4th Week Learning Log - Recruitment Process & Interviews

21/11/2014

Recruitment is the "Process of creating a pool of capable people to apply for employment to an organization" (Rees & French, 2010) this process helps in the initial screening of the applicants CV's in order to select the best candidate out of all the applicants, whom the employers think that may succeed in the job. If a CV of a certain candidate is accepted, he/she will proceed to an interview, where the company (a panel of judges)will officially meets the recruiters for the first time. Interviews are considered to be a significant factor when getting an employment, because the panel decision of acceptance or rejection will directly decide your job opportunity.

Therefore a good preparation before an interview is a must, the lecturer provided 3 different aspects of preparation there are:-

1. Practically - know the company background / professional attire / time management
2. Mentally - Importance of the job opportunity given / Justification of the CV 
3. Psychological - Project yourself with confidence do not panic/get scared 

Another important concept to learn is that, the purpose of an interview from the interviewer's perspective. University of California, 2014 has clearly identified the following aims regarding this matter:

• Main aim is to determine the preparation level of the candidate, to check organizational background knowledge and idea about the whole industry
• To test communication skills 
• To see leadership potentiality and team work ability 
• To review qualifications
• Overall to determine interviewee's self-awareness, objectives, work ethics & confidence

So you can clearly see in order to satisfy above aims pre-preparation done by the candidate is important. To prepare for interview people can practice in front of a mirror or with a colleague to improve factors like confidence, body-language & eye-contact.

Interview Considerations

1. Research about the company -
It is essential that you have a clear understanding about the job role that you are applying to. about their relative industry, co-competitors, company background and history. So it implies that the applicant's interest towards the job role and respect towards the company and the interviewer. Also it is very common for an interviewer to expect that the interviewee is knowledgeable about the responsibilities of the job, skills required & average salary amounts in the industry. Knowing these will help interviewee to communicate smoothly and confidently with the interviewer while scoring marks on the paper. Interviewers expect and allow their candidates to negotiate factors like salary and outcomes of the job while questioning them, and this opportunity can be used in correct manner with proper preparation. Information regarding company and business related can be taken from the organization's website, related articles available online & even from the current/previous workers of the company.

2. Time and Travel -
Arriving early to the spot of interview is also important, the method of traveling should planned before hand and timed accordingly to avoid possible delays. When selecting a mode of transport it is advisable to use a private vehicle in order to obtain speed on the road and maximize convenience.

3. Attire / Dress code -


Attire is an significant element when attending an interview, Virginia Tech (2013) suggest that your dress should be well fitted to your body and should be appropriate for an official meeting. It also says that proper attire will communicate applicant's respect towards the organization, to the job apllying for,to the interviewer they meet.
Following Image will give quick tips on how to dress properly for an interview: (Virginia Tech 2013)

4. Interview Questions -
This is closely bound with the selection process, questions that are asked by the interviewer can cover up knowledge from various sides like: Industry knowledge, Technical Knowledge, Common sense & Self awareness questions. Some of the questions are asked in relation to the CV provided by the candidate, therefore it it advisable to prepare a CV mentally that justify the factors presented in written as well. According to the American University, 2014 following questions have higher possibility to be present at interviews:

• Describe yourself in brief? (Tell me about yourself?)
• You reason to apply for this position? 
• What are your major strengths and weaknesses? 
• Where do you see yourself in another 5 to 10 years? 
• How can you contribute towards the company? 
• What are the reasons to leave your previous job? 

Before ending the interview, most of the places give the chance for the interviewee to ask questions from the interviewer, and American University 2014 & University of California 2014 both suggest the following questions are most appropriate to be asked by the interviewee:-

• What are your expectations from the job holder? 
• What type of work culture will I be expose to? 
• How do the company evaluate the employee performance? 
• What are the expected challenges that i might encounter when working? 
• How are the employees trained? 
• What are the progression opportunities available? 
• And remember to avoid direct question relating to salary, benefits & vacations!!!

5. Psychological Preparation -
This factor is crucial because it will decide how the interviewee face the interviewer. Nervousness and panic attacks may lead the interviewee into a fearful situation, and make him/her forget the facts prepared and increase the inability to answer the questions confidently, ultimately creating a disadvantageous situation for the interviewee itself. Preparation through mock interviews, or practicing through interview questions will increase your confidence level and make interviews comfortable occasions to attend with enthusiasm.

6. End of the Interview -
Interviewee should clearly understand this point in accordance to the conclusive phrases delivered by the interviewer. Clarify the ending asking whether he/she has any other questions to be asked. Most importantly remember to show your interest towards the applied job role and thank the interviewer for the time spent & the opportunity given. Do a firm handshake if it's appropriate with the situation (eg-in a friendly atmosphere/ or if the interviewer desire the same)

Class Activity - Mock Interview
To check how the students have absorbed the lesson and have done their researches and homework, lecturer organized a mock interview for the whole class. It was just as close as a real interview where students needed to prepare their own cover letter attached with a CV, and was expected to bring relevant certificates if available. Job role given was "Business Analyst" in relation to the students' degree concentration (Applied Information Technology) and the company suggested to be the interviewer was IFS Srilanka. Lecturer also got special effort on inviting other lecturers to be interviewers to make it more realistic. And I was interviewed as the 1st candidate from my own lecturer. I was confident with my attitude, communication skills and professionalism. But I felt that i need to improve more in company background and preparation. A feed back form was given in return showing how well we face the interview. And It was a memorable experience to my life, to learn and improve more to be one good interviewee in near future!

I hope you enjoyed My 4th Week Learning Log :) Have a nice day, Thank you!!!

Topic Related Videos

References - 

• American University. 2014. Interview Preparations. [online] Available at: http://www.american.edu/careercenter/Interview-Preparations.cfm [Accessed: 21 Nov 2014].

• Rees, G., & French, R. (2010). Leading, Managing and Developing People. CIPD: London.
  
  
• University Of California. 2014. Purpose of the Interview — Human Resources. [online] Available at: http://www.hr.ucdavis.edu/sdps/career-management-toolkit/take-action/interviews/purpose-of-the-interview [Accessed: 21 Nov 2014].

• Virginiatech. 2013. Interview appearance and attire | Career Services | Virginia Tech. [online] Available at: http://www.career.vt.edu/interviewing/interviewappearance.html [Accessed: 21 Nov 2014].

3rd Week Learning Log - Personal Branding, CV & CL

20/11/2014

Topic for the third week was "How to market your self by using Personal Branding, Curriculum Vitae & Cover Letter." At first students were asked what do they mean by the term "Brand", some of the answers given were; That a brand is an identity, A symbol of recognition & an unique trademark.

When considering the formal definition for brand it clearly says the same, "A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's goods or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller."(Kotler, October 2013) According to (However IPO, 2014) brand is a "Promise of an experience" it is an assurance given about the quality and standards of a product or service to the customers by the company. Thus a brand for a company is not just a mere identity or a symbol but a valuable asset for their reputation.

(Montoya, 2014) declares that "Personal Branding is the powerful, clear, positive idea that comes to mind whenever other people think of you" It is a professional alter ego created to influence others perspective on how they recognize you. Ultimately it defines a person, his/her values, personality, abilities, & actions. (Montoya, 2014) further claims that Personal Branding tells, Who you are - What you do & What makes you different from others (How you creates value to the market).  

During the lecture students again discussed different ways of creating a personal brand, following are some of the answers that received acknowledgement from the lecturer:- 

• Personality - A persons' attitude, proper behavior & actions taken to respond
• Networking/Social Groups - The way how you deal within a group/team, how well you communicate & survive till the end.
• Presentation of Oneself - How well you project yourself in front of others & confident level
• Attire - Simply the way you dress, and the effort you've taken to dress according to the function or venue, this portray respect in certain cultures (eg-dress professional for interviews) 
• Curriculum Vitae - This is a method to market yourself to the potential employers 

(Brogan, 2014) states that there are 8 elements for a personal brand:-

1. Self esteem - confidence and self assurance 
2. Be yourself - honest in presenting the real you
3. Offer Value - what you can offer
4. A destination path - the way to connect you and know about you, using social media or contacting methods (LinkedIn/ email/ Twitter) 
5. Ideas - What you share with others
6. Innovation - How well you can create new things to market yourself
7. Growth - How you builds and learn constantly 
8. Communication - How well you communicate your purposes and character/abilities/interests 

In relation to (Montoya, 2014) An effective Personal Brand must evoke 3 basic perceptions in the minds of your target market:

• That you're different - differentiation is the most important aspect of PB, If you're not different from others then you become a follower, that makes your targets move away from you
• You're Superior - Your brand must give you a feeling of confidence that you are one of the best at what you do in someway. Being seen as a leader may positively effect your brand
• You're Authentic - Brand must be build on the truth value that you can offer, while presenting your strengths in order to gain profits. 

Building up an effective personal brand is not easy, it takes your time, effort & transparency also it should be done constantly. (Montoya, 2014) However when a successful personal brand is established it gives many benefits in return, such as:-

• Credibility Creation 
• Added perceived value 
• Recognition in greater levels
• Increased earning potential - business survival & growth
• Trend Building 
• Enhanced Prestige 
• Higher status level 

Cover Letter & Curriculum Vitae 

We all know that CV's and CL's are two vital components when applying for a job. Although a person excels in his/her education, knowledge or in gathered experience, if his/hers CV and CL are not presented accurately, non of the employers would even consider hiring them to their companies.

Therefore it is important to know what exactly these documents are, there proper structure & how to write these documents accurately. 

Cover Letter

This is known as the pre-eminence of a CV, which primarily highlights the contents of the CV. Mainly emphasize strengths and capabilities of the candidate and declares the necessity of the job for the applicant, and provide proof in order to influence the employers to hire the claimant. (Prospects UK, 2013) Also the interviewee is given a natural chance to depict his/her writing skills, style and descriptive abilities about oneself, to the employer.

A survey carried out in United States has found that 42.9% of the employers requested their candidates to apply with a cover letter. (University of Kent, 2014) Including details such as skills acquired by the applicant in relation to the job description, qualifications and responsibilities held & additional details from the CV. Therefore employers may investigate personal vision and uniqueness of the applicant, simply reading through the cover letter.

Writing a Cover Letter should be done carefully, (University of Kent, 2014) states their surveys have revealed that the: 

• 46% of the employers preferred half-page cover letters
• 24%  declared that the shorter the better will be
• and only 19% preferred full-page 

Now that you realize proving the worth of oneself within a half-page, is undeniably a challenging task. The following image will give several tips on how to write a proper cover letter:- 

In order to obtain a strong and accurate cover letter, applicant must gather background knowledge about the company, and also should highlight keywords and terms in the letter to take the sudden attention of the employer. Following image will depict an accepted format for a cover letter: 

(Binghmton University, 2014) 

Curriculum Vitae

This is considered to be an "outline notice of a person's educational & professional history" (University of Kent, 2014). CV's can be described as a special marketing tool designed to showcase and sell applicant's values such as: skills, capabilities, qualifications, strengths, objectives and previous experiences to the employer. CV's are regarded as legal proof for the employers, where they pay attention to the applicant's value preposition and hire them to their companies. Writing this document also need much thought and consideration in order to gain the maximum attention of the potential employers. 

(Prospects UK, 2013) declares that the main elements of a CV should be: 

1. Contact details - applicant's name, address, phone number & e mail address
2. Knowledge Coverage - Institutions attended and their relevant years, Exams qualified and the relation index numbers & professional qualifications (if any) 
3. Skills & Competencies - Interpersonal skills & Team work capability 
4. Experiences - Work related if any
5. Referees - 2 non-related referees who can assure applicant's credibility 

(University Of Auckland, 2014) have presented 7 general principles on how to construct an excellent CV, they are:

• Keep the CV concise, do not exceed 4 pages (2 pages would be appropriate) 
• When printing the CV do use clean and plain white paper (expensive shaded paper are not needed) 
• Font style, size, color and format should be professional and constant throughout the paper
• Don not use any slang words, abbreviations & casual words in CV
• Pin the CV from the top-left-corner of the paper to make photocopier easy 
• Include exceptional details or special achievements of yours in CV, make them noticeable
• Re-check spelling and grammar errors before submitting 

As mentioned above there can be various structures to write an "eye-catching CV" and I realize that these structures may vary from country to country, between companies, & in relation to the job that you apply. Below is the CV structure given by our lecturer:-

1. Introduction to yourself
2. Personal Objectives
3. Other bio details
4. Experiences regarding past employments/projects handled 
5. Acquired Skills 
6. Achievements from education, social & professional life
7. Personal values or theorems that describe yourself 
8. Institutions attended 
9. Extra activities done at clubs/societies  
10. Referees to prove your credibility 

Here is my CV prepared in during the class: 

The below image was distributed among the students by the lecture, to improve student's interest in writing an effective CV:- (Yong, 2013) 

I hope you enjoyed my 3rd week Learning Log :) Have a nice day, Thank you!!!

Topic related videos

References:- 

• Binghmton University. 2014. WRITING COVER LETTERS. [e-book] New York: Binghamton University. Available through: http://www2.binghamton.edu/career-development-center/quick-reference-guides/cover-letter.pdf [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014]

• Brogan, C. 2014. Personal Branding for the Business Professional. [e-book] Available through: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/img/broganbranding.pdf [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014].

• IPO. 2014. Intellectual Property Office - What is a brand?. [online] Available at: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/tm/t-about/t-whatis/t-brands.htm [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014].

• Kotler, P. (October 2013). Branding. ESP Conference 2013 (pp. 1-16). Hochschule Ulm: ESP Conference Press.

• Montoya, P. (2014). What Is Personal Branding? The Brand Called You , 11-22.
  
  
• Prospects UK. 2013. Cover letter samples and writing advice | Prospects.ac.uk. [online] Available at: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cover_letters.htm [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014]

• University Of Auckland. 2014. How to write a great CV - The University of Auckland. [online] Available at: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/for/current-students/cs-career-planning/applying-jobs-starting-work/preparing-cv.html [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014]

• University Of Kent. 2014. How to write a successful covering letter. [online] Available at: http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/coveringletters.htm [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014].

2nd Week Learning Log - Negotiations

4/11/2014

Second week study session begins with the topic "Negotiations". Lecturer started a small discussion with the students in the class, questioning their opinion about the term negotiation, reasons to get involved and drop out of a negotiation.

An overall idea of the students was that negotiation is bargaining or an interaction of influences. Reasons to get involved in a negotiation are :-

• to resolve disputes 
• agree upon course of action 
• bargaining for individual or collective advantage or 
• crafting outcomes to satisfy various interests.

Most of the time people tend to drop out of negotiations due to lack of their knowledge, facts and evidence about the topic or argument in hand or because of their personality traits.
But more formally "Negotiation is a process where two parties with differences which they need
to resolve are trying to reach an agreement through exploring for options and exchanging offers" (Fells, 2006). Furthermore dealing a negotiation is like martial arts where it should be mastered in order to obtain best outcomes.

As stated by the lecturer, a negotiation can be comprised of 3 elements such as:

1. Process - The way of negotiation, or how two parties going to resolve the deal; their "Game-plan" This includes context, strategies used, people of both sides involved & where it take place
2. Behaviors - This mainly rely on the existing relationship between parties, and includes communication styles implemented, to do this properly you should pay attention to the personality traits of the other person/side and based on that decide a suitable style 
3. Substance - The reason for the whole negotiation; this consists of outline of the issue, facts on each side, options available to arrive at solutions, and agreements that made or accepted. 

According to (Fells, 2006) there are 6 important elements for a negotiation mutually called as "The DNA of negotiation" it consist of: 

• Reciprocity - What one party does in order to get  reciprocated by the other, this influence the pattern and progress of the negotiation also it's an aspect of process that can be managed.
• Trust - Is an expectation that the other party will act in a beneficial manner rather than an exploitative strategy. This is vital when doing cooperative negotiation, but trust is fragile and easily overestimated.
• Ethics - The legitimate behavioral patterns expected when doing negotiations 
• Power - Paradoxically, if the parties are not negotiating well, the power that negotiators have relates to the alternative ways other than negotiation to achieve their desired objectives
• Information exchange - particularly information about possible solutions on the one hand and walk-away alternatives on the other 
• Outcome - Reason for entering into a negotiation is to reach an agreement, and better the negotiation better the outcome will be. Negotiators are often encouraged to achieve a win-win outcome.

As mentioned in the last point negotiation outcome situations may classified as: 

• Win-Win situation
• Win-Lose / Lose-Win Situation  
• Lose-Lose Situation 

Most of the negotiations will end in Win-Win or Win-Lose situation because negotiation is a process that helps one or both parties to obtain better outcomes. Also (Glaser, 2005) states that negotiation should always keep focus on 4 main Principles: people, interests, options and criteria. When negotiating it's a must to differentiate between parties involved and the issue at hand. Logical thinking and analyzing is encouraged over emotional influences and personal matters. In relevant to interests you should pay attention to people's interests rather than their social positions. Negotiators are instructed to outline their interests to the other party well enough to arrive at a common solution. Generating many options is also advantageous to choose upon the best later on, Finally objective criteria is used when a conflict situation is occurred. 

Fisher & Ury (1999) states that a good negotiation should consist of 3 criteria: 

1. It should be a wise agreement that satisfy both parties involved in the negotiation
2. Should be efficient as well
3. Should not have conflicts that damage relationship between parties, thus improvement is what's important-which takes time, energy and commitment of the both parties 

Types Of Negotiations

• Distributive Negotiations - Also called as disruptive negotiation where both parties have conflicting ideas and interests, and unable to settle with a common solution. It's a Win - Lose situation where one will fail to obtain an outcome. 
• Integrative Negotiations - Both parties engaged in the negotiation are able to arrive at a common favorable solution. It's a Win - Win situation. 

(Source: http://cas.upes.ac.in/pdf/NEGOTIATION%20SKILLS.pdf)

B.A.T.N.A. (Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement) 

This method was introduced by Roger Fisher and Williams Ury that mentions about a best possible solution of a negotiation, even it fully doesn't satisfy the interests/needs of both parties. This is considered as the best outcome when the other party refuse to negotiate or corporate, informally this is a backup plan. BATNA is allowed to compare with other available solutions and often considered to be the only option that satisfy both party A and B. 

 In order to determine a good BATNA there are 3 aspects to be covered: Firstly a list of actions should be compiled to be used in situation where an agreement setting is hard to achieve. Secondly the conditions presented should be practical enough and must be accepted by the both parties. Finally the most realistic conditions should be selected for BATNA. (Spangler, 2012) Having this approach is an advantage when negotiating, (Venter, 2013) states that it avoids high pressure to go into agreements with losses, also avoid the possibilities of options/conditions being failed when negotiators gets over confident about their options, without knowing other side's counter conditions or arguments. Ultimately BATNA will give out a Win - Win solution to the parties involved and keep the negotiator relationships smooth and safe. 

Personal Styles 

When engaged in a negotiation, it is important to know how to control and utilize ways of negotiating styles withing yourself. As an individual it is vital to understand the style within you among different styles and important to develop the control ability of those according to the problem in hand. The lecturer provided us some personal styles that can be found among ourselves:- 

• Self-denying – Reluctant to give information or opinion, has hidden feelings within themselves. The downside of this situation includes not being able to express what is needed thus leading to confusion.
• Self-bargaining – If another person initiates the negotiations then this person will participate and go forward. Sometimes situations that should be settled/discussed will pass on as that person will never take lead to negotiate.
• Self-protecting – Use diversions to evade issues, doesn't like talking about oneself, a closed person. Disadvantage of this style is that the person cannot project/tell what is needed properly.
• Self-exposing – Center of attention, demands what is needed, over confident and speaks out. Can become aggressive and demanding which can be a disadvantage is certain situations
• Self-actualizing – This is the ideal situation that has a balance of all the above characteristics

After considering different personal styles negotiators can be identified or differentiate between main 2 categories such as: Tough & Soft Negotiators. Following table will depict a comparison among them: (University of Utrecht, 2013)

Tough Negotiator	Soft Negotiator
The goal is victory	The goal is agreement
Make high demands openly	Modest and not over ambitious
Demand concessions as a condition to friendship	Make concessions to cultivate friendship
Have high expectations	Be considerable
Stick with the desired demands	Make frequent concessions
Not scared deadlocks or threats	Avoids deadlock and threats
Hard on people and issue. Treats the other party as adversaries	Treat the other party in a friendly manner and try to come to a peaceful agreement
Doesn't trust others	Trusts others
Takes more, gives less	Gives more than needed
Apply pressure	Yield to pressure
Try to win a contest of will	Try to avoid a contest of will
Insist on position	Insist on agreement
Demand one-sided gains as a price for agreement	Accept one-sided losses to reach agreement

Class Activity - A Role play
Then the lecturer assigned the students to do a negotiation as a role play, dividing the class into two sectors and choosing 3 representative speakers from each team to negotiate with the other team.

Issue Given - "HP Announces another 5,000 Layoffs, For a total of 34,000" One team was representing HP high level executives and the other team represent the union of HP for minor staff and labors at chopping list.
Negotiation started with HP cutting off another 5,000 labors beyond the 29,000 jobs it had previously targeted. Union at the beginning pointed out that HP has got addicted to layoff their employees providing efficient evidence from several newspapers and online reliable records. And as a counter argument HP executives said that the company is facing a loss at the current moment and reducing fixed cost (salaries) is there best solution in hand. To oppose this argument members of the Union team provided many evidence that clearly shows HP is not undergoing a loss instead making profits at that moment. (eg- November month salary increment of the CEO M. C. Whitman-Referenced from US Securities and exchange commission/The Register.CO.UK) HP executives again said that the upper management is important rather than minor staff so higher losses should be taken by minor staff and re-emphasize the social position over real issue which is not suitable when negotiating formally. Union also emotionally blackmailed executives in order to gain their rights. After few other arguments 1st phase of the negotiation ended with conditions such as salary cuts for both parties up to 20% & renewal of the job contract for 3 years. Second phase was more argumentative from the both of the sides sticking on to their interests and not considering about other parties, Finally the lecturer advised the teams to go forward with the BATNA plan which was written and accepted by the both parties at the beginning of the negotiating. It agrees to pay 65% of the basic salary to the terminated employees for 1 year until they find new employment. Also to provide them a recommendation letter with good will & to cut 10% of executive and 15% of minor workforce salaries of the current active employees. And I was glad to be a speaker of this activity which gave me a realistic feeling of extreme negotiations.

Negotiating Styles

When negotiating there are different styles that can be used by negotiators based on personality traits. Harvard Medical School (n. d) states that these styles can be categorized as Competing,Collaborating, Compromising, Avoiding and Accommodating. Following diagram will portray the characteristics of these styles: 

In order to determine students' negotiating style, the lecturer provided a self-assessment questioner, that give marks according to the answer selected and calculate an overall mark that pretend students' percentage of style out of the given categories

Results I obtained are as follows:

Style	Score	Interpretation
Competing	12	Low on competing style
Avoiding	18	High on avoiding style
Collaborating	21	Moderate to high on Collaborating style
Accommodating	17	Moderate to high on Accommodating style
Compromising	22	High on compromising style

Overall result was given as Moderate to Low on Assertiveness & Moderate to High on Cooperativeness. Meaning that the I likes to negotiate in a manner that both parties involved in the negotiation gets benefits and expects positive outcomes most of the time. Also indicates that I'm more of a soft negotiator. But depending on the personal experiences I cannot agree fully with the above given results since in some situations I tends to display characteristics of tough negotiator like in the class activity mentioned before, but I think my cooperative quality is accurately identified by the assessment. Therefore I sometimes find myself changing negotiation styles depending on the situation. 

To conduct an effective negotiation: Weiss and Hughes (2010)

• Be well prepared before a negotiation. It’s important to have thorough background knowledge of the situation and the parties involved and a structured process in hand as well as a steady and a disciplined composure
•  Create a cooperative atmosphere for the parties to be comfortable during the negotiation without distractions
• Always listen well to the other party before arriving at conclusions. It’s important to fully understand their need before assuming anything and taking rash actions
• Gain the trust of the other party
• Try to look at every possible outcome before arriving at a final conclusion. Always try to seek for a win-win solution
• Be mindful about what is needed and what you are ready to give up. It helps in reducing conflict of interests
• Try persuasion over pressurizing by backing up your idea with logic and reasoned arguments.

                    (Win-Win Negotiation: Learn how to Negotiate Effectively Without Damaging Relationships: MindTools)

In conclusion I would like to mention that it was a highly useful topic that improves lot of negotiation skills within me and provided many previously unknown knowledgeable factors relating to the topic. Especially the self assessment given by the lecturer gave a good insight about my negotiating styles and found areas which I may improve to become a successful negotiator in the industry in near future. Finally I hope you too gained something important out of this blog post. 

I hope you enjoyed my 2nd-week learning log :) Have a nice day, Thank You!!! 

References:-

• Fells, R. (2006). Effective Negotiation From Research to Results. London: Cambridge University Press. 
• Glaser, T. 2005. Conflict Research Consortium BOOK SUMMARY: Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. [online] Available at: http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014].
• Harvard Medical School. n.d. NEGOTIATION STYLES. [e-book] Boston: Harvard Medical School. Available through: http://hms.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/assets/Sites/Ombuds/files/HMS.HSDM_.HSPH_.NEGOTIATION.STYLES.WhenToUseWhichStyle.pdf [Accessed: 20 Nov 2013].
• Spangler, B. 2012. Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) | Beyond Intractability. [online] Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/batna [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014].
• University Of Utrecht. 2004. Negotiations. [e-book] Utrecht: University of Utrecht. Available through: http://www.cs.uu.nl/docs/vakken/vm/college9.pdf [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014].
• Venter, D. 2013. BATNA Explained | Negotiation Academy. [online] Available at: http://www.negotiationtraining.com.au/articles/next-best-option/ [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014].
• Weiss, J. and Hughes, J. 2010. Implementing Strategies in Extreme Negotiations. [online] Available at: http://hbr.org/web/ideas-in-practice/implementing-strategies-in-extreme-negotiations [Accessed: 20 Nov 2014].