My Internship Work Experience - Essay Example

Part My Internship Work Experience The search for a work experience ended when I found out that the academic agency that helped me apply for a postgraduate course needed an intern assistant. I was fortunate enough to be taken in to begin my new adventure in acquiring skills and knowledge in the workplace. I was excited to be in the company of more experienced colleagues who were willing to help me find my way around. My job description included sorting through documents, dealing with applications for further study and the professional use of computers for administration tasks. I tried my best in the tasks that were assigned to me and was glad to have good feedback from them. I was told that I was hard-working, quick to learn, efficient and effective in my job. However, I can be rigid with my ideas especially when I believe they are right. I learned that I am not open to the ideas of others, and it is not a good trait to have, especially if I work with a team. I have established positive and engaging interpersonal relationships with others. However, I may be hindered in communicating more effectively with them due to the fact that my spoken English is not fluent enough. Still, I adapt and manage this weakness, firm in the intention to improve it. My work experience has taught me to be more reflective in order to develop self-awareness. Each day, I learn a little more about myself and how I conduct my behaviour towards others. This also meant I need to be more socially aware, knowing how to gauge others so I can adjust to them in order to have a harmonious relationship. In the process, I am honing my emotional intelligence. Mayer, Salovey & Caruso (2000) define it as the “ability to perceive and express emotions, to use emotions and to effectively manage emotions within oneself and in relationships with others”. Initially, I could not reconcile the concept of emotions playing a role in the professional environment, as I had this idea of the work setting being all about focusing on tasks instead of people and emotions. I thought being involved with others can distract one from completing the job well. However, the lectures and my work experience taught me otherwise. I learned that emotional intelligence plays a huge role in all aspects of an individual’s life, and that included one’s work. Goleman (1988) argued that the social competencies of self-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation, empathy and social skills interplayed to get a person through his relationship with others and in dealing with whatever life throws at him, be it good or bad. It is not constrained to personal relationships. In one incident that happened to me during my internship, I had to call on my emotional intelligence to help me manage a personal crisis. I was tasked to learn the company’s professional procedure and requirements of online operation and accidentally made a mistake that resulted in losing customer data on the computer. Ashamed of my mistake and avoiding a reprimand from my supervisor and blame from my co-workers, I decided to figure the problem out myself without asking anyone for help. Because I was too proud to call for assistance, I had to re-enter the records of 10 customers, an additional task that took much of my time. It is only on hindsight that I can say that it was not the right thing to do even if I corrected the mistake I made. Looking into my emotional intelligence competencies, I can say that my self-awareness at that time was on high gear because I kept blaming myself and was processing my emotions, trying to keep them in check. My self-regulation skill was also turned on to prevent me from breaking down , so I channelled my energies to trying to solve the problem myself. I was self-motivated to manage the problem on my own even if it took all day. At that point, there was no empathy involved as I was focused on saving myself from further humiliation by being found out. My social skills also did not surface as I kept my thoughts to myself, not letting anyone discover that I needed help. Had I decided to ask for it, I could have solved the problem better, as there were just a few steps to retrieve the data I thought I lost! I am sure now that my co-workers would understand my situation, being new at work and was still getting the hang of it. However, I was stubborn and did not want to look helpless and inefficient. I thought I had to protect the good first impression I’ve made. In being with other people, I was exposed to a variety of leadership and team styles. Being in a supportive, cohesive work environment, our team was led by supervisors who upheld Kouzez & Posner’s (1995) advocated leadership practices. I do not know if it is because their business is related to education, but it is based on sound values and integrity. They are good models to us, workers, exhibiting an attitude and behaviour of positivism that we can emulate. They inspire a shared vision and communicate this vision for us to follow and understand clearly and together, we all see an uplifting and ennobling future. They also enlist others to share this vision by appealing to their values, interests, hopes and dreams. I am also amazed how they challenge tried and tested processes by finding innovative and creative ways for us to do things. They are enablers, very good at encouraging us to do our best by providing us with the tools and methods to solve our problems. They foster collaboration among us and glue us together as a team. When they/ entrust us to fulfil the tasks delegated to us, we feel confident and capable to do more for the agency. Finally, our supervisors encourage our hearts by recognizing our individual contributions and celebrating our team accomplishments. Their positive disposition further motivates us to work even harder. With regards to our work group being a team, we have different personalities. Because of this, conflicts may be inevitable. In order to maintain harmony in the group, we adjust some part of our personality to accommodate someone who may be very different from us. For example if the personality of A is extroverted and B is introverted, A should be able to use that engaging personality to draw B out of her shell, while keeping it tamer so that B will not be overwhelmed. On the other hand, B will just have to reach out a little more just so she gets to connect with A as a compromise. That is usually the dynamics of working to get along with others. In doing so, more productive relationships ensue and there is more likelihood of common goals being achieved. This is just the application of what I learned from our lecture on the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). the MBTI assumes that each individual has personal preferences that dictate his personality and how he would behave in certain situations. This assessment was developed by Isabel Myers, based on Carl Jung’s theories about personality. A self-assessment questionnaire was created to help individuals become more aware of their own preferences and to understand their own preferences, tendencies and over-all personalities (Passmore et al, 2010). MBTI has four bipolar type scales that indicate people’s preferences, namely: Extraversion – Introversion (E –I), Sensing – Intuition (S – N), Thinking – Feeling (T– F) and Judging – Perceiving (J – P). Myers (1993) explains that extraverted preference shows a desire to act on the environment in order to create an effect while introverted preference draws energy from the environment and focuses it inward in order to generate ideas and emotions. A judging preference shows a desire to make the final decisions in order to seek closure through purposeful action while a perceiving preference shows openness to new ideas, changes and a spontaneous and adaptable nature. Sensing preference shows acquisition of experiences through the senses and focus on current experiences while intuitive preference looks into possibilities for future and feels around on what happens in the present. Finally, individuals with thinking preference like linking ideas and creating connections, which may cause them to be thought of as analytical and cold, while the feeling person is empathetic and understanding or others (Hirsch and Kummerow, 1998). These preferences may be combined to form sixteen possible psychological types. Since team members work very closely together, it is important to understand each one’s personality and preferences to avoid clashes. For example, the leader of the group is expected to be strong and decisive in order to lead the group to success but at the same time, understanding of members’ concerns. The MBTI can guide how members can adjust to each other’s personalities if they are aware of each other’s preferences and understand where they are coming from. Part 2 Self-Assessment The WBL module coupled with my internship experience have made me more introspective and reflective of what I want to be, where I want to go and how I should reach my destination. In this part, I shall breakdown my self-assessment activities to give a clearer view of things I should consider in planning my own career path. 1. Identifying my EMPLOYMENT PREFERENCES: Although I am not yet that fluent in the spoken English language, it does not weaken my preference for a job that involves communication. I have always been interested in conveying messages to others for various purposes (information, emotional expression, giving direction, etc.). I know communication is not limited to verbal communication but have other avenues such as written communication and using multimedia strategies. My employment preferences lie in the communication industry in the commercial sector. 2. Identifying my EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS: In my internship certificate of completion, my supervisor gave the following comments on my work performance: “During Lisa’s internship, she showed considerable enthusiasm and interest in the day-to-day operations of this key department within the agency. She has the ability to focus on and identify the important elements of a particular task. She was also quick to learn our company’s procedures and the requirements of our online operations. Her diligence and work ethic made a good impression on me and the other supervisors.” I know I am a work in progress, but I am confident of my potentials. Honing these will make me an asset to any company that I will be working for. I have identified my strong suits as follows: Action planning skills: When I set my mind in doing something and create a plan for it, I make sure I do every step in order to meet my goals. willing to learn : as my supervisor commented, I am an quick learner. I have been that way since childhood and whenever I am curious about something, I am relentless in knowing more about it. customer orientation: I am a people pleaser. I am sensitive to their needs and can anticipate their wants. I believe this is important in providing excellent customer service. problem solving skill: As I have shared in Part 1, when I was faced with a problem such as losing customer data on the computer, I relied on myself in finding a solution no matter how hard it was. This is a common practice I do with big and small challenges. I face them head on and think of varied ways to overcome them. decision making: I have been pretty good in the decisions I have made in my life and I realized in the lectures we had that I was on the right track. I can be rational as well as use my emotional intelligence in balancing the decisions I make with the view of achieving positive outcomes. Knowledge: Due to my love for learning, I can say I am knowledgeable on several things. Being aware that I have yet a lot to learn shows my drive to amass more specifically those that would benefit me in my future career. 3. Identifying my career drivers: Francis (1994) identified nine career drivers and motivators and in studying them all, I know my career driver is Security as I seek a solid and predictable future. Being a forward thinker, I want to prepare well for that as I want to enjoy what I have worked for all my life. I do not want to feel stressed but only comfort and have a good quality of life for myself and my family. One way of achieving that is to be employed in a well-established and well-known company. 4. Identifying my social network: Being a student, my social network is yet limited to my family, friends and people in the university. My internship experience has widened my network to include my co-workers in the workplace. It is from all these people whom I derive support in pursuing my hopes and dreams. I know that as time goes on, and as I build up my career, there will be more people I will add to my social network, so this is the time that I invest on my social capital. 5. Identifying what kind of work would I like to do I would like to pursue a career related to information/ communication. I can see myself as a university professor, or an interpreter or part of a public relations department in a company or organization. All these options involve dissemination of information through effective communication. 6. Picture my destination (action plan) My journey towards my destination of becoming a professional in the field of information and communication has begun from childhood. As I grew, I have developed several skills that prepare me for my future career. Being gifted with people skills and effective communication skills in my native language, I need to hone such skills and develop my weaknesses. My action plan for my future career includes the following, as learned from our lectures: Making career decisions: As of now, I am still undecided on what particular career I want to pursue as long as it is in the information/ communication industry. I need to solidify my decisions considering my interests, my abilities, strengths, weaknesses and the opportunities and resources available to me. Developing new skills: These new skills should be useful in the career I plan to pursue. If it is on communication, then I should learn better and more effective communication skills, perhaps learn new languages, learn to read non-verbal communication and be aware of cross-cultural communication issues. Being in a more globalized world, people from different cultures come together to work for similar or shared goals. Instead of being divided by our cultural differences, I should see such differences as opportunities for sharing new knowledge with others to widen our information base. In doing so, people from other cultures become resources instead of hindrances in collaborative work. Exploring new opportunities: I am fortunate to live at a time when opportunities abound in terms of interests, career choices and growing organizations that would need dynamic workers. Meeting new people brings with it possibilities for opportunities, so I should go out of my comfort zone and be more sociable. Attending seminars and workshops on my preferred careers would also be good sources of opportunities such as free trainings, workshops, or even scholarships. Even engaging in a hobby which is interesting to me may bring about opportunities to grow and develop. Being a member of a club or organization espousing the same interests or causes that I support can bring about opportunities for volunteerism, internship or even a part time job. Whether or not it is related to my targeted career, there is always something to gain from new experiences or endeavours. Increasing self-awareness: The WBL module and my internship have done much in making me self-aware. I learned about my personality from the different tests/ activities offered. Given the tools for increasing self-awareness, I should continue to be reflective. I know there is more to discover about myself and my inherent potentials that I can maximize for my own and others’ benefit. Improving self-promotion skills Boosting self-confidence: I know I have self-confidence, however, in the face of competition, I may suddenly develop an inferiority complex. There are others who are more skilled than me in many aspects and it can threaten my confidence and even self-esteem. That is why I need to assure myself that I have my own strengths and talents to share and master those skills. I should also be in the company of confident and successful people so that I can learn from them and that their own spark may rub off on me. Developing career focus: Being focused on my career entails commitment to following the career road maps I choose for myself. Staying on the path on my way to my future career means I should not be distracted by risky short-cuts to avoid the challenges I may face. Hence, my decision-making skills should be mastered so I am not easily swayed to keep changing my mind. Career focus also means making sacrifices and compromises. I should be ready to pay the toll in all the avenues that my journey takes me in order to fulfil my career goals. Part 3: Key Learning from the Work-Based Learning Module What has been your key learning from the WBL module? 1. My Career: Making Decisions and Planning for Success (lecture 4) 2. Getting on in the workplace: exploring key personal qualities that will enhance my performance in the world of work - personality type, leadership, team working, networking and emotional intelligence (lecture 5) 3. Applying for work: exploring job applications and the recruitment and selection process (lecture 7) (*** all the related theories can be found in the lecture slides I uploaded before, please make the best use of these theories.) What areas have you enjoyed/not enjoyed and what areas would you like to pursue in the future Enjoy showing my merits in the work place, do not like to repeat simple and boring work. What would you change about how you work or what work you do in the future? Maybe try to listen to other people’s view and cooperate more with colleagues. My future job can be changed anytime because I want to try different kind of works in various sectors. How has this contributed to your awareness of your future career decisions and plans? Show right direction / provide basic theories and methods etc. How has the series of guest lecturers contributed to your future career planning? What did you learn from the guest lecturers that you can apply to your own career decisions and actions (***I uploaded guest lecture slides before, could you please look at the slides and answer this question) What are your key areas for development now and brief actions for meeting your development needs Improve English level / gain necessary knowledge / generate broad social network / concentrate on useful information etc. Dave Francis Managing Your Own Career Harper Collins 1994 Read More