Thursday, November 28, 2019

Bad Reasons to Enroll in an Online College

Bad Reasons to Enroll in an Online College If you’re thinking about enrolling in an online college, make sure that you’re doing it for the right reasons. A lot of new enrollees sign up, pay their tuition, and are disappointed that their online classes aren’t what they expected. There are definitely some good reasons for wanting to become an online student, such as the ability to balance school and family, the chance to earn a degree while continuing work, and the opportunity to enroll in an out-of-state institution. But, enrolling for the wrong reason can lead to frustration, lost tuition money, and transcripts that make transferring to another school a challenge. Here are some of the worst reasons to enroll in an online college: You Think It Will Be Easier If you think that earning an online degree is going to be a piece of cake, forget about it. Any legitimate, accredited program is held to strict standards regarding the content and rigor of their online courses. Many people actually find online classes more challenging because without a regular in-person class to attend it can be difficult to find the motivation to stay on track and keep up with the work. You Think It Will Be Cheaper Online colleges aren’t necessarily cheaper than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. While they don’t have the overhead of a physical campus, course design can be costly and finding professors that are good at teaching and technologically competent can be a challenge. It’s true that some legitimate online colleges are very affordable. However, others are twice as much as comparable brick-and-mortar schools. When it comes to comparing colleges, judge each institution individually and keep an eye out for hidden student fees. You Think It Will Be Faster If a school offers you a diploma in just a few weeks, you can rest assured that you’re being offered a piece of paper from a diploma mill and not an actual college. Using a diploma mill â€Å"degree† is not only unethical, but it is also illegal in many states. Some legitimate online colleges will help students transfer credits or earn credit based on the exam. However, accredited colleges won’t let you breeze through classes or get credit based on unproven â€Å"life experience.† You Want to Avoid Interacting With People While it’s true that online colleges have less personal interaction, you should realize that most quality colleges now require students to work with their professors and peers to some degree. In order for colleges to receive financial aid, they must offer online classes that include meaningful interaction rather than serve as online versions of mail correspondence courses. That means you can’t expect to just turn in assignments and get a grade. Instead, plan on being active on discussion boards, chat forums, and virtual group work. You Want to Avoid All of the General Education Requirements Some online colleges are marketed towards working professionals that want to avoid taking courses like Civics, Philosophy, and Astronomy. However, in order to keep their accreditation, legitimate online colleges must require at least a minimal amount of general education courses. You may be able to get away without that Astronomy class but plan on taking the basics like English, Math, and History. Telemarketing One of the worst ways decide to attend an online college is to give in to the continual calls of their telemarketing campaigns. Some of the less reputable colleges will call dozens of times to encourage new enrollees to sign up over the phone. Don’t fall for it. Make sure that you do your research and feel confident that the college you choose is right for you. The Online College Promises You Some Sort of Goodies Free GED courses? A new laptop computer? Forget about it. Anything that a college promises you in order to get you to enroll is simply added to the price of your tuition. A school that promises tech toys should probably receive quite a bit of scrutiny before you hand over your tuition check.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Maurbury v. Madison Reading Re essays

Maurbury v. Madison Reading Re essays In the article Maurbury v. Madison, author John A. Garraty analyzes the famous supreme court case of 1803. Garraty describes the events leading up to Maurbury v. Madison, and explains the significance of the trials outcome today. The stage for the trial was set on the evening of March 3, 1801, as John Adams was spending his last evening in the white house. Garraty states, President Adams was in a black and bitter mood. The conservative President John Adams was quite disturbed, knowing that he was to be replaced by Thomas Jefferson, who had defeated him in the previous election. Jefferson was a liberal, often referred to by Federalists as, a dangerous radical. Garraty states, Conservatives of Adams presuasion were deeply convinced that Thomas Jefferson was a dangerous radical. He would, they though, in the name of individual liberty and states rights, import the worst excesses of the French Revolution and undermine the very foundations of American society. Jeffersons political viewpoints directly contradicted the Federalists belief in a strong central government, with the nation being sovereign. Adams felt that upon Jeffersons inauguration the government that had been so laboriously erected would fall apart. Knowing that he had to protect the government from Jeffersons democratic ideals, Adams signed sixteen commissions appointing conservative Federalists to the supreme court. Since Supreme Court judges serve until they retire or die, Adams was confident that he had created a Federalist stronghold in the judiciary branch, that would balance and check power of the democratic Congress. Adams replaced his retiring Chief of Justice Ellsworth with Secretary of State John Marshall, a solider and polictican that despised Jefferson. By nine o clock that evening Adams went to bed and sent the papers to the State Department to be...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

International Business Strategies in Action Assignment - 1

International Business Strategies in Action - Assignment Example Ghemawat discusses three main strategies that can be implemented by the organizations during their foreign operations and also in response to globalization. The three strategies are categorized as adaptation, aggregation, and arbitrage. The article in a way aims to differentiate how business strategies are formulated based on the origin and nature of a business or an organization, and importantly based on their operations, particularly international operations. The basic premise of this article is how the organizations have to focus on the different business factors that needed to be considered in the foreign country of choice, and how strategies continuously needs development over the years as the business or organization grows in the country of choice. It also gives us a view of how these strategic factors change over the years and its significance in putting an international business strategy in action. An international business strategy is formulated based on different factors yo u can gather in the target market. This is also one big reason why a strategy formulated for a particular country or market would most probably fail in other countries. Summary Author Ghemawat focuses on the international strategies through the three A’s strategy categories of adaptation, aggregation, and arbitrage. ... In that direction, the entering firms will set up local units, as the unit and its employees will maximally know about the local market and can function accordingly and effectively. These country specific strategies could work in certain countries and for organizations in certain sector. â€Å"According to the article, companies that utilize an adaptation strategy most likely have a country-centered organizational model.† (mendeley.com). Aggregation strategy provides the organization the option of running their regional operations as part of their global operations itself. â€Å"Aggregation attempt to deliver economies of scale by creating regional, or sometimes global, operations, it involves standardizing the product or service offering and grouping together the development and production process.† (Ghemawat 2007, p.60). Thus, according to the author, this strategy can be applicable in this current globalized world, as many organizations are operating across borders. â€Å"Operations that are designed to function across borders are more likely to be employed if aggregation is the strategy.† (mendeley.com). The strategy of Arbitrage can also be practiced by MNC, if they have a widespread reach and network. That is, organizations following this strategy can set up operations in different parts of a country or even in different countries, where there is apt resources including human resources. â€Å"Arbitrage is the exploitation of the differences between national or regional markets, often by locating different parts of the supply chain in different places.† Examples include call centers in India, factories in China, and retail shops in Western Europe. (Ghemawat 2007, p.60). All these three

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Are private equity buyouts in the best interest of a company (2.3) Essay

Are private equity buyouts in the best interest of a company (2.3) - Essay Example g cost and managements time are considered worthless by private companies (Pietersz, 2007).However, shareholders will require detailed explanation of the benefits of such a strategy. Through buyouts, the cash flows of a firm are improved. The value of a firm is the present value of all the future expected cash flows (Bierman, 2003). Because of a reduced cash outflow, the present value of PE will be enhanced. The additional cash inflows arise from tax benefit of additional debt financing. The change in capital structure will enable the firm reduce its tax base at hence enrich the cash flows of the business. There are both advantages and disadvantages of private equity buyouts. Buying of inefficient performing companies and restructuring them to profitable ventures benefits the whole economy and the owners. Through elimination of these inefficiencies, they create additional wealth to the shareholders by increasing their return on the investments. After a buyout, the capital structure of the firm allows the firm to perform higher interest tax deductions from their income statement (Cendrowski, 2008). Increased tax shield benefit reduces the tax liability of the firm. In addition, the managers of PE have the mindset of achieving their goal within the shortest duration possible and make the sales at a profit. The profit motive of the managers is responsible for the enhanced value of the firm. Secondly, private equities are better managed than the publicly traded companies. Managers in of the PE rewards are pegged on performance. More still, the managers are sometimes required to put a material proportion of their investment in the investment. This would ensure that they to remain concerned about the company’s performance because any loss that might arise will also be borne by them (Colvin, n.d). Private equity further employed better executives by offering them high salaries. In addition, the acquired company also stands to benefit from the PE buyout (Cendrowski,

Monday, November 18, 2019

Determination of the Explosive HMX in Soil Coursework

Determination of the Explosive HMX in Soil - Coursework Example The method is commercially designed for RDX and HMX testing for concentrations between 1-20mg/kg in soil samples, Marshall & Oxley (2008). EPA method 8510’s procedure adheres to the following steps; Extract soil sample with acetone If inorganic nitrates and nitrites are present the soil extract is then pasted through an ion exchange resin for their removal The Nitramines and Nitrate esters are then acidified and mixed with zinc dust, passed through reactants of target analytes of zinc dust A color then is developed using NitriVer3 powder pillow, which ranges from pink to deep red depending on the concentration of RDX/HMX in the mixture. Using a spectrophotometer, absorbance is then measured of the treated extract at designated wavelengths and the concentration of RDX/HMX of the unknown sample estimated by comparison to a known standard. Interferences of the sample analysis can be caused by the presence of solvents, reagents, glassware and other processing hardwares present in the soil sample. Hence, the soil samples must be rendered free of these materials by using specific selection of reagents and solvent purification using distillation process in an all glass system following guidelines on cleaning of glassware(). Chemical related explosives such as nitroguanidine (NQ), nitroglycerine (NG), nitrocellulose (NC), tetryl and pentaeythritol tetra nitrate (PETN) can cause pink color to develop if found present in the soil sample. In the absence of RDX and HMX on the pink color does not develop in the presence of Trinitroluence, Dinitrobenzene, 2, 6-Dinitrotoluene, Trinitrobenzene and 2, 4-Dinitrotoluene. Human matter present in the soil will cause a yellow colored extract but this precipitates during acidification leaving the extract cloudy interfering with the accurate determination of absorbance, Taibah University (2012). Other than the common laboratory glassware such as beakers, test tubes etc., the equipment used in this procedure include: A commercia l testing product, EnSys RDX soil testing system that specify the apparatus and materials necessary for test completion Spectrophotometer capable of reading absorbance of 507-510 nm Top loading or mechanical balance for weighing samples to -/+ 0.1g Spectrophotometer cuvettes two or more of 25ml and 2.5cm path length Alternatively; Analytical balance Wide mouth bottles of 125ml Glass volumetric pipettes ranging from 0.5ml – 25.0ml Graduated cylinders 10ml and 100ml Glass volumetric flasks 100ml and 250ml Filter units 0.45 or 0.5Â µm Syringes Spatula Vacuum desiccator – For preparing calibration standards in a fixed laboratory and storage of zinc dust Ion exchange tubes Alumina-A, 3ml Automatic pipet -500Â µl equipped with tips Measuring spoon for zinc dust Wrist action shaker Vials -40ml amber glass equipped with solid caps Reagents and standards; Acetone, CH3COCH3 Distilled water Analytical standards(RDX and HMX analytical standards) Stock standard solution Working s tandard solution Calibration solution Q2. Draw a cause and effect (fishbone) diagram to indicate the contributions to the uncertainty in the result for RDX in soil. Taibah University (2012) Reagent Humic matter Linearity Temperature Calibration Temperature Standard Sampling Standard Volume Temperature Extraction procedure

Friday, November 15, 2019

Sociological Perspectives on the Family

Sociological Perspectives on the Family Sociology and the family Introduction This essay will focus on two sociology theories, which are the family life cycle and the functionalist approach. It will give a brief overview of each theory. The essay will go on to apply theory to practice, as this essay will make reference to a service user with a sudo name known as Sean, to up hold confidentiality. While applying the family life cycle to the particular service user, this essay will critique the theories strengths and limitations. In applying the functionalist approach, this essay will highlight how the family is seen as an institution in its self and how other institutions inter play in the service user’s life. The theories used in this essay will highlight areas which apply to the service user and areas in which the theory lacks understanding of the complex situations. Conclusion will be drawn. Overview of each theory According to Falicov (1988, p. 9) the family life cycle has been applied widely to social science, he explains that the ‘life course of families evolves through predictable stages which appear universal in spite of one’s culture or subculture’. Family transits to different stages as form of continuity and changes over the life cycle. Falicov identifies two main aspects to the family life cycle, which are cohesion and adaptability (Falicov1988, p. 9). The cohesion relates to the interdependence parts of one’s life and adaptability refers to the flexibility of the family to change, in this the family cycle essentially focuses on a child’s transition into adulthood within a family setting (Falicov, C. 1988, p. 9). As family goes through its continuity phase and changes, there’s a need for the role of each member in the family to be recognised. Claveirole, A Gaughan, M. (2011) defines the family life cycle as a developmental way of looking at families; it provided a framework for an individual’s development of family members and the cycle itself is influenced by socio cultures developments outside the family.   Falicov, C. (1988, p. 13) says the family life cycle is a subject to mirror timing and coping strategies. Carter, E.A McGoldrick, M. (1999) supports this concept as they stated the family cycle is really one’s individual life cycle, which changes and moves in a framework within the structure of a family. This theory takes into account that one’s framework is structured by the families past, present and future hopes for an individual introduced into the family life cycle. The family life cycle highlights the fact that one’s experiences within the family life cycle impacts on our sense of self, for example the values we produce and the development of our personalities. This applies to each individual despite the structure, qualities of relationships or genetics of one’s family. The family has a responsibility to provide whats known as a natural baseline for an individual to grow physically, mentally, socially and emotionally, it also holds responsibilit y for the social institutions in which will affect the growth of the individual i.e. schools and church they may attend. The family life cycle it-self is broken into six parts, which are: Independence (second order changes), coupling (with or without marriage and synergy), parenting young children (participating in reproduction), parenting adolescents, launching adult children and retirement (facing senior years). Each stage contains mastering certain skills or milestones and once this is achieved it allows for the next stage to be developed. There are many ways to study the family which creates many different perspectives. One of these ways is through the functionalist approach. The functionalist approach focuses on the relationship between the family and society. When looking at the family the functionalist approach studies the function in which the family severs to society, such as reproduction and stabilization. Shaws 2002 explains the development of the functionalist approach stating that the perspective emerged as a leading theoretical model, mainly in the area of sociology as three well known sociologists influenced the model. Wallace and Wolf (1995, p.76) defines functionalism, as a whole theoretical perspective, which takes into account four main areas, which are ‘Functional Independence in maintaining social structure, Collective norms to maintain social order/ stability, Societal equilibrium in areas of conformity, adjustments and consensus, along with social constituents and finally Social Pathology and deviance which have resulted from maladjustments of social units’. The functionalist perspective studies society on two levels called Macro and Micro. Macro focuses on society as a whole, polices, services and the community in general. Micro focuses on the individual, the family and reproduction system. The functionalist approach realizes society is broken into institutions. Institutions are defined by Giddens (1984, p.24) ‘as the more enduring social features in life’. The main institution in society is the family, O’Sullivan (2012, p.1) define the family as a natural, primary and fundamental unit group in society a ‘moral institution that possesses inalienable and imprescriptibly rights’. It is the nuclear family (a couple with a depended child or children) that’s a core unit in all types of society. The usefulness of a family in society is limitless in many ways, for example socialization and social order and so by seen the family as a whole in society, it provided changes in society as the needs of family changed, but creating change depends on how societies are governed/run. In support of this is Fletcher (1973) who states the role of the family in terms of socialization and social order falls into two categories which are satisfying human needs and purposes and providing a functional interconnection with the wider social networks of society (school, church). Overview of the client family circumstances Sean is a male aged 27 years. He has an intellectual disability and has attended services for those who have an intellectual disability all his life. World Health Organisation (2014) define intellectual disability as extensively reduction on one’s capability to be aware of information and to learn and apply new skills, in this, individuals are affected to cope independently as the disability have affected their development. Sean is now in a service that promotes independence for those who have an intellectual disability. Sean lives in rural Dublin, a partly disadvantaged area. He lacks motivation and self confidence. He has the capacity to physically work in certain areas and has work for a short period of time. He had the capacity to write and read, but has never been assisted appropriately in the area and is now restricted to learn. He has a great knowledge about current affairs and enjoys talking about this with people he knows. He has a passion for music and one of his hob bies is listening to music. He grew up in a family of three boys who are younger than him, his mother and father. One of Sean brothers pasted away due to tragic accident. The family members are very supportive and its clear Sean has a strong attachment to them. Critique of strengths limitations of each theory in relation to the particular client family Limitations of the family life cycle The family life cycle does not take into account the fact that an individual can â€Å"skip† or progress to another step without fulfilling each step as a sequence. For example in Sean’s case he hasn’t fully transitioned out of the independence stage but has committed to a new social system which is attending his work on a daily basis. He has also started at the independence stage and may skip past the coupling, parenting and launching children stages and still reach his senior years. The family life cycle can be studied and understood from two perspectives; a limitation to this is that in general it focused more on the family perspective. For example in Sean case he has an intellectual disability, but up until Sean started attending the service which promotes independence his perspective wasn’t accounted for. The independence stage highlights one gaining their identity within the family and outside the family unfortunately for Sean this transition has bec ome difficult and is still a working progress, because in the area of gaining roles and learning the rules within the family Sean gain a role of depended, even in areas he had the capacity to be independent for example making a sandwich or buying himself new clothes. The rules underlining this depend behavior was never challenged and from a family perspective is understood as they wanted to care for Sean in the best way they taught. Caring for Sean in this way would have also become a norm for the family, as he is depended on the family for other things such as transport. The family life cycle was limited as the understanding of the stages wasn’t promoted or applied specifically to Sean case (a person with an intellectual disability). In general the family life cycle is implemented as best practice, when really it should be implemented generally and globally for families as a clear outline of one’s transitions. In Sean’s case if the family understood when he was born that he needed to transition though these stages (for a positive/ practical future) to the best of his capacity even with an intellectual disability then he could have reached his full potential for example reading, writing living more independently which would benefit him and his family, as the family will reach their retirement and senior years and Sean would have learnt the basic life skills which he needs at a more practical time and he would have become less depended on the family and became more confident and motivated in his everyday life. Strengths of the family life cycle The family life cycle strength is that it highlights one’s life cycle in general. In Sean’s case he will reach his senior year, in this the life cycle insures that one builds on each stage to the best of their capacity so they reach their full potential as individuals. Working with Sean gives him the opportunity to develop as a person and live his life in the way in which he chooses. For example he acknowledges now that he want to become more independent and aspire to how his younger brothers are living and by applying the family life cycle to best practice and the family it gives him the opportunity to so accordingly. The independence stage is defined by My Health Albert (2014) as the most critical stage of the family life cycle. It is a stage where one begins separate emotionally from the family and in Sean’s case he is doing by speaking out on how he feels and by participating in such activities as buying himself everything’s like food and treating himself to DVD’s. However, the family life cycle begins when a child is born; therefore the life cycle gave Sean the chance to be able to work on the stages even at a later stage in life. For example Sean is 27 years of age and its now he’s working intensely towards the other stages of the family life cycle and even though some stages may not apply to him its only a benefit for him to be able to work towards the ones he is capable of reaching with support from services and his family. Limitations of the functionalist approach A limitation to the functionalist approach is the ideal or overly harmonious image of the family, one in which is well integrated, holding social order and socialization. It doesn’t provide a practical image of the stresses and difficulties in which the traditional family go through. For example Sean was the first child born into the family and he had an intellectual disability. This could have distorted the ideal image/norm/traditional of what the couple had expected with the birth of their first child. The functionalist approach does not consider the alternatives ways for the couple to provide the basic care for a child with an intellectual disability. For example in Sean case, the functionalist approach doesn’t highlighted the importance of services provided for a couple with a child who has an intellectual disability, as the couple may need to depend earlier on services such as the health services to guide them in providing the best care for Sean. The services would have to be integrated in Sean case at a earlier level which this approach does not highlight, for example they could provide information in the area of intellectual disabilities, enrolling him in appreciate school, integrating him into society. In the area of developing institutions functionalist says it’s developed out of satisfying the human needs through fulfilling and organizing various human social needs, in Sean case he hasn’t been fulfilled academically, such as reading and writing and his social needs also lack as the hasn’t intergraded or participated in areas of his choice. The various ways in which the functionalist approach organizes and institutionalizes the human needs is ultimately creating social structure in society, although it does create order it’s not the best approach to practice as it creates stigma around such areas as intellectual disability for example Sean had the capacity to attend mainstream school but due to the fact he had an intellectual disability he attended a special needs school. The stigma from institutionalizing those who have an intellectual disability promoted the idea they didn’t have the capacity to make decisions for themselves (social norm) or to participate in activities including intimate relationships, for example Sean has the capacity to make a decision for himself but due to the influence/ norms of the family and society he wasn’t given the opportunity. Strengths of the functionalist approach The strength of the functionalist approach is the fact it highlights the importance of services for families caring for children. In Sean case he was able to attend services in which provided the best care for those who have an intellectual disability at the time. It highlights the importance of family and even with the services interacting with the family; the family fundamentally provide the basic fundamental care. The family provide the values and norms for the individual and they take responsibility to intergraded their children into the community, for example Sean attend the service regularly as the family provide the transport for him, Sean father encourages Sean to go to the movies and participate in music as he has a passion for music. Sean own value shine through as he completes such things as spending money, a value in which relates to his home environment and where he was brought up. As society grows, the social needs become greater, which in turn gives minority groups a v oice. The functionalist approach appreciates and highlights these changes. Once highlight the changes can be implemented into lawmaking systems, it can develop the political system and education system. In the case of Sean he can voice his opinion and make decisions for himself, due to the rights provided by policies which have been amended. An example of this would be the work done around the issues of sexuality and relationships for those who have an intellectual disability. The Irish Sex Education Network has the primary aim to promote a high professional standard in the area of sex education for those who have an intellectual disability (Allen and Seery 2002, p.3) Conclusion In conclusion to this essay has given a brief over view of two sociological perspectives, which are the family life cycle and the functionalist approach. In reference to these theories it has applied a practice based example, in which it gives an in depth review of the strengths and limitations of the each theory. In reference to the family life cycle, it highlights the different stages in which Sean has progressed through and ones he could work towards with support. The family life cycle helps predict stages in which the service user will not be able to transition into due to lack of support from family and the services provided and in general because their capacity won’t allow. In applying the functionalist perspective, it highlights the interaction of the family and the services available for those who have an intellectual disability. It highlights how this interaction is of up most important to better the quality of life for service users. Bibliography Allen, M. Seery, D. (2002) The Current Status of Sex Education Practice For People with an Intellectual Disability In Ireland, [Online] Dublin: Irish Sex Education Network. Available at:http://www.sexualhealthcentre.com/PUBLICATIONS/SHC%20Disability%20Report2.pdf [Accessed 27 January 2014] American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (2013) Intellectual Disability [Online] Available at: http://aaidd.org/intellectual-disability/definition#.Ux9ntT9_sR8  [Accessed 1 February 2014] Carter, E.A McGoldrick, M (1999) The expanded family life cycle: individual, family, and social perspectives, Boston : Allyn and Bacon Claveirole, A and Gaughan, M. (2011) Understanding Children and Young Peoples Mental Health: United Kingdom:John Wiley Sons Ltd Falicov, C.J (1988) Family Transitions: Continuity and Change over the Life Cycle, New York: The Guilford Press Fletcher, R (1978) The Family and Marriage in Britian: An analysis and moral assessment,Virgina: Penguin Giddens, A. (1984) The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration, United States of America: The University of California Press O’Sullivan, D. (2012) A Critical Analysis of the protection of families under the Irish Constitution of 1937 [Online] Dublin: Colr .Available at: http://corkonlinelawreview.com/editions/2012/ACriticalAnalysisOfTheProtectionOfFamiliesUnderTheIrishConstitutionOf1937.DonnachaOSullivan.pdf [Accessed 29 January 2014] My Health Albert (2014) Family life cycle: Independence Stage [Online] available at  https://myhealth.alberta.ca/health/pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=ty6171#ty6174  Accessed 5 January 2014 Shaw V.N, (2002) Substance Use and Abuse: Sociological Perspectives United States of America: Greenwood Publishing Group Inc Wallace, R. A and Wolf, A. (1995) Contemporary Sociological Theory: Continuing the Classical Tradition, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. World Health Organisation (2014) Intellectual Disability, [Online] Available at: http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/noncommunicable-diseases/mental-health/news/news/2010/15/childrens-right-to-family-life/definition-intellectual-disability [Accessed on 5th March 2014]

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Essential Workplace Skills Essay -- Job Work Employee Career

Workplace Essential Skills While working or while looking for work there are certain skills sets that are universally important. No matter what job or career path you have chosen these skills make it easier to obtain your goals, whatever they may be. Workplace essential skills enable people at work to do the tasks required by their occupation, give them the basics to learn all other skills (job and life) and assist them to manage and adapt to the changing workplace environment. They are not the technical skills required by an occupation but are the enabling skills that are necessary in most occupations and that allow people to do their jobs successfully. (Molson) The skills that I am referring to are Oral and Written Communication, Interpersonal, and Teamwork skill. These sets of skills have been identified US dept of Labor and other universities and learning Centers as the essential skills every person needs. Oral and Written Communication skills are two of the most important skills a person could have in the workplace. Without the ability to effectively communicate or understand communication in written or auditory form taking and giving direction would be extremely difficult. Oral communication is simply the act of talking and listening. If a person can effectively convey his thoughts in spoken word and interpret others spoken words into their intended thought then they can effectively communicate orally. The same concept can be applied to the written word. The U.S. Deptartment of Labor breaks oral communication into two areas: Listening: Receives, attends to, interprets, and responds to verbal messages and other cues such as body language in ways that are appropriate to the purpose (e.g., comprehe... .../fulltext/00-wes.pdf, United States Dept. of Labor, "Foundation Skills: Basic Skills", 10 June 2005 http://www.careers.unsw.edu.au/careerEd/planning/knowYourself/employability.aspx, University of New South Wales, Sydney Australia, "Employability Skills", 10 June 2005 http://www.nald.ca/molson/skills.html, The Molson Edmonton Learning Centre, "Workplace Essential Skills", 10, June 2005 "Essential skills for the workplace", Beth Blanchard-Smith, Contemporary Books, Chicago, Ill.1993 "Workplace basics : the essential skills employers want", Anthony Patrick Carnevale, Leila J Gainer, Ann S Meltzer; Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, CA 1990.