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A relative of mine is taking the first practical class in his academic career in Accounting/Finance and his classmates are complaining like crazy. The class is called Business Communication and here is what they are teaching:
How to write a resume and cover letter
How to develop an elevator pitch to answer the most popular question asked at interviews (Tell me about yourself)
How to participate and run a business meeting
What is office politics and subjective criticism
Selling yourself to your coworkers and supervisor
Working with difficult people at work
Email usage and when it is the right form of communication and when it is best to use the phone or an in-person approach
How to do a business presentation using PowerPoint
Understanding business hierocracy and how people manage and communicate between departments
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I understand the Professor is brilliant and a great communicator and is currently Director of Corporate Communication in a Fortune 500 Company.
But believe it or not, a large number of students think the course material is a waste of their time because they think that it is not technical enough. Many want to do the minimum or wanted to be tested out of the class because they said it was just common sense and they knew all this stuff already. At age 20?
What do you think, would you take a class like this in college?
A class like this would weed out the ones that really didn't have what it takes to be successful in the business world.
"Business" is a lot more than just sitting at a desk.
If they don't learn a thing except How To Work With Difficult People, they have a head start over others.
That course description is actually part of what I teach to 9th graders. I would hope that anyone in college would have already had this information. I do realize that some things change, but not the basics.
All of this seems like common sense to me. A class that covers these specific things isn't part of an engineering curriculum so I learned on the job. It's all part of learning to be an effective communicator. If you are already an effective communicator in your everyday life this class will be a monumental waste of time. However, not everyone learns how to properly communicate so I suppose having a class such as this available is a benefit to some.
Apparently, the business world wanted basic classes taught so their future employees can do more than FB. I hope it raises the standards above what we now have.
Apparently, the business world wanted basic classes taught so their future employees can do more than FB. I hope it raises the standards above what we now have.
Almost all accounting majors who plan on obtaining their CPA license have to take some sort of ethics course. My state Board of Accountancy required that I pass an ethics exam after passing the other CPA exams, and it was actually not easy. There were a lot of things to study regarding situations that would impair auditor independence (i.e you have a spouse that owns stock outright in a company you are auditing vs. a spouse owns stock through a managed mutual fund in a company you are auditing - in which situation would independence be impaired, etc.).
Also, the BEC exam (part of the 4-part CPA exam) tests written communication skills. I was an English Lit undergrad, so it was very disheartening for me to see how many people in my CPA review classes who were unable to formulate a complete sentence.
Apparently, the business world wanted basic classes taught so their future employees can do more than FB. I hope it raises the standards above what we now have.
My alma mater started business ethics as a course the next semester after I graduated. However, there was ethics taught through out the other classes I took providing it is was relevant to the course work.
As for a business communication course, good for the university. My alma mater had this as a requirement for ALL graduates. There was just a specific business communication course that counted as the 300 level writing requirement.
That course description is actually part of what I teach to 9th graders. I would hope that anyone in college would have already had this information. I do realize that some things change, but not the basics.
Most of the class is in their Jr. Year and many will be going on to a semester abroad or an internship soon. You would think that the students would be fine communicators already and be great at interviewing and have a great resume and could sell themselves well, but most are just plain terrible. But their argument is they will learn all these things on their own once they start their full time work.
Many did learn these things in High School but going into higher level jobs in the worst job market since the Great Depression maybe they have to raise the bar?
Will it be too late then or is teaching this type of stuff a waste so early in the game? Maybe an additional class describing the technical aspects of Cost Accounting would be more helpful than learning about workplace communications?
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