Internship Experience

Internship Experience

Successes

The internship was successful as I gained skills in different areas. I had a chance to attend to the roles of co-coordinating a social media account on my second week.  It was interesting as I got involved in handling the latest topics such as career affairs, festival activities etc. which gave me a unique experience. Here, I managed to stay up to date with a number of things and as I had first-hand information relating to them. I equally got a chance of interacting with the organization in the same week where I was to present my idea in a video we were creating. I remember my idea getting approved over the content of the film, which made me realize I was good at handling the project-based task.

I was able to interact with different departments within the organization where I was able to learn how to run various tasks as well. An example is when I got a chance to work with the sales department where we were to create Halloween posters to be used.  I not only learnt how to come up with the presentations, but I also managed to collect data results from customers. I got exposed to how to interact with customers and gather information from them.  I then got to gather the information using Excel, where I analyzed it and applied some of my skills in graphic design. I managed to advance my skills by working on the analysis as I was learned a lot from it.

One of my most exceptional experiences was meeting the working team. By meeting them within different departments, I improved my ability to interact with different people which exposed me to divergent thinking and view on things. I made friends with them as we would work together most times, allowing me to learn a lot from them. I had a good experience with my supervisors as well as they guided me through different roles and even assigned tasks that allowed me to get practical in most activities.  I was able to work on various tasks without holding back to any challenge.

The working environment was also harmonious during the entire time. I would get help from the staffs as well as people put in charge who would guide me whenever I needed assistance. The fact that the organization also had other interns during the period allowed me to get to meet them and interact with them.  We would work together and at the same time share a lot of things which was so inspiring. The friendly environment also worked to ease confusion and stress, which would arise while working. But I still had a great experience considering I was in the hands of the right people who were very supportive in the entire period.

Failures

I had challenges related to adapting to the new working environment. It occurred to me, especially in the first week where I had a difficult time getting used to the new people and experience within the organization. It, therefore, took me sometime before I could get used to the working environment.  Also, I was not used to the organizational culture, which made me feel uncomfortable during that time. During the first week, I had to be taken through the orientation program, which made me engage in fewer activities which made me get bored during that week.  I also had a challenge in the exhibition I was given where I had little knowledge over the company. I felt I was not ready for the task as I knew little about the company at that time.

I felt like I needed more time to learn about the company. I was assigned the task with another intern with whom we did not perform well.  It was the first task, and it made me feel very uncomfortable considering it was still new at the company.  There were also a lot of unexpected things that were taking place during the internship period. It relates to how tow interns happened to leave the organization, which was an awkward situation. It was unclear why they left and considering we were working as a team; it affected me. Things became different after they left as we required a backup plan which left m working all by myself.  The workload was too much for me at the moment, limiting my abilities to perform well.

Key Lessons Learned

The practical experience during internship exposed me to pay attention to work. Here, I would be given many instructions from time to time which shaped me to be very attentive. I also became a good listener as the whole work experience had me understand the need for paying much attention. I would take note of areas where I would be corrected, allowing me to fit well in the organization. I equally learned the skill of time management.  It was essential to be a good timekeeper during the internship period as I would be assigned different tasks that I was expected to meet the deadlines. It thus served to make me a good timekeeper as I was also supposed to report to work on time to be able to run different tasks well.

Through working in teams, I learned to interact well with others and perform assigned roles with them. Being put together with other interns enabled me to build good work relationships with them. Through working in teams, I learned to become a good team player. It as well helped me accomplish different tasks and improve my work performance. I also became very hardworking as I had to seek ways of improving my well-being within the organization. To be able to maintain a stable and good relationship with other employees, I had to be disciplined. I had to meet deadlines and become very good at what I did at that time.

I equally gained skills in conflict management within the workplace. Usually, there would be instances where disagreements would come up while working with other interns. An example is when I had to do a presentation with a fellow intern where we did not perform well as we were still not fully informed of the organization. It was an awkward moment for us, but I had to learn how to cope with such stress and understand my colleague during the entire presentation. This experience had me understand how to control myself, even in the most challenging moments. I as well familiarized myself on how to handle customers after meeting them while gathering information from them. I learned to be good at handling them and approaching them, respectively and professionally.

Lastly, I learned to make good use of my communication skills which was very crucial at the entire internship period. Being an intern, I had to associate with many people which I was forced to learn how to communicate with people diplomatically and firmly. The entire period thus allowed me to improve my skills on it. At the same time, I would have to go through the feedback stage with my supervisor as I was to report back to him. I thus learned on how to make good use of my communication skills which I believe shaped me to be good at it in any given work environment.