Think About It -- One More Time

Please respond to this question during the last few days of your internship.

For the past four weeks, you have been deeply involved in the world of work. You have been immersed in a corporate culture, shadowed professionals, chatted with co-workers, and tried out many new "hats." What did it all mean?
In the proverbial "25 words or less"  (okay, maybe 50 words), distill the essence of your internship experience.  What meant the most to you?

Maybe your mentor made a comment that really resonated. Perhaps it was something you observed in your co-workers that provided you with a "eureka moment." A task that seemed mundane when assigned may have proved to be profound in a way you never expected.

Whatever it is, tell us what you will take away from PRIME 2012.

Calendar Question

Friday was another enjoyable group day. It is always difficult to "stack" speakers, but you did an excellent job of maintaining attention and courtesy to the folks who took time from their professional responsibilities to come and share their ideas and thoughts about their careers with you.

Please reflect on Friday's experience and tell me one important, interesting and/or new idea, fact, or bit of information you learned from one or more of the speakers.  Spend a few sentences explaining why you chose to write about that item. 

Did any of the speakers pique your interest in a potential new career field?

Think About It - Week 3

During the next few days, pay conscious attention to the corporate culture at your internship. Corporate culture refers to the "personality" of an organization. It defines "how things are done around here." Corporate culture guides the way employees think, act, and feel at work. A good fit between an employee and the culture of his or her workplace almost guarantees success and happiness, and - one could argue - may make the difference between a job and a career.

Please read the short article entitled, in part, "Uncovering a Company's Corporate Culture" at http://www.quintcareers.com/employer_corporate_culture.html
(Note:  If you get an error message when you click on the link, type or copy and paste it into the search bar of your browser; and it should take you to the article. If all else fails, do a Google search for corporate culture. You may need to temporarily allow pop-ups.)

Towards the end of the article, Dr. Hansen lists questions which delve into organizational culture. Ask some of these questions of yourself and/or your co-workers. What do the answers tell you about the culture of the place in which you are interning? Share three or four of the most intriguing answers here.

Calendar Post - logistics for July 20

Friday July 10 will be a PRIME group day. All PRIME summer interns will report to the Career Center instead of their internship sites. Your mentor should be aware of this, but please remind him or her on Wednesday just to be certain.

We will gather in the dining room at 8:30 am in order to be prepared for our first speaker, Takis Karantonis from CPRO, the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization. Please dress appropriately, as you did last week.  At the same time, we will be doing quite a bit of walking, especially in the morning, so be sure your shoes are comfortable and be aware of the weather.  The morning will be devoted to learning more about Arlington County, careers related to city planning and urban development, and changes taking place in the Career Center neighborhood, specifically along Columbia Pike. 

After lunch, which you may bring from home or leave the Career Center to purchase on your own, we will hear from four speakers:  Dr. Marie Shum-Brady, a medical doctor in private practice; Dale Leidich and an associate,  architects with MTFA; Rich Doud, president of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce; and Erik Oberg, head biologist with the National Park Service.  We should be finished by 3:15 pm.  If you are interning with one of these people, I think it would be nice if you were prepared to introduce him or her to the group.

Remember: Attendance at PRIME group days is mandatory. These days are planned to familiarize you with a variety of careers and professionals in the Arlington community and give you an opportunity to interact with adults you might not otherwise meet. Think of one or two questions you could to ask the speakers you will meet throughout the day.  ("Chance favors the prepared mind.")

If an emergency arises which prevents you from attending, and it is too late to notify me by email, please call the Career Center office at 703/228-5800.  Students who do not participate in the group days will be asked to complete a relevant project to make up for the experiences they miss. 

Think About It - Week 2

Respond to this post after you have spent at least one full week at your internship. If you like, start your post with a few sentences summarizing your tasks so far. Devote the remainder of your response to this "thinking assignment":

Choose an adult who works with you at your internship. This might be your mentor, but it may be someone else at your work site. Discover the official title of the job he or she holds. Write a short paragraph about the day-to-day tasks you observe this person doing. Include your opinion about the level of satisfaction he or she seems to derive from the job. You may base your opinion on your own observations and/or on conversations with the person you are observing. Is this satisfaction intrinsic to the job itself or related more to job environment, co-workers, etc.?   Is it, perhaps, most related to the person's outlook on life?  Next consider briefly whether this job is something you could imagine yourself doing as a career.  As you justify your answer, are you at all surprised by what you "hear yourself saying"?  Do you think your answer to the question would be the same if this job were located somewhere else?

Calendar Question

I greatly enjoyed spending the day with all of you on Tuesday.  It was wonderful to be with a group of young people who were obviously prepared for the experience, courteous, and involved with what was going on.

Please reflect on Tuesday's experience and then tell me one important, interesting and/or new idea, fact, or bit of information you learned, either at the Courthouse or at the Airport.  Spend a few sentences explaining why you chose to write about that item. 

If there was anything about the trip you think could have been improved,  include that in your response as well. 

Think About It - Week 1

By now, most of you have spent three or four full days at your internship.  Please comment on this post this weekend, or after your second or third day as an intern, but not later than July 11. If your internship is not scheduled to start by July 11, please e-mail a reminder of this fact to me at oloughlin.becki1@gmail.com

Write a short summary of your first impressions of your internship. React to the work environment, your mentor, your co-workers, and the tasks assigned to you. Discuss ways in which the internship has and has not met your expectations so far.

Don't forget to come back and read your fellow interns' posts throughout the coming week and comment on at least two of them. Remember to keep your comments positive and supportive. You should do this (read and comment) even if you will not start your internship until next week.  Be sure to check back for questions other interns may have asked of you.