ES2007S: Application Letter Critique

Samantha

92 Sunshine Walk S(123456)

Mobile: 91234567

Email: email@address.com

30 January 2013

Mr Jonathan Tan

Section Manager

Engineering Operations

XYZ Company

10 Fairfield Drive S(456782)

Dear Mr Tan,

Application for position of Process & Equipment Shift Engineer

XYZ Company is one of the world’s leading semiconductor companies and has recently been listed under Thomson Reuters Top 100 Most Innovative Organizations. I am keen to start my career in this global organization as a Process & Equipment Shift Engineer.

As a final year undergraduate from the Engineering Science Programme specializing in nanotechnology from National University of Singapore (NUS), I have undertaken modules, such as Semiconductor Technology, which I believe would maximize my potential in this position. For my final year project, I am working on titanium dioxide (TiO₂), where I am required to change its properties. This has helped me to gain a deeper understanding about the properties of semiconductors.

Furthermore, over my course of study, I have been involved in three design projects. These projects have honed by team building skills after working with different team mates for each individual project. I have also learnt to adapt to the different working styles of each member, to communicate and work together effectively to achieve our project objectives. I believe this skill is crucial as a process & equipment shift engineer, as I will be required to work closely with my team, and to be able to communicate effectively with the members on the subsequent shift.

In addition, I have been actively involved in several student organizations. I am currently the captain for the squash (female) team in X Hall, and has designed and led the team in weekly trainings, which eventually led us to securing a gold in the Inter-Hall Games 2013. I was also the chairperson of the X Hall Orientation Committee that organized a camp for 250 freshmen, where I planned, executed and oversaw the entire process of the event.

Thank you for your time to review my application. I enclosed my resume for your consideration. I look forward to a face-to-face interview with you to discuss my suitability for this position. I can be contacted at 91234567 or email@address.com at your convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Samantha 

ES2007S: Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

[Words in blue represent the feelings identified.]

January spells the beginning of another hectic semester, especially for students staying in halls as it is the start of the Inter-Hall Games (IHG) season. Being a resident of hall, I represented my hall in squash.  For each round (prelims, semi-finals and finals), each hall will have to send in 5 players. 3 players have to win their matches in order for the hall to win. We managed to enter finals and were aiming for the championship (since half the team are in our final year and we really wanted to win before we graduate).

On the day of finals, my team was eager to win, yet nervous (because the opponent hall has 2 really good players, of which 1 is in the school team). Despite our nerves, we knew we had to give our best shots and clinch the gold so as not to disappoint each other. Thankfully, we won the first 3 matches and  managed to bag the gold. We felt really really happy since we have been working hard towards this goal for the past 4 years and finally managed to attain it. Since we had already won, according to the rules of IHG, we were allowed to give up the last 2 matches so that it'd be a walkover to the opponents' hall. So since our last player has an Inter-Varsity Badminton match the next day, we requested to the opposing hall for a walkover for the last match, but gave them the option as to whether or not they wanted to play the fourth match. They agreed to play the fourth match, and to let the last match be a walkover.

After the last match was played and we were done with all the cheers with the supporters, the captain of the opposing team approached us. She must have been feeling disappointed and upset about her team's loss because based on the line-up (a line-up is the order in which the 5 players of each hall would be playing their games) of the matches, the bets were that their hall would win (even my team thought so!).  She told us that she was disappointed in us that we didn't want to play the last match, and that she felt that we didn't have sportsmanship. Hearing that, I was perplexed because when we made the request to give up on the last match earlier on, she did not raise any objections. But now that the dust has settled, she came over to raise her unhappiness, which I though was preposterous as she should have voiced out her opinions earlier. So I tried to reason with her that she should have told us earlier that they wanted the last match to be played, in which case we may continue on with the last match. Besides, it is stated in the rules that we were allowed to walkover the matches. To these, she retorted: "But you've already stated your reason for not wanting to play the match, how can we insist on playing? Anyway, no hard feelings, I'm just stating what I feel. I just think that you don't have sportsmanship." Urged by my friend to stop arguing with her since people don't normally speak rationally when they are emotional, I ended the conversation with: "Okay, you've stated your feelings and I've stated mine, so let's leave it."

Having reflected on this scenario many times, I know that I didn't feel anger towards her, just some confusion because I didn't expect her outburst, and maybe a little indignation towards her accusations. As for her, I'd expect her to feel sad because it has been a really long time since their hall performed this well for squash and I think that they had really expected themselves to win. I could also feel that she was emotional during our conversation, but it didn't feel like anger or sadness to me. 

So my question would be: What emotion do you think she was feeling during our conversation, and why?