. Andersen, J.