My final independent project was centered around the creations and set up of career fairs and events, seeking employment for Fleet Readiness Center. This project was important because of the impact and value it holds to my mentor and her agency. With my mentors title being Outreach Coordinator, my project was a small portion of her actual daily job. It's important in multiple aspects to myself, my mentor, her agency, and the veterans seeking employment. Through these job fair events, my mentor is able to get the collect resumes and hold conversation with potential future employees. Speaking with active duty sailors with all different experience, rankings, and knowledge to better understand the field of work they would like to pursue. Planning one event and participating in two left much more of an impact then I expected. Through those couple of events my mentor is able to find candidates in need of smooth transitions from the Navy. This my project several different sailors have had the chance to receive a job, that correlates to their previous one. It also play an important role for my mentor, allowing her to reach her numbers in terms of hiring people on. The process I went through in order to complete my internship independent project was a bit difficult. When I first began my project it took myself awhile to figure out exactly what I'd be doing. Starting the first week I was working on a completely different product with no intensions of changing it. Half through my second week my mentor mentioned a situation that wouldn't allow me to continue forward in my project. Being half way into internship I didn't know what to expect out of my new independent project. Due to my first experience that challenged me when trying to think of project ideas, I didn't know what to create the second time around. Luckily my mentor was extremely helpful and pitch me the idea of planning a career event and getting the hands on experience of her daily job. Once she'd give me the idea I was able to adjust very quickly and easily to my new project assignment. From there I was able to conduct plenty of research and provide my mentor with a career fair/event. Overall, the process of my internship independent project was a bit challenging but completely worth the hard work. Being able to physically see the impact that the job fair left, showed me that the amount of time and work put into the event was hands down worth it. The process taught me a lot of knowledge and allowed me to grow in multiple different ways. My POL Slides
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Over this past four weeks I've been able to meet new and different people from varies departments and positions. Through this experience I've been able to learn plenty of new information and grow in my knowledge and in multiple skills. This internship has left a big impact on my consideration of college and even a future career path. When first starting this internship I was excited to learn and take on the perspective of the business world. My ideas and thoughts towards college were getting a major in business, allowing myself multiple different job opportunities. Throughout this internship experience I've received plenty of advice surrounding college and career paths,
I've learned and seen a lot of people who've completed business school and in the job process hasn't been an outstanding quality. Which has changed my mindset in terms of business school being a big characteristics in terms of career paths. When I noticed that college does like great on job applicants but having a major in business was a constant quality. Seeing the use of a business major, motivated me to look in my further major. I would still like to study business but I would like to extend my major options. Combining the knowledge of business with another subject, looking into a minor in business and a major in something else. Or finding a major that combines the business titles with a specific department, health or physiology. This internship has definitely allowed me to look at my future in a different yet helpful perspective. After this hands on experience I still have a passion for the field of business. I did learn that I don't want most of my time of work to be spent at a desk, but rather out doing multiple things. Getting the chance to work with the outreach coordinator, she always out connecting with different people. That's an aspect I find important when looking for a job in my near future, I believe creating an impactful connection with people is more genuine that working at a desk 24/7. A lot of employers at my internship site spoke a lot about their journey and process of getting to where they are now. I was great insight as to how most businesses work in terms of getting a higher position. Learning about the tips and tricks that will allow yourself more space of growth and success. I heard a lot of knowledge centered around hard work, determination, and motivation and making those characteristic top priority in your career. Competition was a subject brought up when speaking about success in your work place. Though it's not bad it is important that you make yourself the biggest competition, always striving to be better then yourself. Constantly looking for chance to grow and learn more and new knowledge. Through this advice I feel that it has allowed me to realize the aspects centered around college and the career field. Though some of the knowledge might be a bit scary, it's nice to hear honest responses that will benefit me in the years to come. How was your work as an intern meaningful to your education? Working as an intern has left a meaningful impact on my education in multiple ways. Overall, I've been able to improve in different ways through in many different skill sets. I feel as if that my education in information, jobs, college, and the application process has growth tremendously. With this hand on experience it has opened my eyes to a field of information that I didn't know before. It was a good push into the "real world" exposing me to things that I wouldn't have if it weren't for this internship. Looking through hundreds of resumes showed me what the do's and don'ts of resume creation. It also allowed me to learn through other peoples experience, when applying to for a job. I believe this internship had really equipped me for my future, in terms of my career, college, and other internships. It was meaning to my education because this experience has taught me things that school work couldn't. How did your project go from an idea or inspiration to a final product? In the beginning of my internship thinking of an idea for my final product was a bit of a challenge. I didn't know what to do or what I would enjoy creating for the next four weeks. I started off with a completely different idea to the final product I'm currently working on. After working on my first idea for a final product, I began to realize the little amount of inspiration I carried. That's when I met with my mentor and found an independent project that I was inspired and excited to work on. From that moment I've been working hard to have an excellent final product to showcase my internship experience for the past four weeks. My final product definitely took a lot less time to figure out after I had an idea to create from. Most of the struggle came when trying to find an idea that would perfectly represent my overall experience during internship. What qualities or characteristics did you see in the people around you that you want to develop in yourself? Why? When I look around at the people that make up my internship team, I've noticed the gracious amount of positive qualities and characteristics they carry. All of the people I've meet are very hard working, determined, and involved in their jobs. Everyone carries and presents themselves in a kind and professional manner. When you're surround by people who are positively impacting the work space, it motives and inspires me to grow in those skills. Personally, I find the amount of success in the agency motivating for myself. Seeing a group of coworkers putting forth their best, makes me want to do that same thing. There's something about a positive work environment that inspires me to want to do my best. Overall, I see the workspace filled with encouraging, enthusiastic, and supportive coworkers, Being part of the team for this small amount of time still means I need to contribute those characteristics also. Though I feel I am strong and confident those specific skills areas, there's always room for improvement. Seeing others always constantly embody those characteristic, pushes me to do the same. How might internship influence the direction of your life? I believe that my internship has influences me in multiple ways that will cause me to look at life differently. It didn't directly influence the direction of my life but the perspective I'll carry throughout this moment forward. Throughout internship I was able to meet multiple new and different people. Plenty of which had lots of advice and information to tell me about what they've learned from their experience. I took those moments and opportunities to learn and understand what everyone was talking about. Of those moments the advice I received was very valuable in terms of my future in college and the work industry. I plan on taking that knowledge and applying to the path and direction I'll continue forward on. Overall, both the internship experience and mentors I've have influenced the future direction of my life, in a positive and beneficial way. In the photo located above is the view of the buildings on base where I specifically intern at. This is the desk and one of the offices where my mentor and I work. These is a photo of one of the sailors giving a presentation during one of the multiple meeting I've attended. This photo captures the entire FRCS I internship at. Showcasing all of the sections that make up the San Diego Naval Base.
Prompt: One of the most important skills you need in a workplace is “self advocacy”- the ability to speak up for yourself the you need support, confused about something, or when you’re uncomfortable with a situation.
Over the past two weeks I have constantly been improving my self advocacy skills. There have been multiple experiences in which I am given work to complete but I’m still a bit confused on the assignment. Being an intern I want to showcase any and all of my work to the best of my ability. The only way to make that happen is by having a clear vision ad understanding on the task. I’m not able to continue in the process of my work within asking important clarifying questions. Learning to not be afraid of communicating my confusion with my mentor, has been very important skill I’ve been developing. I’ve been able to notice the amount, both my mentor and her coworkers, use self advocacy. With lots of people working for one department that are plenty of voices to be heard. Seeing how everyone communicates in a professional manner but also present their opinion or perspective in the conversation. In terms of being an intern everyone remembers, I’ve been putting forth my best efforts. With only being a week and half into internship, I have been able to connect with my mentor through the amount of knowledge I’ve learned. Being organized, taking notes, and actively participating in conversation are skills that haven’t gone unnoticed. I’ve been complimented on the amount of hard work I put forth my mentor and her coworkers. Personal, I am not trying extremely hard to be remember but putting forth my best efforts and hoping those get noticed. Learning everyones name and position also play an important role when being remembered. Being to have and hold conversation with different people depending on their knowledge and background. Having a positive attitude and mindset also goes a very long way when leaving long lasting impressions. Most of it falls on being social, having great conversations, and being open to any new ideas. When in meetings I have been asked my opinions and ideas and being able to present my thoughts has been impressive. It’s mostly the small skills and task completion that get you noticed and leave lasting impressions. Being impressive gets you remembered by your mentor and other coworkers. For my independent project I plan on working on a presentation and evidence based data for the hiring events and career paths for future employees. Taking the numbers of hiring needs, goals, and expectations and placing them into different graphs and charts. Representing places within the outreach community that could use improvement in meeting the consulting numbers. In the presentation I plan on showcasing how to improve the hiring process, staffing logistics, and employment development. Having already met with the main boss of the department, I have understood the knowledge that needs to be represented in the presentation. Overall, I plan on gathering multiple parts of information and using it to make the presentation that focuses on improving a specific department. With the topic of the presentation being: how to apply for federal employment for veterans and citizens. When creating this presentation it’s a helpful reminder to know that when it’s complete it’s final use will be presented and constantly used. Other staff and team members are looking to this presentation as a resource that they can share with the community to improve the application process.
Skills I will need in order of army independent project to be awesome would be plenty of knowledge. Learning new information, codes, and paperwork that are significantly involved with the process. I do believe that an important part in the process of the final product would be educating myself with lots of information allowing myself to be completely prepared. Presenting is also another important skill by having the knowledge to showcase the product and displaying it in a unique and interesting way. Support I will need in the process of developing my project would be mostly found in my peers. I plan on learning my information through their experiences and personal knowledge with the specific topic. Though no all of my support will be through my peers but also through information online and paperwork. Overall, I plan on using my mentor as a guide in the correct direction in succeeding in my independent project. I also believe that I need to find support through myself in order to for my final product to showcase my best work. Within this week I was able to interview my mentor asking her questions about herself, the organization, and her career. Down below are the questions and her responses:
What is your job title? I’m a Human Resources Specialist, specifically an Outreach Coordinator within the HR department. Why did you choose to work here? How did you end up doing the job that you do? I choose to work because of my pre-federal service as an active duty navy sailor and the benefits were great. It’s rewarding because you’re supporting the war fights, I feel as if I am doing a patriotic job. What does it take to be successful in this organization? The main thing would be communication between all departments and employees and a motivated work environment. What personality traits, skills, or knowledge are important when working here? The most important thing is having a positive attitude, representing yourself in a positive accept is very important. It doesn’t matter what skills you’re lacking just as long as you’re willing to try. When your willing to learn and grow you are bound for success. All it takes to be successful is a positive mindset and being able to adapt to positive change. Skills that I have developed further for internship would be organization, communication, and collaboration. These are skills that I feel comfort and confident in but could always improve. Getting the opportunity to put these skills into a real world experience rather than just school events has been very useful. Throughout this week I’ve been given several amounts of paperwork and information that is useful to the tasks I need to complete. I’ve found a way to specifically organize it, allowing me to be prepared for anything thrown my way. Communication and collaboration skills go hand in hand with one another when working at my internship. I’ve had to interact with different people to receive information about the workplace and getting used to communicating with adult peers is a new experience. I’ve learned to step outside of my comfort zone by asking more questions and communicating about a tasks completion. Connections I can make between my internship and things I have done at school would be the amount of outreach. Through different projects I’ve done in school we had to learn how to communicate professionally and effectively. Throughout this week I been given hundreds of emails and phone number of clients I have to reach out to. In my internship I outreach to plenty of different people with different purposes. I’m also able to see the connections between group work, presentations, and exhibitions. Though its not assigned on purpose I can see it’s use throughout my internship experience. Working with different people, showing your work and assignments, and finding a way to present the information gathered. Getting to and from internship is a unique experience due to the location of my internship, The San Diego Naval Base. With my house being far away from my internship I am able to stay at my uncle’s apartment located near the Naval Base. Every morning I have to drive to Coronado, park my car off base and meet my mentor to be escorted on. The challenging part of my commute is the amount of traffic surrounding the base and the numerous amount of people trying to get on. Though I don’t start till 5:30-7 am I have to leave an hour earlier to give myself a cushion of time, to be there on time. Overall, I’ve enjoyed getting to look around base and learning about the different departments and locations. After my first couple of days of internships, I have learned a lot about the business field that I didn't know before. Through this opportunity I was able to gather multiple first impressions such as the workplace atmosphere. Something I found striking was the amount of communication that is involved when working in the business field. I went in thinking that the focus would be centered around individual work and staying to yourself. Surprisingly we spent most of our time working with coworkers and commutating the plan for future projects. One thing I found striking about the job I'm completing would be the amount of collaboration I've been introduced to. Right off the bat I was had multiple meetings with different business executives about tasks that needed to be completed. I was surprised by how much work they had ready for and the amount of ideas and opinions they wanted to hear from me. I knew I would have the chance but I wasn't expecting the direct boss to be spending so much time with, figuring out the logistics of internship participation and project work.
Moving forward I am excited about the independent project I'll be working on. Getting the chance to participate in a job fair event off-site and observing the behind the scenes of the event. Learning and being involved with all the big and little aspects is an interesting perspective to take on. I'm most excited about the amount of information I will be learning and getting the hands on experience with this knowledge. Continuing forward I can't wait to meet more people within the business field and improving my comprehension on the subject. I am thrilled to see what every new day holds while also learning more about the organization and Naval Base history. There's not a specific thing that stands out to me, in terms of worries. Though it's only been two days I feel very pretty comfortable and confident with my internship position. One thing that worries me a bit would be not meeting the standards set by my mentor and her boss. I don't want to let anyone down, I'd like to use this opportunity to leave my best impress and put all of my hard work forward. Overall this pasted couple of days has been a great experience and has done nothing but prepare for the real world. I appreciate the amount of involvement and opportunities my mentor has made available. She's really opened my eyes and given me an inside look and experience to the companies work. Chamber of Commerce
Communication Department Describe what you think a typical work day is like at this site. What I believe is a typical work day at the Chamber of Commerce is constantly interacting with different people and companies. Whether it be in person, the phone, or through emails you're always having to work and communicate with multiple clients. Most of the work is independent but you'e also balancing the work ethic with your coworkers. I believe that everyone's job is different depending on the department they specialize in, but they all share similar characteristics. Within the communications department there was various tasks that had to be completed. Varying from speaking and consulting with customers who have questions and are in need of clarification. Emailing different companies about up coming events and collaborating with different people for future events. Most of the jobs are centered around professional communicating with numbers of people who play a significant role within the success of the company and city. What do you think the business's general work policies are (tardiness, absence)? The business's general work policies would probably revolve around being professional. Meaning you're always on time, dressed business ready, and constantly putting forth your best. The company relied on the smaller amount of staff there to keep the business running, meaning less room for absence and tardiness. With most of the staff dealing with clients, I would imagine that you must have a friendly and positive attitude. The environment in which the costumers enter is created by the staff and other coworkers. All of the staff was very involved and continually working to further improve and grow in the business. It would appear that the polices of the business play an important role with customer service and collaboration. In general it seemed as if the work policies are very involved in creating and improving a better business that can grow and maintain a successful company. Describe the dress code. What does that mean to you? The dress code at this company was very business professional: dress, button ups, shirts, collars, heels, and dress shoes. Everyone appeared very clean cut and presentable, no matter their department. Everyone looks ready to present or participate in an important meeting. Which spoke a lot about the foundation and outlook of the company, by always looking presentable. It showcased how they wanted to be views and captured by others within the community. Dressing professional shows that you care about your job and how you're viewed while doing that job. Not only does it make yourself look professional but it also benefits the company, seeing how its employees care about their appearance. Personal, it told me a lot about the individual workers and who the company is. Reflection. What do you expect the professional world there to be like? Leaving my Career Day, I felt the experience has taught me multiple important aspects about different business's. I learned about their specific business but also about all that significant roles within every business. With this personal opportunity of getting to be involved within a company for a whole day, it exposed me to a real world business. It showed me all the different parts that make up a successful business. I got to see how the smallest things have some of the biggest impacts on a healthy business. Employee are just as important as the costumer and having an impact means having a team that goes above and beyond for success. It was a bit inspiring getting to see everyone enjoying their career and how hard work does pay off. The sense of community within a business is showcased the moment you walk through the front door and I was able to experience that. I expect the professional world to be filled with hard working and determined people who don't only believe in themselves but the success of their peers and the company. |