Understanding the PSAT

HomeApplyCollege prepUnderstanding the PSATThis page may contain affiliate links.Oct 11, 2019 The PSAT is a big focus of many students sophomore and junior years. Freshmen can take it as well. Some families use it to help their student prepare for the SAT, but it is much more than a practice test. According to The Princeton Review, more than 3.4 million high school students (mostly juniors and sophomores) take this nationwide, multiple-choice test every year. So, 3.4 million high schoolers and their parents must know the potential value of the exam, right? You can only take the test once per year, but you can take it in multiple years. Here’s what you need to know to understand the PSAT. What is the PSAT/NMSQT? The latter part of the full name of the PSAT, National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, indicates that it’s far more valuable than being just a trial run for the SAT. While many families do use it so their child can see how the SAT will feel in real testing conditions, there’s also a very valuable scholarship opportunity involved as well. Many of the students who take the PSAT are hoping they will do well enough to qualify for a National Merit Scholarship. There are three parts to the PSAT: evidence-based reading, writing and language, and math. The PSAT score range, different from that of the SAT score range, is from 320 to 1520, and there’s no penalty if your student guesses and gets the wrong answer. Half of the PSAT score range (760 points) comes from the math section and the other half from the reading and writing sections. A good score on the PSAT puts your student in the 75th percentile, or better than 75% of test takers in their grade. A very good score is in the 95th percentile, and of course an excellent score is in the 99th percentile. Why Take the PSAT? There are various reasons to take the PSAT, but in reality, three reasons are the most prominent. First and foremost, it will give your student a taste of what they can expect on the regular SAT their senior year. It is shorter than the SAT but the math, reading, and writing questions are very similar. The PSAT score can be translated into an expected SAT score, which can help you predict how your student will stack up against others in the freshmen class at a targeted college. Secondly, many parents are eager for their student to win the scholarships that are available through the PSAT. The biggest and most noteworthy is the National Merit Scholarship. Getting an excellent score will generally qualify you to move forward with the National Merit application process. Finally, doing well on the PSAT can help schools notice your student even before the application process begins. Your student may be invited for campus visits with small perks like a free meal during the visit, or they may be able to apply to specific schools without paying an application fee. When is the PSAT? The PSAT can be taken once a year, generally from 9th – 11th grade. The 9th-grade score can give your student a baseline for studying, and the 10th-grade score can let you know if your student should prepare for a Merit application in 11th grade or simply get ready for the SAT. The PSAT 8/9 can be taken during the fall or spring of a student’s 8th or 9th-grade year. It doesn’t have questions that are as advanced as the PSAT 10 or the PSAT/NMSQT taken in the junior year. The PSAT 10 is for sophomores and has the same content as the 11th-grade version. However, scores on the PSAT 10 cannot be used for consideration for the National Merit Scholarship. This exam is taken during the spring of the sophomore year. The PSAT/NMSQT is the 11th-grade exam and is taken in October of the 11th-grade year. The score on this exam can be used as part of a National Merit Scholarship application if it qualifies. The National Merit cutoff varies from state to state, but generally must be in the top 1%. The score is converted into a Selection Index number, which is used by each state to determine who will be a National Merit Semifinalist. Preparing for the PSAT There are a number of paid and free options for preparing for the PSAT. You can use a PSAT study guide, online tools, and more. Students approach the test very differently. There are some who don’t prepare at all, and others put in a lot of work before the test. It depends on your student’s natural testing ability and the goals you have for the exam. We asked the members of our Paying for College 101 Facebook group for some insight about their PSAT prep experience. Multiple parents expressed regret that their student missed the National Merit cutoff by only a few points due to lack of preparing for the exam. Re PSAT/NMF A friend told me that her daughter had just barely missed NMF because she did no test prep whatsoever and she advised me to pay for prep. Our experience my niece missed the cutoff by mere points several years ago. They did not know to prep for test. My older brother advised me to have my kids prep for it as they are strong test takers. Oldest took PSAT for practice in 10th grade and was in the 97% with a 1350. He did a self-study and then an online Kaplan PSAT course the summer and fall before 11th grade PSAT. He ended up focusing on official practice PSAT tests (free) and studying on his own at the end. That was when he saw a big jump in scores. He ended up with an 11th grade PSAT score of 1480 and an SI of 221. His later ACT and SAT scores were also in the 99+percentile range. Assuming DS is definitely moving forward, this is a game changer for our family. While he will throw his hat in the ring for scholarships at two non-NMF schools, he also knows he now has an almost free ride to a complete free ride at several schools that he would be very happy to attend. This means his college fund can move over to finish his much younger sibling’s college fund. Main takeaway NMF is a long shot for even the best students (especially in states with high cutoffs) but it is worth it to prep and try to make it. The studying does not go to waste and will help with later testing. High stat students do not need expensive prep programs as they really already have the content down. But taking multiple free official practice tests will help them fine tune their knowledge of the material and familiarize themselves with the format. If you are chasing merit, the payoff is huge!† A good strategy is to use the PSAT 10 to determine whether your student has a chance to meet the National Merit cutoff. If they do, preparing for the 11th-grade test is a great way to ensure they have the best shot at being a National Merit Finalist. Even if they don’t make it, the preparation will not be for nought – it will be a big help when they take the official SAT as juniors or seniors. Are you looking for the colleges that will be the right fit for your family? Merit aid is a key source of college funding. Let us help you find the right match for your child with our College Free Money Finder today!

Obesity As A Public Health Campaign - 958 Words

Tackling obese or overweight is a complex process that requires a proactive approach and interventions from the individual, society, local authorities, and public health service and partner organisation (PHE 2016e). In response to obesity as a public health issue, the government introduces no of polices, strategy and health campaign to tackle this problem, including Change4life campaign and Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A call to action on obesity in England. Chang4life is a public health campaign in England, which started in 2009 supported by the Department of Health to tackle growing problem of obesity. This was the first campaign to adapt social marketing approach to address obesity by making significant improvements in an individual’s diet, being physically active and alcohol consumption to improve their health (NHS Choices 2016a). Beside this health campaign, a consistent nutritional label system was launched in 2013 by the Public Health Minister Anna Soubry. This system combines colour coding (red, amber, green) and nutritional information to demonstrate the amount of sugar, salt, fat and calorie contain in the food products. The colour-coding will helps people to comprehend the level of nutrients in the food that they are eating (Gov.uk. 2013). Another obesity strategy has been published in October 2011 ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A call to action on obesity in England’, with a new target in reducing excess weight of the adults by 2020. The strategy statedShow MoreRelatedEvaluation Of A Public Health Campaign1658 Words   |  7 Pages Laney Larsen Evaluation of a Public Health Campaign: The Campaign to End Obesity Evaluation of a Public Health Campaign: The Campaign to End Obesity The Campaign to End Obesity is a national public health campaign whose overall motto is â€Å"to advance America’s journey to healthy weight.† It is known in this current age that two-thirds of America’s adults and one-third of the youth population are overweight or obese. Even more shocking is the fact that over $200 billion has beenRead More Global Public Health Essay1671 Words   |  7 PagesAfter 150 years of public health research and intervention, there are bound to be many lessons to draw upon which can provide the insight to guide public health professionals and institutions as they design and implement specific strategies, policies, and measures to increase global resilience for â€Å"complex health emergencies†. Identifying both the modifications to public health systems and looking closely from the history of managing environmental and other threats to the public health sector increasesRead MoreObesity Is A Complex Process953 Words   |  4 PagesTackling obesity is a complex process that requires a proactive approach and interventions from the individual, society, local authorities, and public health service and partner organisation (PHE 2016f). In response to obesity as a public health issue, the government introduces no of policies, strategy and health campaign to tackle this problem, including Change4life campaign and Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A call to action on obesity in England (Foresight 2007). 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According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2014), approximately 12.7 million or seventeen percent of children and adolescents aged two to nineteen are considered to be obese (Childhood Obesity). This is an astronomical number and it is only continuing to rise. According to Schroeder et al. (2016), there is approximately an addition fifteen percentRead MoreChildhood Obesity And Its Effects1551 Words   |  7 PagesChildhood obesity has become an epidemic in our nation. Currently, more than one in six American children is obese, which is three times the rate as that of the 1970s [1]. Obesity contributes significantly to cardiovascular disease, different types of cancers, as well as diabetes. About 70% of obese children/adolescents have at least one risk factor for heart disease, such as hyperlipidemia and hypertension, and almost 40% of obese youths have at least two additional risk factors. Increase in ratesRead MoreObesity And The Public Affairs Mission At Missouri State768 Words   |  4 Pagesfriend who struggles with weight. Or maybe you’ve struggled with your weight. Obesity impacts everyone in some shape or form. Today I will share with you the dangers of pediatric obesity and how it relates to t he public affairs mission here at Missouri State. (Transition: Let’s begin by discussing obesity and what causes it.) Body I. Being overweight or obese is to have a higher than average amount of fat. A. Obesity is determined most frequently using Body Mass Index (BMI), a weight to height ratio

Ethics And Professional Codes Of Conduct - 878 Words

Ethics and Professional Codes of Conduct (Unit 10), Trump won the president in this month. After two months, Donald Trump will be the official president. However, the concerns about his ethics is upcoming to everyone’s mind. As we known, The Trump Organization runs a lot of business all around the US. When Donald Trump moves into the White House, he ll be the most controversial president in America history. After Trump is the president, his business interest is related to the politic. But there is no law and rules that asks a president to split his financial interests before he takes the president position. In past few period, presidents got away from the business to avoid the conflicts. Trump has no way to put his real estate empire aside. Obvious, he would involve his business into the future politic policy. Democrats aware this conflicts of the interest. But they can’t call official hearings. But they will keep the eyes on him. Also, if necessary, they can do investigations to avoid the conflicts of the interest. In addition, Trump is expressing an interest in a major infrastructure plan, equal pay for women, and closing the interest tax rate. These acts could give him a benefits, but they are good for the country. The infrastructure plan, such as highway, could improve the people life. Tax plan keeps the money in our own pocket. Another issue is http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-election-day/how-would-president-trump-manage-his-business-empire-n649611Show MoreRelatedCode Of Ethics And Professional Conduct1274 Words   |  6 PagesReview of the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct of BIP The Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (CEPC) has been formulated on the basis of article 44, 45, 46, 47 of BIP constitution, to secure the rights and benefits of the Planners community in Bangladesh. CEPC not only provide guidance and support to the members of BIP on their lead in the professional field but also offers assurance to the client who avails the services of Planners. Members have the opportunity to express their opinionRead MoreEthics And Code Of Professional Conduct1598 Words   |  7 Pages(NMBA) Code of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct. Failure to provide care within these parameters could lead to serious consequences for the patient and nurse themselves. Enrolled Nurses must work within certain legal and ethical parameters to ensure appropriate care is provided to patients and also so the nursing profession itself is upheld in a respectful and trusting manner. 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This means that the respiratory therapist should harbor the quality ofRead MoreOccupational Therapy Code Of Ethics And Professional Conduct1544 Words   |  7 PagesIt is the responsibility as well as an expectation for Occupational Therapists (OTs) to maintain a professional behaviour, in order to build a therapeutic relationship in and outside a therapeutic setting. The OTs have a duty of care to use the correct knowledge and skills to enhance the life quality of a service user. 1 There is no clear-cut definition for Professionalism. 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Business, for instance, has set of principles which act as a guide on how the employees ought to conduct themselves while executing their duty .The set of rules and principles refer to the code of ethics. The code of ethics gives a guide on the professionals expected conduct while working for a given organization

The Wild, By Jon Krakauer - 1464 Words

The Youth And Their Risks â€Å"If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories.† (Richard M. Nixon). In his investigative biography, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer, expresses that even though young people can be ignorant and take treacherous risks, these can be used as knowledge enhancers and can be life changers. Krakauer gives us insight by giving examples of what risk really are, how people take them, and how it actually affects those people. Throughout the whole book, there are instances where Krakauer uses real life examples of things that have happened where people have taken risks and the outcomes of that. In general, one has to take risks in life to truly find oneself and Krakauer says â€Å"It can be argued that youthful derring-do is in fact evolutionarily adaptive, a behavior encoded in our genes† (182). Krakauer explains that for teenagers the idea of doing outrageous things comes easily to them because it’s only natural for them. Krakauer explains that for teenagers, doing crazy things is due to the fact that adventure lives in their blood and this has been going on for many centuries. For a teenager death and injury seems like a joke, they don t even consider these, the absence of fear of death makes them feel invincible and causing them to take so many risks. There are so many examples in history of young people who have left so much behind only to start what they would believe is a new life. Krakauer includes a whole twoShow MoreRelatedInto the Wild by Jon Krakauer563 Words   |  2 PagesJon Krakauer presents Into The Wild a tragic tale of a young ambitious man who is motivated to go into the wilderness and discover his true identity.Jon krakauer conveys many messages to his readers through Chris McCandless, and his messages often offer a warning to society.we will furture idenitfy how the author delievers the warning to society and what effect it can have upon society today.Three of the very important messages he empatizes on are the societies influence on people,the essence ofRead MoreThe Wild By Jon Krakauer1096 Words   |  5 PagesAllyssa Mikes July 2012 Into the Wild Mr. Fertmann Throughout the non-fictional novel Into the Wild, the author Jon Krakauer catches the reader’s interest early on in the book. Krakauer takes us on a journey, telling the story of young Chris McCandless’ adventures after abandoning everything he owned. Krakauer fully emerged himself into the study of McCandless’ life’s adventures and soon developed a deep understanding of who he was and how he impacted to world. Krakauer connected with McCandless in anRead MoreInto The Wild By Jon Krakauer946 Words   |  4 Pagescompelling novel â€Å"Into The Wild† by Jon Krakauer the character and intelligence of the youth in men is questioned. Through the pieced together 200 page novel we are introduced to Christopher Johnson McCandless also known as â€Å"Alex Supertramp†. A ripe 24 years of age he chose to question our reality and his meaning of life that is given to us by hitchhiking across America to the Alaskan wilderness, where after four months in the last frontier he is found dead. Krakauer throughout the novel shows thatRead MoreInto The Wild By Jon Krakauer1330 Words   |  6 Pagesshared.† - Jon Krakauer Into the wild. Jon Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild told the story of Chris McCandless. Chris escaped reality and went to go live off the land in Alaska, hoping to live a simpler life. In the novel, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless shared a similar philosophy with Jack London, as they both have a strong passion for Alaska, they both appreciated they beauty of nature, and both wanted to be reborn. In the novel, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandlessRead MoreInto The Wild By Jon Krakauer1349 Words   |  6 PagesSummary Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a true story about Chris McCandless who is found dead in the Alaskan wild during September 1992. After discovering that his father had a secret secondary family when Chris was young, Chris pushes away his friends and family and eventually isolates himself. He obtains $25,000 from his parents by lying about attending law school and drives away from home, deserting his real name. He later leaves his car in Georgia after an engine breakdown due to rain damageRead MoreInto The Wild By Jon Krakauer1013 Words   |  5 Pages Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, narrates the life of adventurer and free spirit Christopher McCandless, who died August 1992 in the Alaskan wilderness; however, his journey still remains relevant in today’s pop culture due to the unresolved controversy of whether he is a saintly role model or hubristic fool. Krakauer openly states that he â€Å"won’t claim to be an impartial biographer† (Author’s Note) due to the parallels he struck with McCandless, and provides a more idealistic approach to the biographyRead MoreInto the Wild by Jon Krakauer1516 Words   |  7 PagesRosselini, John Waterman and Carl McCunn. They all went to Alaska, just like Chris and died. After that Chris continued to canoe and got caught by the US officers when he was trying to get back into the US from Mexico. So he spent a night in jail. Krakauer then compared Chris to Everett Reuss. They both changed their names and they both disappeared. Chris applied for an ID as Alex Supertramp and found a job in Los Angeles. New York Times published about Alex’s death. Jim Gallien and Wayne WesterbergRead MoreThe Wild By Jon Krakauer1522 Words   |  7 Pagesvictories.† (Richard M. Nixon). In his investigative biography, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer, expresses that even though young people can be ignorant and take treacherous risks, these can be used as knowledge enhancers and can be life changers. Krakauer gives us insight by giving examples of what risk really are, how people take them, and how it actually affects those people. Throughout the whole book there are instances where krakauer uses real life examples of things that have happened where people haveRead MoreInto The Wild By Jon Krakauer Essay1237 Words   |  5 Pages Jon Krakauer s novel â€Å"Into the wild†, Is a story about a young man named Christopher McCandless or â€Å"Alex Supertramp† who went on a self discovering odyssey in which he had traveled around the U.S. The story surrounds Chris and his travels and what he had done at the time, leading to his death in August 1992. Thus the story takes a direction in the viewpoints of the people Alex has come across through in his travels. It speaks about what he had done at the time of his journey before he hadRead MoreInto the Wild: by Jon Krakauer1186 Words   |  5 Pagessense Krakauers natural liking for McCandless. He was sympathetic to McC andless, based on Krakauers sense of a shared experience in their youth and up until McCandless eventual death and Krakauers perceived near death experience on the Devils Thumb. I believe the author’s main point and perspective was formed from his own experience and relationship with his father. While the situations were basically reversed with Chris not approving of his father and Lewis Krakauer disappointed in Jon for not

What Was The And The Underground Railroad - 1678 Words

What was Philadelphia’s Contribution to the Underground Railroad? The Underground Railroad is a well known system that helped many enslaved African Americans escape from their southern masters, to the north. This system is one of the reasons for the start of the civil war between the Union and Confederates in the nineteenth century. Becoming what many slaves saw as their ticket to freedom, Philadelphia helped spark the ambition of the fugitive slaves to escape from their owners and venture through the unknown landscapes of the Northern regions in order to become free black citizens. The Underground Railroad, separating the contradicting ideas of the North and South, pushed the slave and non-slave states to eventually have a civil war†¦show more content†¦The Underground Railroad system was spread across a majority of the North and up into Canada, where the slaves did not have to obey the Fugitive Slave Acts. In Pennsylvania alone there were many different routes and n etworks consisting of, The Bedford-Clearfield Route, Uniontown-Pittsburgh Route, Washington Route,the Central Route, the Philadelphia Network and the Crawford-Erie Network. Each route and network alone rescuing a multitude of slaves. The slaves migrated from their homes in the south and up into the north by foot, by carriage and by boat. Many of the exit ports were located Philadelphia making the city a large import of runaway slaves. This ticket to freedom, although worth every penny, was costly if a slave was to get caught. Some slaves who chose to venture to the North were often hunted down by slave catchers. These men at times carried with them dogs to hunt down, confine, and capture the slaves that were south of the Mason-Dixon line. This made the journey even more difficult for the slaves. In order to stay away from captivity they had to stow away, staying hidden from anyone who is not willing to help. This forced them to travel mostly at night from â€Å"station to stationâ €  and live in tight quarters in the â€Å"conductors† basements or attics.

Advantage and Disadvantage of Social Media - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about the Advantage and Disadvantage of Social Media. Answer: Social Media Marketing has become increasingly beneficial for all the businesses if the present scenario is considered (Tuten and Solomon 2017). However, there are certain limitations of social media marketing as well. The business owners spend only six to seven hours every week for increasing the traffic, the business recognition, and the sales with hardly any cost. Around ninety percent of the marketers have been claiming that the social media tends to generate exposure for the company, which is a great advantage for the business. The social network is considered an important part of all the marketing strategies, and the advantages of social media are being implemented by most of the companies (DeMers 2014). Hospitality and tourism are also making use of social media marketing as well (Minnazi 2015). The purpose of this argumentative essay is to highlight the advantages that are resultant due to the use of social media for promoting the business. However, due to the argumentative n ature of the essay, there will be counter arguments that will show how social media can lead to a negative influence on the overall business. Social media is considered a very cost-efficient method of digital marketing, which helps in syndicating the content and increasing the visibility of the business. The brand recognition of the company increases when proper strategies are created (Whiting and Deshpande 2014). This happens because the company starts to engage more customers. To start this, social media profiles have to be created for the business. The company has to interact with both the present and target customers. The company should get the employees, the business partners and the sponsors to like, comment and share the page on various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. When people interact with the content that a company has, the brand awareness starts increasing automatically (Monica and Balas 2014). The constant interaction helps in developing an overall better brand image. The posts that are shared are introduced to new individuals, which will make them the potential customer s. Moreover, the more people get to know about a business and its products and services, the better it is for the business. The added benefit is that the company owners do not have to spend a long time on social media. A proper utilization of the social media allows more users to connect with the business and the company gets more hits on their webpage. This leads to better exposure for the business and hence garnering positive financial growth. With the regular use of the social media, businesses can create a big audience base. A study was conducted on the young Egyptians to find out the attitude that they had towards fast-food advertising in the widely used social media platform, Facebook. The study provides an insight for the marketers to make the advertisements effective on these platforms (Gaber and Wright 2014). Search Engine Optimization or SEO is extremely important for the businesses. It is true that when a company posts on the various social media platforms, it helps to gain traffic, but more effort is required for significant success. Search Engine Optimization is necessary for achieving a high page rank in the search engines like Google or Yahoo (Clarke 2015). It also helps to obtain the traffic to the business website. The page ranks do not increase directly with the help of the social media, but studies have suggested that the marketers who use social media have gained high ranks in the search engines. The business that gains a top rank for the keywords that it used, will get more traffic and will be able to generate effective results for the business. All the people use Google for finding any important information and they never skip visiting the first search result. This is because the answer is normally on the first search webpage and the use of social media enhances the SEO of th e business. In case if the website of a business does not have a high rank, the Search Engine Optimization should be adjusted. In order to gain a high rank with the help of the social media, the business should pay attention to their contents that should be of a high quality. This also helps in increasing the target keywords. The contents that include infographics, blogs, case studies, employee photos and business information help in making the profile credible and interesting. It also allows the business to come across the industry influencers, who will write in a positive light about the business. These influencers also help in increasing the ranks on the search engines directly. However, it should be noted that almost everyone has a social media account on the leading social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. They have the freedom to post anything that they want on the pages of the companies. The customers who are satisfied with a particular product or service will leave positive reviews. On the other hand, the unhappy customers can leave angry and negative feedbacks regarding the business. Negative feedbacks are not good for the company as it not only ruin the reputation but also drives away the target customers (Fuchs 2017). The company should handle this situation by communicating directly with the unhappy customer and enquiring the issue. Even if a customer has left a negative comment, a proper response from the company can help in uplifting the image of the company. At the same time, it should be noted that, maintaining a social media page is not an easy task. It is extremely time-consuming and requires a lot of effort to keep the presence in the social media interactive. A company that has a comparatively smaller team will not be able to devote the required resources to the social media. Though this is considered a drawback, companies that invest their time in social media can create a lasting and healthy relationship with their clients and customers. This will also help in increasing the customer base, and the company will gain knowledge about the demands that the customers have and design services and products accordingly. When the companies interact with their clients and customers on a daily basis, they start to become more loyal. The loyal customers tend to spend more amount of money on the company that they prefer and inform their closed ones. Social media is a powerful tool to enhance the image of a business in public as well as increase the sustainability of the business in the market. The huge scale at which the web 2.0 platform works allows businesses to connect with their customers and maintain a relationship that will lead to building of trust among them. Reference list Clarke, A., 2015. Search engine optimization 2016: Learn SEO with smart internet marketing strategies.CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. DeMers, J., 2014. The top 10 benefits of social media marketing.Forbes,[online]: https://www. forbes. com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/11/the-top-10-benefits-of-social-media-marketing. Fuchs, C., 2017.Social media: A critical introduction. Sage. Gaber, H.R. and Wright, L.T., 2014. Fast-food advertising in social media. A case study on Facebook in Egypt.Journal of Business and Retail Management Research,9(1). Minazzi, R., 2015.Social media marketing in tourism and hospitality. Heidelberg: Springer. Monica, B. and Bala?, R., 2014. Social media marketing to increase brand awareness.Journal of Economics and Business Research,20(2), pp.155-164. Tuten, T.L. and Solomon, M.R., 2017.Social media marketing. Sage. Whiting, A. and Deshpande, A., 2014. Social media marketing: A myth or a necessity.The Journal of Applied Business and Economics,16(5), p.74.

Shell in Hrm free essay sample

In this report, it will introduce what Royal Dutch Shell (‘Shell’) done in HRM, what strategies they use and why they are be successful. It focuses mainly on effective employees’ selection, human resources developments, performance management, remunerations and rewards of Shell. Each part will mention factors influenced by internal and external factor, the rationales of using strategies and what Shell did on each part. Effective Employee Selection Shell has provided a variety of job positions for suitable candidates to apply for jobs at their own choices. Shell will select candidates who possess bachelor degree, master degree or PhD degree to apply for all kinds of job positions. Shell believes that those candidates selected will eventually help Shell to provide quality of services and techniques after trainings. Application Shell has provided detailed information and instructions for all candidates in making on-line applications via internet. â€Å"Job Search† engine at Shell’s website has also been designed for candidates, who could immediately find their desired vacancies and submit their application immediately through internet. When the candidates complete and submit applications, they will receive acknowledgements within 48 hours. For suitable candidates, Shell will invite them for interviews within 2 weeks from the date of submission. In addition, Shell has also designed and provided â€Å"Job Alerts† function for people, who are difficult to find their desired vacancies from Shell in the past. This function is to alert people for job opportunities in future when their desired vacancies are being offered and match with their resume. Interview Shell will invite suitable candidates for interviews, which will be held via face-to-face meeting(s) or by telephone inquiries. Through the interview, Shell will evaluate candidates how Capacity, Achievement, Relationship Skills and Technical Skills (‘CART’) are carried out. Before the end of the interview, Shell will provide adequate time for candidates to ask questions about working environment, corporate culture and etc. Final Assessment The successful candidates being selected after interviews will be given with an opportunity to take a final assessment. This final assessment will take 4-hour time to finish designated tasks, which include Case Study, Group Discussions, Scenario Practice and Final Interview. Having passed the final assessment, candidates will be given with an opportunity to get more insight about the job position, rewards and fringe benefits. Rationale for the employee selection The rationale for the employee selection by Shell is to select for the company suitable employees, who would provide good quality of performances and services offered to the public. In the selection process, Shell will select candidates being university under-graduates or graduates and requires university qualification as its basic entrance level in the application. Shell is well in selection on the best uses of talents as its employees. They will provide an opportunity on working environments for employees to have equal opportunity in developing their own skills and talent. In addition, Shell also pays attention to candidates’ resume because those resumes will show key strengths and achievements made in their working experience. The final assessment provides an opportunity for those candidates to tell their own achievements made and how challenges being tackled in the past. Strategy Influenced by Other Factors Internal factors Shell provides â€Å"Job Search† engine at its website for candidates to choose interested vacancies for them to apply. This function can let candidates to have opportunities to find their dream jobs. If Shell assigns employees to hated job positions, it will affect the employees being demoralized. External factors At present, many companies require candidates having the university education level as the minimum educational qualification. However, Shell finds that it is difficult to identify talents amongst those university graduates applied. If Shell employs fresh graduates who are lack of working experience, Shell will provide training programs for them so that they will work smoothly after trainings. In addition, Shell also considers economical elements, including other companies’ annual salary increments and its affordability for hiring high-paid employees. As such, Shell usually employs university graduates. Training programs Shell operates more than 110 countries in the world and has attained vast working experiences and expertise in different areas or locations. Also, Shell has established many training centers across different countries and offers a large range of training programs and development activities for its employees. Offers of the training programs and the development activities to selected employees depend on their business areas covered, locations and role of the employee within Shell. An example of Shell’s training activities is shown as follows: Tailored Training Tailored training is offered for all of Shell’s new employees and includes inductions and a specific program, namely, â€Å"Shell Life†. Shell Life is a course that is highly experiential and interactive designed for university graduates to develop their leadership potentials. The course helps participants to identify their personal direction, leadership skill, interpersonal effectiveness and business awareness qualities that they need if they want to pursue a successful career with Shell. Leadership Program Leadership program is available to all staffs of Shell. Under the Leadership Program, management team will be invited to be tutors coaching their staffs and will provide their expertise and insights to those staffs. Besides, this program covers the contexts that actually happen in the real life. After attending the Leadership Program, new staffs will be evaluated and will be considered as the first priority to be promoted as senior executives in future. On-the-job learning On-the-job learning is conducted by senior staffs or supervisors. It is an extensive training service, which facilitates senior staffs to learn in the work stations. On-the-job learning provides hands-on experience for senior staffs in building up required skills and / or expertise. After completion of the On-the-job learning, those senior employees or supervisors will then provide their sub-ordinates with insights into their strengths, development areas and teaching them how effective works be achieved. As such, their supervisors could create an effective development plan for their sub-ordinates. Off-the-job learning On-line and face-to-face trainings are offered for employees on the company’s Business Principles, which are similar to preventing from bribery and corruption in order to make the employees understand the business mission and vision. The company expects that the employees should follow the business principles in doing their works. Rationale for the training programs The rationale for the Shell training program is to improve the current job performances of its employees. Shell coaches their employees through actual practices in order to make the employees understand how to perform their present job better. Besides, Shell designs a large range of training programs to support and guide their employees’ career choices in order to increase their motivation to work with Shell. The strategy influenced by other factors Internal factors If the program is not compulsory for the employees to join or employees have choices not to join the program, it will be lack of employees’ motivation to learn any technique in the program. On the other hand, if program trainers have poor training skills, they might mislead trainees in learning incorrect skill from the program. Therefore, the program fails and losses its significance to be continued. External factors If the world economy is slump, it may make organizations lack of resources in providing training programs to their employees. If a competitor has offered a good training program system to its employees, it will create a yardstick and a comparison within the same industry of its kind. As such, Shell’s employees might want to leave Shell and join the competitor company. Performance Management Companies need improvements in performances in order to survive in the highly-competitive world, remain competitive and stay strong. Performance management links to the objectives of improving organizational, functional, group or individual progress towards goal achievements. It ensures that jobs are properly designed and qualified personnel are hired, trained, rewarded and motivated in order to achieve the organization’s strategies and business objectives. Board Evaluation The Board carries out Performance Evaluations of itself, its committees, its Chairman and each other of the directors within the Board. It has held a significant part in the Performance Management in Shell. These evaluations are led by the Nomination and Succession Committee, which is an external facilitator and does not have any connection and relation with Shell. The process of the evaluations consists of all directors completing questionnaires, designed by the external facilitator, through online system. When the results of questionnaires are available to the facilitator, he will then prepare written reports to the Chairman. The results of the evaluations on the Board and its committees will be discussed at the Board of Directors’ meeting. The evaluations provide to the Board a wide range of feedback, including some processes and agenda contents. Controls and Procedures The Board is responsible for Shell’s internal control system and for reviewing its effectiveness and relations to control the financial report. It has indicated that such controls are one of the methods in managing performances and the progress of business objectives achievements. The Shell Control Framework advocated by Shell applies to all related companies of the Group. The three key components comprise of Foundation, Organization and Process. Foundation comprises of Shell’s objectives, principles and establishes the boundaries for the company’s activities. †¢ Organization sets out how various legal entities relate to each other and organize and manages their business activities. †¢ Process plays an important role in this framework as it refers to material processes, including how authority be delegated, how strategies, planning and appraisals are used to improve performances. It is an ongoing process for identifying, evaluating and managing the significant risks to achieve Shell’s objectives. According to the Shell’s Annual Review, it could be seen that the Performance Management of Shell’s risk management system and internal controls system has been undertaken by the Board. Performance Share Plan Shell has indicated the performance share plan into performance management. Its awards under the Performance Share Plan are granted upon certain conditions to eligible employees, who are not members of the Executive Committee of Shell. The actual amount of shares that may vest range from 0% to 200% of the awards, depending on the outcomes of prescribed performance conditions over a three-year period of the award year. Rationale for performance management Performance management aims to †¢ Improve organizational, functional, unit and individual employee performances; †¢ Identify required performance improvements and developing new performance objectives for converting improved performances into rewards. For information, rewards could be interpreted as remuneration and benefits. In case of Shell, the Company has applied Shell Control Framework in their business objectives and the system is monitored and controlled by The Board, which will regularly review it. The Control Framework has been put in place to designed tools in managing risk rather than eliminating the risks of failure to achieve business objectives. Therefore, it only provides a reasonable and not an absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss. Moreover, the Performance Share Plan aims to award employees who are eligible and are not members of the Executive Committee. This Performance Share Plan is effective to reward eligible employees in order to increase their moral and retain their loyalty. On the other hand, the Board’s evaluation is to ensure that jobs are properly designed and that qualified personnel are performed well or not. Strategies Influenced by Other Factors Internal Factors Internal factors indicate as factors which are under the organization control, including the business principles, the Board and all employees. In Shell, the business objectives, functions and strategies are lying to the Shell Control Framework whereas the Board is responsible for controls and reviewing its effectiveness. Since three components are lie to the Shell Control Framework and controlled by the Board, the performance management influenced by the Board internally. The strategies and business activities are used to improve performances which are indicated by the Board. Actually, the strategies and objectives have changed year by year. External Factors External factor comprises of climate change, economic downstream, government, communities and social. In Shell, external regulatory and legal environment are the external factors and are usually out of control. These two external factors were under the Organization component in Shell Control Framwork. In case of Performance Management, rewards act as important roles, including benefits and remuneration. Shell awards eligible employees by Performance Share Plan and award them with the Shell’s share at a price not less 30% off. During economics downstream or crisis in the oil industry, employees might be awarded with the low price of shares of the Company. Human Resource Management strategy Performance Management In managing performances, strategy, performance management and performance appraisal have been introduced. There are co-related commons and differences between Performance Management and Performance Appraisal. Performance management focuses on enhanced achievements of organizational objectives on group or unit or individual performance. It involves goal establishment, performance evaluation, employee development and reward. There is a strategic link in relation to the five missions and objectives. It can be defined as organizational mission and objectives, functional objectives, unit or group objectives and individual objectives accordingly. Performance appraisal is a key part of a company’s performance management system. The performance appraisal involves measuring how well individual personnel are doing their jobs against a set of criteria, providing feedback and creating a development plan. Successful of performance management of Shell In the above evaluations and measures of performance management, it has indicated that Shell has shown its great efforts towards performance management. The Board and it committee and employees of Shell are using effective performance management leading to its successful implementation of developing new strategies direction and adopting new practices (Manoochehri, 1999). Shell has applied Performance Share Plan, The Board Evaluation and Shell Control Framework in order to manage the employees. The Board undertakes its activities in order to achieve its objectives and to evaluate their performances. In the Annual Review, Shell has disclosed details and process about the Board Evaluation, which shows that Shell has paid continuous efforts on its successful performance management. Human Resource Management strategy Human Resource Development The aim of Human Resource Development (â€Å"HRD†) is to enhance the capability of human resource management systems to adapt and respond proactively to a constantly changing environment. HRD includes training, development, career planning and performance appraisal. Shell has done a lot of works to contribute to the organization’s performances. The company has always focused on developing individual skills and capabilities to ensure that the right number of managers with the right set of competencies and experiences would be available to occupy the most senior jobs in the company. Moreover, Shell always recruits University graduates and uses its strategy of â€Å"grown their own people† by providing technical, professional and leadership training programs. This method has involved moving people within the company around the world every few years and encourages its staff to have on-the-job learning. Besides, Shell has been building long term strategic relationships with all stakeholders, including its own staff as an important stakeholder. Shell understands that its staffs are at the heart of the success of a company. Therefore, the company wants to build and maintain a good relationship with their staff. Furthermore, in terms of career planning, human resource professional always act as a coach to help the employees in understanding their individual strengths and weaknesses. The professional advises them on development needs and possible career directions against the background of a wider understanding relating to the business requirements and suitable job opportunities. Also, Shell assigns line managers to be coaches to their own staffs and provides the expertise and insights to their sub-ordinates. On the other hand, Shell uses a set of common criteria, namely, ‘helicopter’, ‘power of analysis’, ‘imagination’, ‘sense of reality’, and ‘leadership effectiveness’ for job evaluation and grading to identify the strengths and weaknesses of people. Successful of Human Resource Development of Shell The above practices are successful to use the Human Resource Management of Shell. It is reported that Human Resource Development (‘HRD’) refers to the practices used for enhancing employee skills through training and other forms of knowledge and skill enhancement. Lepak Snell, 1999). Shell provides technical, professional and leadership training programmers to employee and focuses on developing individual skills. On the other hand, on- the-job learning can make the employee having more practical working experience. Those experiences that increase employee tacit knowledge especially are likely to increase the compa ny’s specificity of human capital. Therefore, HRD can improve the human capital that people bring with them to the company. Besides, the important internal customers include line managers. Line managers are increasingly given key responsibilities for the delivery of Strategic HRD (Morley Heraty, 1997). As such, Shell assigns line-managers to be coaches to their own staff and providing the expertise and insights to their subordinates. Therefore, the line-managers from Shell can deliver the Strategic of HRD to other employees directly and can make the employees to follow the strategy easier. Conclusion Shell has been successful owing to some particular HR strategies, such as performance share plan, tailored training, leadership program and etc. This report uses journal research method to find out the HR techniques used by Shell and to identify the intended purposes of these strategies. The abovementioned strategies in this report include training and development, remuneration, employee selections and performance management. Also, this report has detailed explanations on the rationales why Shell needs to implement these kinds of strategies. It has been identified that the common internal factors are affected by employees’ influences to the strategies and policies whereas the common external factors are affected by economics and environments in the world.