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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

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Adventures of an Intern: 7 Things you Learn

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Hello Lovelies! As promised, I bring you my work post which will be about what I am doing for the summer. An internship is one of our school's requirements in order to graduate. I both loved and hated the fact that I will be working while its summer vacation. This will be the last summer break I'll be experiencing which is why it is important for me to enjoy it. I am ecstatic that I will be leaving school soon and I will be off to earn actual money to sustain myself, but it also terrifies me to leave university and be on the path to adulthood. I am worried about employment right after college. I wouldn't really have the work experience most companies look for, but how exactly will I earn that experience if they don't try to hire me? College is my comfort zone. It's easy to create friends, I can procrastinate if I don't feel like doing anything and I can have a little fun. I have always been confident, at least I think I have and now that I am near the end of this chapter of my life, I am actually scared of not becoming the person I want to be. I am scared of not fulfilling my dreams. There are so many things that both terrify and excite me about going to and leaving university, but that's another topic for another post. For now, let me tell you a little about my internship.


I will be working for a car company in the Sales Department. I am assigned to work in the Sales Information and Process Management Division. I will mostly be doing admin. work which I pretty much expected. We were told that we aren't to be given the important work because there are people assigned and fully paid to do them. Those types of work would also require extra care because the department handles obviously the sales and the incentives given to the dealers. Basically, we are to photocopy, sort and arrange documents, scan files, encode, etc. I also can't give you much detail since we are to maintain confidentiality of data. Anyway I think you get the gist of the work I'll be doing.

There are several things I've thought of and felt in my stay there, which are:

1. The Fear of the unknown. My first day sort of terrified me because I don't really know the type of work I'll be doing. I've expected a lot of admin. work, even though I did want to help out on some projects and be able to brainstorm with the team. The fear of the unknown had me that first day. Being me, I want to help out and do something great with my life. Before I end my internship I'd like to feel like I actually did something to help the company.

2. Work Overload. I started off not having much to do. I always ask if there is anything they'd like me to do. I have this mind that tells me to keep asking for work when I don't have anything to do. Does it mean I like doing what I do? Am I just trying to keep myself busy not to get bored? Or am I just trying to make the most out of the day? I don't know but I like it. I like keeping myself busy and working in a fast paced environment. After a few days, I've been getting tons of work to do and I no longer know if I should be happy because I can keep myself busy and not feel the time pass by or be a little sad because I'll be tired and I'll probably get more paper cuts. Apparently, I've been getting a lot of paper cuts from handling the documents, and it's not fun at all. I hate getting them, but I can't seem to avoid them. I try to be careful with the papers, but it's like I'm a paper cut magnet.


3. It's important to love what you do. I saw this little note which was attached to the CPU of the computer I've been using. I thought the quote was very fitting for me because I always try to love what I do, no matter what it is I learn to enjoy doing it. If I did not I would be dreading doing it for the whole day. I'd probably even think of it at night asking myself "Why am I not doing what I love?". I have this issue where I'd like to do what I enjoy doing and if I don't I'd instantly feel like I am wasting my life. I don't want to waste my time doing something that does not interest me at all.


At work, I am not fond of photocopying documents. Back when my friend and I were still looking for companies to apply to, there were a few companies we didn't want to apply to because we were told the interns were only asked to photocopy documents, and now I am asked to do just that. I can't do anything about it, but to endure doing it. I always tell myself that we can't always get what we want. There are some tasks that must be done and I am still just an intern, so if I am told to do it, I would have to do it. My grades rely on the work I do, which is why I have to do great work even if its just photocopying. If I photocopy documents the whole day, the following day I'd feel like the meme below that just doesn't want to go to work. I somehow always get that out of my mind though when I think of what I want to accomplish in my life. I can't let simple tasks get me down. No matter how much I don't like it, I have other things I'll be doing which I will actually like and the it won't make me feel like it was a waste of time.

I would like to stress out the important things these little things do. If you did not have a photocopy of a document you were to send out, let's say a Certificate of some sort for registration, you would not have your receiving copy for proof that it has been sent and it wasn't your fault if ever it gets lost. If you didn't have people to arrange your documents, it would be a disaster if you are trying to look for an important file. You get what I mean?

4. It's important to have a lot of patience. Let's say you do not love the work you do, or you do, but there's too much work to be done, I can't explain enough the importance of patience. We all have to suck it in sometimes and just do what we have to. There will be tasks you would not like, even hate, but you would have to do it. Just do what you have to and be like


when you get out of work. Tomorrow shouldn't be so bad, always think positive. If it is,and you hate what you do, maybe it is about time you think twice about your work. 

5. Work Smart. The meme says it all. Sometimes its better to find the easy or smart way of doing something instead of just doubling your efforts. Think of how much time and effort you'll not be exerting if you think before you act.

6. Salary, or in my case, allowance money. Is this not the reason you've been working? you don't really work just because you love your work, and you just want to do what you love, but because the company is giving you something in return for the work you've done. May it be money, benefits or experience for your resume, you get something back. We all have to sustain ourselves and we do it with money. If you are a fresh graduate, you may endure bad work for experience to get better work, or if you are like me and you need experience to be able to graduate and get grades [because internship is graded]. Honestly, will you work for free? Spend 8 hours doing things your boss tells you to do just because?

Another thing, I've heard there are companies that say this meme a lot:
Oh I really hope it does not happen to me. We were told that if we do good work, the company usually offers the graduates work right before you graduate which will be convenient. We were not told that we are to get a good salary, but I already expected it. If you just graduated I don't really think you could expect much. I feel sorry for people who are told this meme to though.

7. Not Enough Time for Me. At the end of the day, I always notice that it's usually too late to do some "me time". I get off at around 5, sometimes past five because I still have work to finish and I'll probably be home after 30 minutes. The gym I go to will be closed by the time I get there and I'll be too tired to care. I told myself I'll be working out more often, but I can't seem to do it when I have work the next day. I'd like to work out and live healthy, but it is too hard when lunch consists of eating at fast food places which are the only stores near the office and I can't work out after work because the gym would be closed and it will be too dark or late to jog in the park. I also find it hard to blog at night because I'd be exhausted and the only thing I'd like to do is watch a few Youtube videos and go to bed.


There are so many things I'd like to do before I graduate and start to work, and I'm scared I'll spend my life inside an office I don't like and I'll be doing work I don't want, which is why I'll be doing Project Me.This project will consist of me trying my dreams and living out my life. I realized how important creativity is for me and I wish to try out several things like writing a book, creating Youtube videos, continuing my blog posts and designing clothes. I refuse to live my life not doing what I want. I want to travel the world! I want to see what every country has to offer. I am not entirely sure what my plan will be, but I do know it will make me happy. If you are like me and you aren't sure what you'll be doing yet, don't fret and take things one step at a time. It's scary to leave your comfort zone, but you'll find something that will help you see the brighter side of the day and help you get through the hard times to be able to fulfill all of your dreams. Dream Big, Fly High. [I don't know if someone already said that but I like it, if someone has, kudos to the creator]


Note: I'll probably make this a series. I think it has a nice ring to it "Adventures of an Intern". If you liked my post, please subscribe or follow me with your google account. That's all for now, thank you for reading and I'll see you soon.

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