Application Letter (Draft 02) - Edited

Lim Yu Tian

BLK 123 Toh Guan Road

#04-05 Singapore 600123

HP: +65 9876 5432

Email: limyt88@gmail.com

1^st February 2011

MC Online Pte Ltd

Times Centre, 1 New Industrial Road

Singapore 536196

The Human Resource Department

Dear Sir/Madam

Enquiry for Instructional Designer Internship

I came to know of the position vacancy of Instructional Designer on Job Street and I am keen to discuss this opportunity for a potential internship in greater details. I have great interest in education related career and have been seeking for opportunities to further develop the relevant skills. Seeing that Marshall Cavendish Online has been at the frontier of e-learning and has been developing educational materials extensively, I believe that my experience and skills will be of service to the company in these areas.

My experience in public school teaching and freelance collaborations will be useful in assisting the Instructional Designer in the development of educational materials. As an intern teacher in Hong Kah Secondary School, I pioneered the development of their next generation science teaching material that runs on the Windows platform. The experience with Theo Education Pte Ltd in developing teaching materials for educational workshops and being on board as the representative for their science department in clinching business deals will prove useful. In addition, being an event coordinator for Ultra Global International Pte Ltd to assist the organizing of seminars and events from an audience size of over a hundred to over 3000 had improved my logistical skills greatly. Therefore, I will be able to help the company develop materials that are not only adapted for different learning styles, but are also tailored to meet the unique needs of each client

With my academic knowledge, planning, logistical skills, leadership and relevant working experiences, I am confident of serving the company well. This is because I thrive in a dynamic environment which demands from its workers flexibility and the ability to mount effective situational responses while at the same time, manage the large scale planning and coordination that is a part of product development. Thank you for considering my request for an internship for the Instructional Designer. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Lim Yu Tian (Mr)

Application Letter (Draft 01)

Lim Yu Tian

BLK 123 Toh Guan Road #05-06 Singapore 600123

HP: +65 91234567 Email: limyt88@gmail.com

MC Online Pte Ltd Times Centre, 1 New Industrial Road Singapore 536196

1^st February 2011

The Human Resource Department

Dear Sir/Mdm

Enquiry for Instructional Designer Internship

I came to know of the position vacancy of Instructional Designer on Job Street and I am keen to discuss this opportunity for potential internship in greater details. Seeing that Marshall Cavendish Online has been at the frontier of e-learning and has been developing education materials extensively, I believe that my experiences, skills and passion will help the company in these areas.

I am currently an undergraduate student in National University of Singapore (NUS), pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Life Science (specialization in Molecular and Cell Biology) and I am expecting to graduate in May 2013. Besides pursuing academic excellence, I have been actively engaging in free lance opportunities as I believe the best form of work and life experience comes from the real working condition. I believe my experiences can assist the Instructional Designer in the development of educational materials. During my stay in Hong Kah Secondary School as a teaching intern, I have pioneered the development their next generation science teaching material that runs on the PC platform. In addition, I have been working with Theo Education PTE LTD as a free-lance project manager. I have developed teaching materials, conducted camps and workshops and had been on board as the representative for their science department in clinching business deals. Therefore, I will be able to help the company to develop materials that can adapt to different learning configurations and to tailor them according to the needs of clients effectively.

I believe that my planning, logistical and leadership skills and my ability to coordinate different working groups in a dynamic environment will serve the company well. I have assisted in organizing events as an event coordinator for Ultra Global International PTE LTD. For instance, I have helped to coordinate a seminar that had more than 3000 participants and organized company celebrations that involved over a hundred staff. Thus, I can serve the company well in a dynamic working environment that demands flexibility and effective situational response while managing large scale planning and coordination of product development.

With my academic knowledge, planning, logistical skills, leadership and relevant working experiences, I believe am able to work well with people to contribute to your company.

Thank you for considering my request for an internship for the Instructional Designer. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Lim Yu Tian (Mr)

Details of Instructional Designer (refer to Application Letter)

Link http://www.jobstreet.com.sg/jobs/2011/1/default/20/2459632.htm?fr=J

Marshall Cavendish Online is one of the largest e-Learning solution and service provider in Singapore. Its flagship product, the LEAD e-Learning portal, integrates a full featured e-Learning platform with rich multimedia interactive content, and is being used by more than 120 schools and 200,000 students in Singapore. Marshall Cavendish Online trainers are sought by and deployed to many Singapore schools to assist in their infocomm technology needs and training.

Instructional Designer (Educational Products)
(Singapore)

Responsibilities:

• Plan, design and develop IT-based educational courseware based on curricula requirements
• Prepare scripts / storyboards for interactive courseware and create questions for test banks
• Work with external parties such as content writers, audio production house, voice talents and media production team to ensure smooth delivery of content
• Work with our developers to ensure the correct implementation of IT-based courseware

Requirements:

• Possess a Degree in Science or Mathematics
• Have teaching, instructional design or editorial experience
• Meticulous, organised, pro-active and flexible
• Able to deliver high-quality work under demanding deadlines
• Possess good project management skills and interpersonal skills
• Good command of English Language is a must

Interested candidates, please send your detailed resume stating current and expected salaries to the following:

The Human Resource Department

MC Online Pte Ltd

Times Centre, 1 New Industrial Road

Singapore 536196

Email: hr@sg.marshallcavendish.com

Interpersonal Conflict (Heat in the Air Force)

Interpersonal conflicts can happen when there is a clash of interest or feelings and the breakdown of subsequent communication of parties involved. Such conflicts can occur in both our personal lives and professional lives. The spark of conflicts can be intentional or unintentional and the other party can be a nemesis, co-worker, classmate, friends or even close buddies. Therefore, interpersonal conflicts can happen so easily once we are not mindful of the communication, emotions and interests involved. The scenario that I am about to describe involves a wide range of factors that I categorized above. Enjoy =)

The conflict happened in the year 2008, the second year of my national service in the Air Force. The parties involved were my superior, my colleagues, my best friend and I. On one occasion, my superior wanted me to take charge of a certain preparation and gave me the authority over some of my colleagues since I was a team leader. He also handed me some important stuff to complete the preparation. However, I developed a high fever later on the same day due to an overnight operation in the rain on the previous day. Therefore, I travelled back to base camp to hand over the important staff to my 2IC (second in-charge) and passed the authority of the preparation to him. I thought that he would lead the other colleagues to complete the job.

At the third day of my medical leave, I was shocked when my superior called me and reprimanded me for not completing the job and stated that the uncompleted preparation would land him in deep trouble. I apologized quickly without knowing the exact situation and immediately called my 2IC. To my great disappointment, he just casually said that the whole group totally forgotten about the task. I was speechless as I even made the effort to travel back to base camp to hand over the job despite the high fever and my colleagues did not even remember the job. My 2IC apologized and thus I held back my temper and just said I was sad but I will handle the aftermath after I recovered. I told him to get the job done quickly to make up for the lost time.

When I got back to camp, I was shocked for the second time. I knew that there was still time for preparations to be made and my superior would not be as mad as he sounded in the phone. News pertaining about his fury got to me. After my superior realized the preparation was far behind time, he kind of ‘bitched’ with some of my friends and it was my best friend who added the fuel to the fire by casually commenting that I was being irresponsible and selfish. Thus, the already agitated superior became very angry and thus made that call.

After I did my investigation on the very conversation that sparked off the whole episode, I called my best friend and lashed out at him. Thus, we fell out over this incident. I felt extremely hurt as it was my best friend who bad mouthed me in front of my superior. If a political rival was to bad mouth me, it would just be a ‘pain in the ass’ and I would say it was just a part of the routine political ‘warfare’. However, such an action from a best friend was a ‘torn in the heart’ and the emotional damage was tremendous.

To make things simple, I summarize the case as per following:

1. My superior – the job was behind progress and his promotion could be jeopardized

2. My colleagues – they could be punished along with me

3. My best friend – a friendship at stake and it has gotten intertwined with work.

4. Me: I have to appease my superior, cover for the team that I was leading and amend for the damaged friendship with my best friend.

I will post the actual action taken back then and the improved solution from my current point of view. I made a lot of mistakes and some of them were, in fact, pretty stupid. I am glad I have grown thus far and learnt from these mistakes. The price of learning about the ways of life is high but it was worth it.

Q: If you were to be in my shoes back then, how would you react to salvage the friendship with my best friend and to deal with the work related situation?