Free Write Activity 1/24/17 How do you use evidence in your discipline?
I am going into sales for a technology company post-graduation. I will use evidence in my future job by explaining to clients why our product is the best solution to help fix their needs. I will use evidence and research support to explain how and why the product I am selling to clients can offer the top-notch solution and help solve any problems. As a Psychology major here at Emory, I have used evidence to back up claims I have stated. During one of my classes, Methods, we were required to take part in a research experiment with subjects where my group measured the Effects of Parenting Styles on Academics. We used evidence and past research experiments to back up our hypothesis and the notion that parenting styles indeed impact students’ academics.
What are the processes or methods of inquiry?
Although I am going into technology sales, I am a psychology major at Emory. During my time at Emory, I have spent a great deal of time learning about the ethics behind scientific writing and experiments. Methods of inquiry include: formulating a hypothesis, testing this multiple times and submitting results. As for technology sales, I will be responsible for inquiring questions about both inbound and outbound clients. I will inquire what their businesses need in order to be successful, problems the clients have, what they are looking for and how NetSuite (where I am working) can help. For this job, the methods of inquiry will first be asking questions. I will need to get a feel for the problems my clients are facing in order to offer them the most effective and efficient solution for them.
What types or genres of communication are there? (Lab report)
There are several types or genres of communication. These include: lab reports, poster presentation, messaging, speaking in person, speaking over the phone, facetiming, texting, snapchatting, video chatting, writing a paper, tweeting, publishing a website, writing a book and a lot more. As for my future in sales, the most important forms of communication for me include speaking in person and over the phone, asking questions, providing solutions, being inquisitive and being able to articulate.
What are some rules or unwritten rules of communication?
Some rules or unwritten rules of communication include: eye contact, listening, responding when necessary, asking questions, being inquisitive and head-nodding. As for psychology, these rules are often shown between subjects and researchers. The rules of communication most often associated here are subject-researcher confidentiality, trust, explaining the experiment to the subject and debriefing afterwards.
Anything about: timeliness, context, exigency, process, purpose and audience.
For Psychology, I have experience in timeliness, process, purpose and audience. For timeliness, I have learned how to get things done on time. For my Methods class, we needed to conduct our own scientific experiment and timeliness was crucial. Each week we were expected to show progress on the experiment. First it was the research question, then it was finding sources and how these sources support or reject the initial hypothesis, then it was creating the online quiz and sending it out to Emory students, then it was data collection and analyzing and finally it was formulating a conclusion. Each week there were assignments due and if they were not completed, grades were altered. This showed me the importance of getting things done on time. As for process, there were specific processes we as researchers needed to partake in. We spent a great deal of time learning about debriefing subjects and getting their initial consent to partake in the research experiment. As for audience, I have learned who my audience was. My entire life I was used to writing more creatively. For this class, and as a psychology major, my entire writing was transformed. I now had to learn to write for a scientific audience and the methods and rules that applied here were extremely different from what I was used to.
For my job in sales, timeliness is crucial. I will be responsible for not leaving clients hanging and being able to get back to them in a timely matter. This will be super important if I want them to continue to use our product as a solution to their problems. In addition, process is key. One aspect of my role at NetSuite is cold-calling. This includes picking up the phone in an attempt to sell a client NetSuite’s solutions. In order to be successful in this domain, purpose and process are two key concepts I will need to incorporate. For example, I will need to show clients my job and company has a purpose. I will need to explain to clients how the benefits of NetSuite are to offer software to help better their businesses by helping them manage their clients. Although I have not learned the process of cold calling just yet, I know there is a particular method and process that is effective in this daunting task.
For both psychology and sales, there is a need of exigency. Exigency is defined as an urgent need or demand. In order to be successful in any domain or area of study, exigency is necessary. For example, the need to get things done timely and with a sense of purpose and urgency shows your clients that you care and are thinking about them. From a psychology perspective, exigency is needed to not be crammed with data overload and to maintain a flow of information you, as a researcher, are receiving. More generally speaking, exigency is needed in psychology to help people who are in a dire need. There is an urgency and sense of importance to help individuals who are suffering from a psychological disorder or even more common, those who are just upset in the current moment. For a successful career in sales, exigency is necessary to show clients how you, as a salesperson, care about their needs and helping them achieve their goals. Exigency is an important characteristic in order to be successful in both psychology and sales.