Assignment C: Internship Reflections

• What are you observing about your work environment? If you could, what are two things you would keep and two things you would change?
• I've never worked in such a small business atmosphere before.  The work environment is somewhat casual and laid-back, but at the same time, we are responsible for getting a lot done between a few people, which can be stressful at times.  
• One thing that I would definitely keep is the variety I get in my work.  No two days are the same as far as things we have to get done, and that definitely keeps me from getting bored!  Another thing I really enjoy is the relationship I have with my supervisors.  They're people that you can joke around with and talk about your personal life with, but they also know when it's time to get down to business and get things done.  
• There really isn't a lot that I would change about my internship.  I think the only thing that I might change would be to prioritize things better.  We start every every week with a list of things to do, but they rarely all get done.  There are always things coming up that interfere with our priority list - which seems to be the case in any small business - but that definitely throws off our productivity.

• How does your supervisor's style work for you? What would you want to be like as a supervisor in the future?
• I love Kim's style of supervising, because he gives me a great deal of independence.  If he is teaching me how to do something, he'll go through it with me once while I take notes on it, then leave me to take care of things on my own.  He's always there if I have questions, but essentially he will give me a task and leave me to complete it.  Once I'm finished, I'll have him look things over to make sure I've done them correctly, or have him edit my writing and then we'll move on to the next task.  He also takes my opinion into consideration regarding writing and decisions we make for marketing which makes me feel like I have an impact on what's happening in the company.
• As a supervisor, I would love to have the same style.  It's a good mix of independence and mentoring, and the balance he has is just about perfect. 

• What are you learning about yourself through this internship? What is one thing about yourself that you would like to improve for your next job?
• I'm learning that I really enjoy variety.  This internship compared to my past ones is so much more rewarding because I get to touch so many different parts of the company.  Something I could definitely improve on is my attention to detail.  At times there are so many things happening at once that it's hard to do all of them and notice every single thing about them.  The good thing is, I double-check everything before I'm finished, so normally I notice it then.  

• What are two things you have learned how to do or improved upon during this internship? 
• I've learned how to manage online orders, which is one of my main responsibilities.  I normally start my day off checking to see how many orders have been placed, print all of them out for Linda to pack, make labels for all of them, then pack the chocolates into boxes to be shipped.  During this whole process, I have to keep the online shop updated to make sure we don't duplicate orders and also ensure that customers know when their orders have been sent out.  It's something I've never done before, but I enjoy the process, and it breaks up the time I spend on the computer so that I get to do something with my hands and keep from getting tired.
• I've always enjoyed writing, but this experience has taught me a new way of writing while still keeping my own style incorporated.  Brits have a very dry sense of humor, which is something I've grown up with so it's easy for me to use that in my writing.  I do, however, find myself using a completely different vocabulary - along with correcting my American spelling - to tailor to our readers.  I have Kim look over all of the blogs/newsletters before we send them, so he'll let me know if something needs to be changed and why.

• After college, will you look for a company that is similar to the one that you have interned with? Why?
• I would love to work for a similar company after graduation, but in larger scale.  I love the variety, but feel tasks could be streamlined a bit more if there were more employees to take responsibility for them.  Sometimes we have things to do that we end up having to rush through because so many other things come up, and we can't get them done to the high standards that we set for ourselves.