Day 3; Self Evaluation, continued.

Understanding Skill Sets
What skills do you possess? Many employers are interested in two very important skill sets: computers and people. Take the following self assessment survey to see how you match up:
Computer/People-Management Skills Assessment
Use this form to document your skills inventory. It is helpful for you to keep a skills inventory and update it as you increase your skills. Then you will have this information readily available when you need to update your resume, respond to inquiries at interviews, and give an accurate picture of your skill level at salary reviews. You can also use it to start a skills development plan.
Modify this form to create your own custom skill inventory. It presents several ways that you can list and measure your skills. Not all of the skills listed in the inventory will apply to you. In addition, you will want to add your particular skills.

Desktop Computer Skills

Skills for using a computer to produce research, business reports, presentations, correspondence, resumes, and other forms of communications.

Evaluate your skill level to identify areas you can work on.

For each of the following, determine if you are:
1)Power User
2)Highly Skilled
3)Adequate
4)Marginal

File Management ____

Internet ____

Microsoft Windows _____

Navigation _____

Applications
List specific software applications that you know how to use:

Database
Word Processing
Spread-sheets
Presenta-tions
Graphics
Research
Other
Other
Other

After filling out the Desktop Computer Skills form above, describe in detail, just how capable you really are with each skill. Determine how and why it may be a useful skill to have, and how you think in might help you in the future.

Computer Skills--Would I hire me with this skill?

Ask yourself the following questions for each of the following skills listed:

On a scale of 1 – 10 (1 being the lowest, 10 the highest), how useful is this skill? How can I use this skill to build towards my future?

Word Processing


Data Base


Spreadsheets


Graphics


Research



Okay, so now that I've answered these questions, just what are these skills, and why are they important?

(The following definitions have been taken from Wikipedia):

Word Processing: “Use of a computer program or a dedicated hardware and software package to write, edit, format, and print a document. Text is most commonly entered using a keyboard similar to a typewriter's.
Word processors have various functions that allow a person to revise text without retyping an entire document. As the text is entered or after it has been retrieved, sections ranging from words and sentences to paragraphs and pages can be moved, copied, deleted, altered, and added to while displayed. As word processors have become more sophisticated, such functions as word counting, spell checking, footnoting, and index generation have been added. In addition, a document's format—type size, line spacing, margins, page length, and the like—usually can be easily altered. To aid in these alterations, the text is displayed as it will appear when printed with indented paragraphs and lists, multiple columns, tables, etc; this is called a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) display.”
Data Base: “A set of related files that is created and managed by a database management system (DBMS). Today, DBMSs can manage any form of data including text, images, sound and video. Database and file structures are always determined by the software. As far as the hardware is concerned, it's all bits and bytes.”
Software that simulates a paper spreadsheet (worksheet) in which columns of numbers are summed for budgets and plans. It appears on screen as a matrix of rows and columns, the intersections of which are called "cells." The cells are filled with (1) labels, (2) numeric values or (3) formulas.

Labels are descriptive text such as "Rent" and "Gross Sales." Values are the actual numeric data, and formulas command the spreadsheet to do the calculations; for example, SUM CELLS A5 TO A10
The Formulas
Formulas are the spreadsheet's magic, and they are easy to create. You click a cell and then press the key (+, -, etc.) of the arithmetic operation that affects it. For example, the creation of a formula might be "the contents of this cell PLUS the contents of this cell DIVIDED BY the contents of this cell."

The Ripple Effect
After numbers are added or changed, the formulas recalculate the data automatically or with the press of a key. Since the contents of any cell can be calculated with or copied to any other cell, a total of one column can be used as a detail item in another column. For example, the total from a column of expense items can be carried over to a summary column showing all expenses. If the contents of a cell in the detail column changes, its column total changes, which is then copied to the summary column, and the summary total changes.

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Graphic Design:
The term graphic design can refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and presentation. Various methods are used to create and combine symbols, images and/or words to create a visual representation of ideas and messages. A graphic designer may use typograp and page layout techniques to produce the final result. Graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created and the products (designs) which are generated.
Common uses of graphic design include magazines, advertisements, product packaging and web design. For example, a product package might include a logo or other artwork, organized text and pure design elements such as shapes and color which unify the piece. Composition is one of the most important features of graphic design especially when using pre-existing materials or diverse elements.
Applications
From road signs to technical schematics, from interoffice memorandums to reference manuals, graphic design enhances transfer of knowledge. Readability is enhanced by improving the visual presentation of text.
Design can also aid in selling a product or idea through effective visual communication. It is applied to products and elements of company identity like logos, colors, and text. Together these are defined as branding. Branding has increasingly become important in the range of services offered by many graphic designers, alongside corporate identity, and the terms are often used interchangeably.
Textbooks are designed to present subjects such as geography, science, and math. These publications have layouts which illustrate theories and diagrams. Graphic design is also applied to layout and formatting of educational material to make the information more accessible and more readily understandable.
Graphic design is applied in the entertainment industry in decoration, scenery, and visual story telling. Other examples of design for entertainment purposes include novels, comic books, opening credits and closing credits in film, and programs and props on stage.
From scientific journals to news reporting, the presentation of opinion and facts is often improved with graphics and thoughtful compositions of visual information - known as information design. Newspapers, magazines, blogs, television and film documentaries may use graphic design to inform and entertain. With the advent of the web, Information designers with experience in interactive tools such as Adobe Flash and Photoshop are increasingly being used to illustrate the background to news stories.
Some other graphics programs include:
Bryce, Canvas, CorelDraw,Dimensions,,Director/Shockwave, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Framemaker, Freehand, FrontPage, Gimp, Golive, Illustrator, InDesign, Infini-D, Live Motions Pagemaker, Painter, Paint Shop Pro, Poser, QuarkXpress, Ray Dream, Shockwave/Director, Streamline, and SWiSH.
Skills
A graphic design project may involve the stylization and presentation of existing text and either preexisting imagery or images developed by the graphic designer. For example, a newspaper story begins with the journalists and photojournalists and then becomes the graphic designer's job to organize the page into a reasonable layout and determine if any other graphic elements should be required. In a magazine article or advertisement, often the graphic designer or art director will commission photographers or illustrators to create original pieces just to be incorporated into the design layout. Contemporary design practice has been extended to the modern computer, for example in the use of WYSIWYG user interfaces, often referred to as interactive design or multimedia design.
Research:

Research is an activity based on intellectual investigation and aimed at discovering, interpreting, and revising human knowledge on different aspects of the world. Research can use the scientific method, but need not do so.

Scientific research relies on the application of the scientific method, a harnessing of curiosity. This research provides scientific information and theories for the explanation of the nature and the properties of humans. It makes practical applications possible. Scientific research is funded by public authorities, by charitable organizations and by private groups, including many companies. Scientific research can be subdivided into different classifications.

Scientific research utilizes mathematical and experimental techniques employed in the natural sciences. Many empirical sciences, especially the social sciences, use mathematical tools borrowed from probability theory and statistics, together with such outgrowths of these as decision theory, game theory, utility theory, and operations research. Philosophers of science have addressed general methodological problems, such as the nature of scientific explanation and the justification of induction.


Historical research is embodied in the historical method. The historical method comprises the sources and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. Historical research includes the use of history guidelines commonly used by historians in their work, under the headings of external criticism, internal criticism, and synthesis.

The term research is also used to describe an entire collection of information about a particular subject.

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Internet research is the practice of using the internet for research. To the extent that the Internet is widely and readily accessible to hundreds of millions of people in many parts of the world, it can provide practically instant information on most topics, and is having a profound impact on the way in which ideas are formed and knowledge is created.

Research is a broad term. Here, it is used to mean "looking something up (on the Web)". It includes any activity where a topic is identified, and an effort is made to actively gather information for the purpose of furthering understanding. Common applications of Internet research include personal research on a particular subject (something mentioned on the news, a health problem, etc), students doing research for academic projects and papers, and journalists and other writers researching stories.

Compared to the Internet, print physically limits access to information. A book has to be identified then actually obtained. On the Net, the Web can be searched, and typically hundreds or thousands of pages can be found with some relation to the topic, within seconds. In addition, e-mail (including mailing lists), online discussion forums (aka message boards, BBS's), and other personal communication facilities (blogging, IRC, newsgropus, etc.), can provide direct access to experts and other individuals with relevant interests and knowledge. However, difficulties persist in verifying a writer's credentials, and therefore the accuracy or pertinence of the information.

It should be noted that thousands of books and other print publications have been made available online that would be extremely difficult to locate otherwise, including out of print books and classic literature, and textbooks that would be much less accessible in their printed form.

Credibility While the Internet contains a virtually-unlimited wealth of information not found in traditional resources, this abundance also may hinder research. Anyone can make a website for little or no cost and publish to the world. This bypasses the usual publishing channels and allows opinions to be expressed which may not be credible. Traditional sources may be considered more authoritative on the whole by some for this reason. On the other hand, this widespread publishing ability gives nearly-immediate access to the myriad views of both the average person and the professional world without the limited scope or bias which may be found in books and newscasts.