Executive (Life Sciences Undergraduate Program)
Duties and Responsibilities
One of the core responsibilities is to manage the department examination matters and processes and the examination task force. This covers the entire examination event, from preparation stage question papers productions to the post-exam marks checking and uploading. Coupled to this is the overseeing of all Life Sciences undergraduate examination related issues (e.g. advance placements and plagerism). Other core responsibilities revolve around administrative issues for the Life Sciences Undergraduate Program which include Centralized Online Registration System (CORS) for module registration, academic warning/probation/withdrawal cases and academic mentorship management.
Besides undergraduate matters, the person will also be required to administer ad-hoc duties relating to the running of the department.
Requirement
The position requires excellent communication skills, apititude for administrative and management jobs, and the ability to work with faculty members, fellow administrators and students, all from diverse backgrounds. Candidate should possess at minimum a Bachelor's degree. Fresh graduates are welcome to apply. Some years of working experience especially in the context of tertiary education, will be an added advantage.
May be good to have some knowledge of the NUS Life Sciences Undergraduate Program. Must possess competency of good spoken and written English, and good knowledge of Microsoft Office applications.
Interested applicants should send their CV to:
Mr Lim Miah Kyan
Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore
14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117546
Email: dbslmk@nus.edu.sg
The letter itself
Sia Sin Wei
13 Kim Keat Road
Victory Heights
#16-01
Singapore 328842
Phone:93559549
Email: siasinwei1988@hotmail.com
Date: 14 Feburary
Mr Lim Miah Kyan
Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore
14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117546
Dear Mr Lim,
I heard of this job vacancy for the post of executive for the Life Sciences Undergraduate program through the website at the DBS recruitment website, which caught my attention.
I think that I would be suitable for this job as having graduated from NUS with a Life Sciences major, I would have gone through the undergraduate Life Sciences system. I have some degree of experience with administrative and management tasks as I have performed them(such as writer recruitment and coordinating to publish a student journal) for my CCA. My qualifications and my experience are detailed in my CV which is enclosed here.
I would like very much to meet with you to discuss my prospective employment. If you wish to arrange an interview, please contact me at the above address or by phone at 93559549 or by email at siasinwei1988@hotmail.com
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Sia Sin Wei
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Resolving Interpersonal Conflict
What is interpersonal conflict? Interpersonal conflict is defined as a disagreement between two parties. It may occur between individuals or groups of individuals. It can occur in a workplace or a social setting. Interpersonal violence is in reality the most outward expression of interpersonal conflict .
While the use of violence, is very tempting, it does has its downside. Let us consider interpersonal violence for a moment using the biblical David vs Goliath example. As we all know David killed Goliath using a stone and slingshot to fight for what seemed right to them. Sure it might have felt good to David and even acceptable in a world where it is OK to crucify people and assassinate emperors once in a few months to years, in the modern world, David will have been arrested , tried and spend many many years having free food and lodging. In other words, jail. In fact, we usually find that violence begets more violence until destruction occurs to all involved. At a social level, conflict can lead into war and can even tear countries apart. For example, a recent theory suggested that the most important cause in the fall of the Roman Empire was its frequent civil wars weakened the Empire and made it more vulnerable to barbarian attack. Coming back to our interpersonal level, violence can lead to societal problems. Just look at the recent news articles of local road rage, sometimes the road rage incident even ends up in punches. Look at this example (http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110202-0000189/Spared-jail-for-road-rage)of this NUS PhD student being charged in court for road rage. Even though, he didn't have to go to jail, not only going to court wasn't fun, but his reputation is certainly ruined (See, we are already talking about his road rage already and not about his research). How can we cut down on such incidents in Singapore? While, I acknowledge that we inherited our capacity for aggression from our animal ancestors, we should look at more civilized ways to resolve issues. After all, is that what our highly developed brains are for?
What i think the most common cause of interpersonal conflict is chemistry. Just that there are chemicals that you should not place at the same shelf, there will be definitely be some people you will never get along due to some personality issues etc. While some people believe that the ability to get along with a great variety of type of people is marker of good interpersonal skills, I don't agree that is the case. Take this analogy for example. Anyone who has played strategy games (like Total War)would probably know that using your calvary against spear infantry is a good way to lose your calvary. But do we think calvary are totally useless? No, we recognize that calvary does more better for attacking certain units and send them what they do best at like attacking archers or something. We do not send calvary to the spear men and hope that they will win sooner or later. Thus, there are some people whom we get along better than others and thus we should not be judged as socially incompetent because of our interpersonal failures. Heck, I have NS colleagues whom I didn't get along well with and they will probably think I can be a bastard to work with. But no one else have questioned my teamwork skills. Thus, to prevent interpersonal conflict we need to choose our closest associates carefully. Like our friends, girlfriend and project mates etc.
How can we resolve interpersonal conflict? People need to deal with the problem directly,especially with empathy, warmth and with a sense of connection. They need integrity to convey that they are sincere in the resolution. They need to create a safe space by avoiding blame and stop assuming what they are thinking is the truth. They need to stop the conflict and reach a win win situation, even if that means compromising. If everyone can remember these principles we will probably have a more peaceful world.
For example, what if you have a girlfriend and her parents really don't like you and they actively try to break you up? Well, asking them to f**k off and stop interfering as love is a matter of 2 people only is a solution, but you will only prolong your war and incur some collateral damage to your girlfriend. The more socially “civilized” way to resolve this situation is to find a suitable time to sit down with them and find out the reasons for their objection and try to win them over with empathy. and some presents. Of course, there is always elopement, but at least you tried the more diplomatic methods first. Just like in Power Rangers, never escalate a battle until you are forced to. (Any better ideas from you readers?)
While the use of violence, is very tempting, it does has its downside. Let us consider interpersonal violence for a moment using the biblical David vs Goliath example. As we all know David killed Goliath using a stone and slingshot to fight for what seemed right to them. Sure it might have felt good to David and even acceptable in a world where it is OK to crucify people and assassinate emperors once in a few months to years, in the modern world, David will have been arrested , tried and spend many many years having free food and lodging. In other words, jail. In fact, we usually find that violence begets more violence until destruction occurs to all involved. At a social level, conflict can lead into war and can even tear countries apart. For example, a recent theory suggested that the most important cause in the fall of the Roman Empire was its frequent civil wars weakened the Empire and made it more vulnerable to barbarian attack. Coming back to our interpersonal level, violence can lead to societal problems. Just look at the recent news articles of local road rage, sometimes the road rage incident even ends up in punches. Look at this example (http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110202-0000189/Spared-jail-for-road-rage)of this NUS PhD student being charged in court for road rage. Even though, he didn't have to go to jail, not only going to court wasn't fun, but his reputation is certainly ruined (See, we are already talking about his road rage already and not about his research). How can we cut down on such incidents in Singapore? While, I acknowledge that we inherited our capacity for aggression from our animal ancestors, we should look at more civilized ways to resolve issues. After all, is that what our highly developed brains are for?
What i think the most common cause of interpersonal conflict is chemistry. Just that there are chemicals that you should not place at the same shelf, there will be definitely be some people you will never get along due to some personality issues etc. While some people believe that the ability to get along with a great variety of type of people is marker of good interpersonal skills, I don't agree that is the case. Take this analogy for example. Anyone who has played strategy games (like Total War)would probably know that using your calvary against spear infantry is a good way to lose your calvary. But do we think calvary are totally useless? No, we recognize that calvary does more better for attacking certain units and send them what they do best at like attacking archers or something. We do not send calvary to the spear men and hope that they will win sooner or later. Thus, there are some people whom we get along better than others and thus we should not be judged as socially incompetent because of our interpersonal failures. Heck, I have NS colleagues whom I didn't get along well with and they will probably think I can be a bastard to work with. But no one else have questioned my teamwork skills. Thus, to prevent interpersonal conflict we need to choose our closest associates carefully. Like our friends, girlfriend and project mates etc.
How can we resolve interpersonal conflict? People need to deal with the problem directly,especially with empathy, warmth and with a sense of connection. They need integrity to convey that they are sincere in the resolution. They need to create a safe space by avoiding blame and stop assuming what they are thinking is the truth. They need to stop the conflict and reach a win win situation, even if that means compromising. If everyone can remember these principles we will probably have a more peaceful world.
For example, what if you have a girlfriend and her parents really don't like you and they actively try to break you up? Well, asking them to f**k off and stop interfering as love is a matter of 2 people only is a solution, but you will only prolong your war and incur some collateral damage to your girlfriend. The more socially “civilized” way to resolve this situation is to find a suitable time to sit down with them and find out the reasons for their objection and try to win them over with empathy. and some presents. Of course, there is always elopement, but at least you tried the more diplomatic methods first. Just like in Power Rangers, never escalate a battle until you are forced to. (Any better ideas from you readers?)
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