Project Work 7

Name of Course/Activity Related Activities Points

Online Course 1: PASSENGER - Online Course: Watching videos, completion 10

Gratitude, Extra-mile and Reflect of quizzes, and sharing comments on
after your interview reflection questions

Project 1: Going the #Extramile with an 8

Elevator Pitch

Online Course 2: Networking - How Online Course: Watching videos, DIY projects, 10
to socialize in-person and online quizzes, and sharing comments on reflection
questions

Project 1: Creating a rockstar LinkedIn Profile 7

Learning Group Tasks -

Part A: Elevator Pitch
Part B: Conversation Starters

Updating your Weakness Stories 5

Total Points 40

Name of Course/Activity Related Activities Points

Self Reliance Projects Project 1: Going the #extramile through an in- ❤

person resume drop

Project 2: Leveraging your network and ❤

exploring careers through informational
interviews

Online Course 1: PASSENGER - Gratitude, Extra-mile and Reflect after

your interview (10 points)
Goal: To learn about some best practices to follow after the interviewing process including writing a
thank you email, going the extra-mile and reflecting after the process.

Steps:
1. Click on the link
2. Enroll in the course and immediately start the lecture
3. There are lectures, reflection questions, and projects in the entire course
4. Please note that we will be tracking your comments and we will be incorporating this into
your score

Project 1: Going the #extramile with an elevator pitch (8 points)

This project will need to be completed before your Learning Group meeting
Goal: Preparing for meeting an employer or recruiter by writing your elevator pitch
Steps:
You never know, when you are going to meet your potential employer: in an elevator, at a
networking event, or elsewhere. So, we have to be prepared for this encounter in advance and not
miss the opportunity.

You will be working on your elevator pitch through DIY projects in the online course. Here, we are
going to put all those pieces together, and most importantly, we are going to practice our pitches.

1. Write your complete elevator pitch using the steps shared in the course
2. Keep these guidelines in mind when preparing your elevator pitch
3. Include your pitch in your Project Work document
4. Bring your pitch to the Learning Group session and the in-person session this weekend

PS: if you think you might forget to bring your elevator pitch to the in-person session, set a reminder
on your phone. No excuses will be accepted in the session.

Grading Criteria
Your work will be assessed according to the following criteria:
1) Specifically and explicitly states in the order given below:
1. Current situation
2. Summary of past experiences (professional and academic relevant to job)
3. How this job/organization fits into long term goals, interests and aspirations.
2) No grammatical errors, correct use of punctuation throughout and appropriate length (no more
than 300 words)

Online Course 2: Networking - How to socialize in-person and online (10

points)
Goal: Develop an understanding on how building a strong network can help you grow professionally

Steps:
1. Click on the link
2. Enroll in the course and immediately start the lecture
3. There are lectures, reflection questions, and projects in the entire course
4. Please note that we will be tracking your comments and we will be incorporating this into
your score

Project 1: Creating a rockstar LinkedIn profile (7 points)

Goal: Creating a #rockstar LinkedIn profile by applying the tips learned in the bonus course

Steps:
1. Finalize your LinkedIn profile based on the suggestions from this course
2. Copy and paste each section of your LinkedIn profile (headline, summary, experiences,
education, skills, projects, etc.) in a text format on Google Classroom
3. Upload your LinkedIn Profile picture along with background image on Google Classroom
4. Share a link to your updated LinkedIn profile on Google Classroom as well as on this Google
Form. Make sure the link can be accessible by your PM and PA
5. Share the link to your LinkedIn profile in the Facebook page as well
 a. Connect with at least 10 of your fellow fellows and members of the Amal team on
LinkedIn
b. Provide feedback to at least 2 of your fellow fellows on their LinkedIn profiles, in the
comments unders their LinkedIn post
c. Endorse your fellow fellows for skills on LinkedIn

Grading Criteria
Your work will be assessed according to the following criteria:
1) LinkedIn profile has all of the following:
1. Professional headshot with face visible, no filters
2. Professional and Academic experience stated concisely, with action verbs and relevant
skills, including quantification of results (according to resume format)
3. Relevant skills added in the skills section
4. Headline is unique, relevant, presents a complete picture of the fellow
5. Summary which shows major achievements, professional and academic experience and
aspirations.
6. Relevant, good quality cover picture
7. Endorsements from fellows
8. Connections
9. Recommendations

Learning Group Tasks

Part A: Elevator Pitch
In your learning groups, give your individual elevator pitches and collect each others’ feedback on
how to improve them. Use this as an opportunity to refine your elevator pitches, because you will be
using them in the sessions! Follow these steps:
1. A group member should start off by giving their elevator pitch
2. As they complete their elevator pitch, the other members should provide feedback on the
pitch that they just heard
3. Use this guide to help in providing more specific feedback
4. While receiving feedback, you should be making notes so that you can incorporate it later
5. Repeat these steps until all group members have shared their elevator pitch and received
feedback

Part B: Conversation Starters

Part of being able to network effectively requires for you to be able to start conversations. Getting a
good starting point to your conversation can help you make an impact and allow others to
remember you! So let’s figure out some great conversation starters in our group:
1. Go through this video by Rene Godfroy on conversation starters
2. Go through the following scenarios where you might have the opportunity to network with
other people.
a. You are at a wedding/family event and you just realized a person at your table works
at a company you want to work in. Think of a way to approach them and start a
conversation.
b. You are at an academic conference and the speaker teaches at a university you are
considering for graduate school. You are hoping to connect with them. Think of a way
to approach them and start a conversation.
c. You are at your classes (GRE/Exec Mba/Cooking classes/Anything relatable) and
you happen to realize that one of your class fellows is working at your dream
organization at an affluent position. You hope to connect with them and learn more
 about their work. You also hope to find a way to join that organization. Think of a way
to approach them and start a conversation that helps you learn from them.
3. Take 2-3 minutes to think of the kind of conversation starters that you can use to approach
the people in each scenario.
4. Tell these conversation starters to each other and get feedback on making them more
effective based on what you learnt in the video
5. Refine your conversation starters as you will be sharing them in this weekend’s sessions :)

Project 1: Updating your weakness stories (5 points)

Goal: To revisit and improve your weakness stories in preparation for the mock interviews coming
up.

Steps:
Go through the weakness story you wrote in S13 and the feedback you received on it from your
fellows. Update it according to the Do’s and Don’ts shared earlier and upload the finalized version of
it in your PW document.

Grading Criteria
Your work will be assessed according to the following criteria:
1) Weakness story
1. Includes specific, relevant and believable example
2. Stated in SOS framework
3. Provides actionable steps as conclusion in order to remedy weakness
4. Is not too long or too short (around 200-300 words)
2) No grammatical errors, correct use of punctuation throughout and appropriate length (no more
than 300 words)

Self Reliance Projects

By this time in your fellowship journey, we are hoping that you would be practicing your #lifelong
learning beyond the scope of your fellowship projects. To help you develop a habit of being
independent in problem solving your issues, we are introducing self reliance projects which will not
be scored like other activities. It is entirely up to you to decide if you want to complete these projects
but you have our strongest encouragement to at least think if these projects align with your goals,
and if they do, complete them not for the fellowship but for yourself. If you complete the projects,
you will get feedback from your fellowship teams.
After this fellowship ends, you will need to push yourself to go the extra mile where needed and
your efforts will not give you any scores or medals. So these projects will also help you take more
ownership of your life and be better prepared for your life after the fellowship where you will need to
work for yourself, not for the scores :)

Project 1: Going the #extramile through an in-person resume drop

Goal: Going the #extramile by dropping your cover letter and resume to companies and try to get
an interview call

Steps:
1. Identify a potential job/company that you are keen on. If for some reason you cannot find a
relevant company directly related to your field, you can look for function (HR, sales,
marketing etc.) that you might be interested in or find any company that you think can be
your second option
 2. The purpose of this activity is to experience the concept of #extramile and also to bring
yourself out of the comfort zone
3. Conduct thorough research on that company and customize your cover letter and resume
4. Submit an application online in case that company has an online application process,
including your customized cover letter and resume
5. Identify the name of several people at the organization (head of HR, head of recruitment, HR
manager, top management, VPs, directors, etc.) and write them down so you can remember
them
6. Print out your customized cover letter and resume
7. Use the tips from the equip section to prepare for the drop
8. Practice your elevator pitch 5 – 10x
9. Go to the company, and request the gatekeeper that you want to meet the HR manager
( There will be higher chances to get in if you take the name of HR manager/or someone
relevant)
10. If the gatekeeper tell you that they are busy, tell them that you can wait for them to be free
(remember “Pursuit of Happyness”)
11. Request them to talk with the HR manager at the company, remember to show your passion
in the call and request them for their precious time
12. Complete the in-person drop, try to give your elevator pitch as natural and relaxed as
possible (don’t sound like you are reading it or thinking about it from memory)
13. Try to get the email address of the person you meet and write a follow-up email to thank
them
14. Write a blog post on Medium about the experience (250-350 words). Here are some
questions to consider exploring: what did you learn, what challenges did you face, how did
you overcome those challenges, what will you do differently next time, what can others learn
from your experience? If possible, try to include some images as well.

Project 2: Leveraging your network and exploring careers through informational

interviews
Goal: To leverage or benefit from your network by taking #action and initiating an informational
interview on the phone. Through this activity, you will overcome your fear of asking your network for
help, and we will use one of the most powerful tools of researching: your network.

Steps:
1. Decide who to take the informational interview of. Use a list of people from your personal
and professional networks you shared in Lecture 3
2. Try to identify someone whose phone number you already have or can easily get through a
mutual friend
3. Alternatively, carefully review the Amal Alumni Database (if you haven’t done yet) to see if
there is a former fellow from the #AmalFamily that you can call. Please note that this is an
internal document and is only to be used by Amal Fellows (i.e., do not share it outside of the
Amal Family)
4. Make a list of what are the specific questions that you will ask
5. Make calls to at least 3-4 people
6. If they do not pick your phone call, text them a short message stating your purpose of the
call and if they can tell you when would be the best time for them to receive your call. Make
sure your text is professional and does not contain any spelling or grammatical errors
7. After you have successfully completed the info interview, write a reflection of 250 - 300
words explaining who you called, what questions you asked, what you learned from the call,
what the experience was like and what you will do differently in the future as a result of this
experience. The point of doing so is that you learn as much as possible from the experience
 8. Note: The purpose of an informational interview is to practice and develop your networking
skills. It should be clear to the person on the phone that you are not asking for a
job/internship, as this might make them feel uncomfortable.

Please share your comments and thoughts at the end of the courses and fill out the small surveys to
help us improve your learning experience over the rest of the fellowship, and the upcoming fellows.

Remember:
We will be giving out the “Most thoughtful project Award!” for someone who goes the #extramile and
submits a really quality project this week (this award would look great on your resume btw :)

DEADLINE:
All activities are to be submitted on Google Classroom (and Medium) by 8th May, Saturday 8 AM
SHARP