Goal Planner

My previous post on HSC Student Resources mentioned setting out goals for during and after High School.
Here is a goal planner for those of you that may need an extra hand getting yourself in order for your future. Either in terms of education or life in general. This planner is free to download in a word document or PDF.

Goals Planner by Emily

Assessment grid

In a previous post I mentioned setting up an assessment grid to keep track of your assignments, their due dates, prioritising and organising your semester, as well as seeing how far you have come and how far you have to go. I have created an assessment grid, which is adaptable to your semester and subject offering. It is available for free download for you to get started with the new semester organised. Simply click download below the image or embed if you would like to put it on your blog.

Assignment Grid by Emily

Similar documents are available by Newbie_pro on Scribd. Along with some study notes on brand management and business strategy.

Marketing Students: Brand Management study notes

Here is a link to brand management study notes for a brand management exam. They cover nine pages, reviewing the brand management process in the first two, then trends in brand management and managing brands over time. The notes are $2.99 per copy.
These are the study notes that I used for my exam study. Overall for brand management I got a distinction or 75% to 85%.

The process of brand management covers:

1. Brand Positioning:
1. Brand Mantra
2. Brand elements
2. Marketing Activities
1. IMC
3. Measure and Interpret brand performance
1. ROI
2. Market valuation
3. Income
4. Grow and Sustain brand equity
5. Building strong brands
1. Making brand choices
2. Building relationships
3. Managing brands over time

These marketing notes are detailed and provide a broad overview of what brand management is and how it is used. I hope that you may find the useful.

Relaxation music

Here is a clip I found on YouTube for relaxation music, in relation to my previous blog on exam study. It has helped me with my exam study, helping me relax and concentrate.
The instructions that came with the video are:

1. Put the music on a low volume so it feels like its in the background
2. Focus on the video and just imagine you are on that beach with your desk
3. Imagine the breeze as you sit with your laptop
4. Close your eyes and then take deep breaths for 30 seconds
5. Open your eyes and look at the beach again imagine you are their
6. Now minimise the window and get on with your work with the music in the background

I hope you enjoy

HSC Students

To all you HSC students out there Good Luck in your final year of school. This post is about where you can go for extra resources for your assignments, study notes and exam prep. This post is mainly for Australian students, but you can use these resources still if your not in Australia.

Study Notes for Exams

There are a number of free resources where you can get study notes for your subjects. These include:

• Bored of Studies: This site offers students the chance to interact with other people completing their HSC all over the country. There are free study notes provided, guides to university or tare and tips and tricks about the HCS papers.
• NSW HSC Online: This is an initiative by Charles Sturt University to provide HSC students with information on writing for exams, study information and resources and some short study notes for  55 subjects in the HSC, including Business Studies, Economics, Ancient History and various languages. There is also good information about how to write for your exams and your options after school.
• Board of Studies ARC: This site provides information on assessments in the HSC, including multiple choice questions and provides links to syllabus documents and past HSC papers.
• Sydney University CCE: They provide preparation courses for HSC students in NSW, as well as a guide to getting through the HSC.

It is good to start early in your preparation for exams and assignments. This will help you to get the higher marks in your class, school or state.

After High School

When you finish high school you may feel a big void in your life for about a month or two, I know I had this and so did a number of my friends. It is a good idea to have a plan for after school, what type of career you want, where you may want to work (location and firm wise) and what areas of interest have you had in school that may help you reach your goals.

Create a goal planner for yourself and hang in up on your door. Have a look at courses at university or tafe, this will give you an idea of the performance measures you need to reach in your final year of school. You can also have a look at the Jobs Guide which has information on almost all occupations you could think of and what education and training you will need to enter that career.

You can get information on specific university courses from your specific state or territories University Admission Centre.

Good Luck to everyone with their Exams and Future

Study for exams

Ok so your exams are coming up. What are you looking for? A pass, credit, distinction...high distinction. Whatever you are looking for you will need to have some good study habits.

Tip #1: Have a clean study area
Ever heard Cleanliness is next to Godliness? Well cleanliness helps you organise your thoughts and prepare for you study. Have everything in its place, pens ready for use, highlighters full of ink, paper ready etc.
Having a clean study environment helps you get organised but also helps you get into the right frame of mind to do your work.

Tip #2: Set up a study plan

My study area

Here is a picture of my study wall. I use a whiteboard to help me summarise topics into flow charts or mind maps.

I have found that a whiteboard helps me to get ideas down easier, with more room to make a mistake, adapt an idea and with repetition of content getting the idea into my long term memory for an exam.

In this picture I have summarised 4 pages into 1 chart. I would highly recommend this for studying, especially for visual learners.

My whiteboard is just an A5 piece of paper that has been laminated. You can pick up a cheap one for about $5-$10 (AUD) from a discount store, but if you choose that option use a damp cloth or baby wipe to clean it or you may rub the paint off the cardboard.

Creating a PDF document

Ever wondered how to create a PDF document and combine it with others to make one PDF. You can do it, but do you know how? This document has information you need on how you can create a PDF and combine it with other PDFs. These instructions are for Apple Mac computers, but the principle is the same for a PC. You will need MS Word and Adobe Acrobat Pro for these instructions.

If you want more How-To documents from me then you can follow me on Scribd at Newbie_pro.

How to Create a PDF document by Emily

Resume template

For everyone that needs help finding a job here is a free resume template for you to download and use as you wish. I hope that you all find it useful.

Resume template by Emily

Marketing students look at this: Creating a Positioning map

Here is a tip for all marketing students. If you have an assignment to do on perceptual mapping or positioning mapping then have a look at my scribd document on how to create a positioning map using excel and copying it over to a word document. This will help you to go over what you need to know for creating a positioning map.

If you want more of these documents then follow me on scribd at Newbie_pro

Creating a Positioning map by Emily