Seen is defined as something has been looked at or noticed. But what if everything we see is more than that? Our group wanted to create an opportunity for people to be seen beyond first impressions to the unique talents within.
We want to look at things from a point of view other than our own.
As a group of student writers, we are tasked to put into practice our observation, document search, and interview skills to gather essential information from Municipal Hall, Mayor’s Office, Sangguniang Bayan. After getting all the information needed, we realized that the data gathering method that we have used is convenient, we approached the personnel face-to-face and the questions and data were given through oral conversation.It is effective because additional questions for follow-up can be asked whenever confusion and discrepancies occur in the data gathering process.
It was fun but definitely not easy. We learned a lot so if by any chance you are tasked to gather data like what we did, we can give you three great tips!
TIP # 1:
Bring a letter with your intent and the professor’s signature because some agencies require them for data privacy matters.
There will come a time when you might need to request something, be it from the company you are working for or a personal need that you have. Taking the time to construct a well-written letter outlining what it is you need could be the thing that guarantees you getting what it is that you want. Be sure to proofread your letter. Typos and bad formatting come off as being sloppy and like you did not pay attention to what you were doing.
They might turn you down. But that’s fine! Do not be discouraged. You can always make the request at a better time or find another route to go.
TIP # 2:
Don’t go to the agencies during peak hours because you may not be entertained immediately.
Put Yourself in their shoes, you must understand that busy people get hundreds of requests for help or jobs to finish. Even if you have the best of intentions, at peak hours, people are busy and can’t possibly respond to every inquiry. They’re not being rude — they’re just prioritizing. When you reach out to a busy person, do so with very specific questions in mind. You may only get one shot at that.
TIP # 3:
Respect the time of the personnel and do not let him/her be delayed from doing his/her responsibilities while gathering your needed information.
Busy people aren’t selfish and inconsiderate, they just want to be efficient with their time. Remember that the time they give to you is time they sacrifice from finishing their jobs. So, contact them in a way that respects this reality and considering that their schedule is as lightly as possible. It is important that you are mindful of another people’s time not just yours.
We hope you learned something from us. Let’s get a variety of perspectives and look at things from a point of view other than our own because sometimes, what we’re seeing is not all that there is.
And we are Behind-the-Seen.
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