Winding Down...

My internship with LACD has truly been an experience that has prepared me for my future career. In our office, we are consistently producing materials that are distributed to an audience of anywhere from 9,000-40,000. This exposure requires polished, thoughtful work that is at a level of professionalism that proudly represents Purdue Liberal Arts and Career Development. Though we do have to get our work approved, our materials represent our office. This is exactly how I envision my future career working, so it has exposed me to this environment in an internship setting. I feel I have learned the process of producing, editing, re-editing, and publishing. I have experienced having to produce work on a very tight deadline, for a variety of marketing opportunities, and in many different forms (email, web page, newsletter, flyers, ect).

I also think I have learned about the office dynamic and what it means to work successfully in a team. In creative fields such as design, public relations, and event planning, there are always going to be different artistic and professional opinions. Through my internship, we are constantly running into situations where interns have to explain or adapt their message to fit the visions of the rest of the group. I will always be working in an environment that requires feedback and team interaction, so I have learned how to compromise and also defend my positions. I have also learned that personalities in an office are varied; there are always different work ethics, opinions, and attitudes. This experience has exposed me to working in a very diverse team and showed me how to adapt my work style to different team members.

I have honed in on my critical thinking skills. In our team, we have run into interesting dilemmas that require thinking outside the box to come up with a solution. One main area I have learned from is communication. In our office, we had an overload of communication. There were times where the email loads were overwhelming, the communication felt invasive, and we were copying in the entire team when it wasn’t necessary. Instead of allowing this communication to continue, I learned to address the issue head on and come up with solutions. We were able to discuss our communication problems and suggest ways to improve. This exposed me to different communication styles and how to compromise.

Now that the semester is ending, we are considering potential interns for next semester. I am really proud of our team and what we have accomplished this fall. We have held several events that set a standard of excellence for our department, and have far surpassed our goals. I hope to continue this path of success next semester and find new ways to challenge our team. I am sad to see this semester's team go, but excited to welcome in our new interns and see what we can accomplish together!

Challenges and Favorites

The most challenging project I have managed as a senior intern for LACD was the newsletter. Writing and editing are two areas that I feel can constantly be improved on. I wanted to utilize the opportunity of project managing the newsletter to focus on my writing abilities and strengthen my critical eye for editing. However, this proved very challenging with the time I was allotted to complete this assignment. Not only did I have to write for an audience of ~9,000 (which made me anxious to begin with), but I had to perfect the 6 page letter in under 2 weeks. This daunting task challenged my writing abilities, editing skills, design talent, time and stress management.

Another thing that made it especially difficult was that the other interns were managing various projects and events, making them unable to contribute to the letter. This meant the content was completely my responsibility. As challenging as this project was, it was so rewarding to finish such a big task. I felt accomplished and that it was a project that was realistic to something I may encounter in the work place.

My favorite project that I have worked on with LACD was applying for a grant. This grant application required us to design a project that integrated Liberal Arts Career Development with a community organization. We chose to designate the grant money to providing professional development resources for the international community of Lafayette. Though we did not get awarded the grant, it was a fantastic opportunity to design a project, budget, and application. I found myself really drawn to the prospect of grant writing, community engagement, and professional development education. These are interests I don’t know that I would have discovered if I hadn’t had the opportunity to pursue this grant.

Professional Network

An internship is an ideal opportunity to network. Because you are only contracted to work with a company for 3-6 months, depending on the internship, it is crucial to use the internship as a networking opportunity for future employment. Whether or not the internship is compatible with your long-term career goals, you never know who you can meet, who they know, and what will come out of a professional relationship.

Throughout my internship with LACD, I have had the opportunity to network and meet recruiters, important faculty, and business people nation wide. While it may not seem important for a communications major to network with a financial group or insurance company, those connections are crucial for getting an intern’s name out there. A fantastic tool for this is Linked In. As a professional networking web site, Linked In allows for contacts to be made using professional similarities. I have found this incredibly helpful throughout my internship. Whenever we bring in a guest speaker or I meet someone new at LACD, I link to them on Linked In. This gives me access to all of their professional contacts, many of which have careers I would dream of having one day. This powerful, convenient tool allows me to contact them and exchange professional information.

I have also found that networking goes both ways. When meeting professional contacts, it is important to not only think about what their network can do for you, but what your network can do for them. Do you have a friend or classmate who would be a great fit for their company? Even if you are not a fit for an internship or position, it does not mean the networking should stop. When I network, I always am thinking of who I know that will be a good fit for their needs. These recommendations will benefit not only the recruiter and your contacts, but will highlight you as a professional networker. It will also help you stand out in a contact’s mind, so if they hear about a position that is right for your qualifications, they will be willing to pass on your name.

Office Loyalty...

Office loyalty is an imperative part of internships that establishes interns as professional team members. It is something I am very passionate about and always mindful of. To me, office loyalty encompasses three main qualities: respect, dedication, and representation.

Respect: I find respect to be a key ingredient in any company environment. I was raised on the “treat others how you want to be treated” motto, and feel it is applicable to a professional atmosphere. Loyalty in an office entails respecting your company, its brand, your team members, and all of your professional acquaintances. Whether you are in the office or not, respecting the privacy and details of your work is crucial. This is not to say talking about work is wrong. I believe there is a time and a place to have conversations of a sensitive nature, and it is an intern’s job to use discretion when discussing work topics.

Dedication: Office loyalty includes being actively engaged and dedicated to your company’s projects. During an internship, I think it is a student’s time to shine. They have a unique opportunity to dedicate themselves to a few select projects and put all of their schooling to use. Part of being loyal to an office is to complete every project you start, volunteer to participate, and dedicate yourself to the mission of the company. This shows your loyalty and will help distinguish you from students who do not put in the extra effort.

Representation: When you work for a company, the day does not end at 5pm. You may run into coworkers or contacts at any time of the day, so it is imperative to be mindful of your actions inside and outside of the office. Your actions do not only represent you and the work you do, but the entire company you are a part of. This is especially applicable to the internship I am doing with LACD. We live and work on a college campus. Though I am only in the office 5-10 hours a week, I am constantly running into coworkers, deans, professional contacts, and students who use the resources of Liberal Arts Career Development. I always am cognizant of this, whether I am in class, on the bus, or out with my friends. I represent LACD and never want an unflattering personal decision to reflect upon my work in the office. This is something I keep in mind through my use of social media as well. I am representing myself and LACD with my online identity, so I am mindful of my use of Facebook, twitter, and linked in.

Another Semester Begins...

I have returned for another semester with the Liberal Arts Career Development team. This semester, I have a new position: a senior intern. This new title comes with a great deal of responsibility that I am very much looking forward to.

Already I see the difficulty of my assignments increasing, which is encouraging me to step outside my comfort zone and improve on my weaknesses. My first assignment was to write, edit, and produce the LACD monthly newsletter. This task in itself would have been challenging for me, seeing as writing is not my strength. However, this task was especially intimidating because I had about 10 days to complete it. Although I was excited about the prospect of producing a document from start to finish, I knew it would be difficult. And I was right. After several late nights and countless edits, I finally produced a newsletter that I was proud to send out to almost 9,000 members of the Purdue community. I feel like this task really encouraged me to look at my strengths and weaknesses, finding new ways to challenge myself during the course of this internship.

I anticipate the semester being filled with unique and challenging projects. As a senior intern, I feel like I will have a greater amount of involvement in projects and have higher expectations from the department. These are responsibilities I am excited to take on and feel like by the end of the semester, I will have tangible, real world experience to bring to a full time position.

I am most looking forward to working with the LACD team. I am already impressed by the skills and dedication of the other LACD interns and feel like we are a compatible match. Every intern has unique visions, experiences, and strengths. This will not only benefit LACD, but I feel like we will all learn from each other. I am also looking forward to confronting some of my weaknesses and working with the team to improve.

This semester is already off to a wonderful start and I am looking forward to the coming months!