The First Day

In my opinion, there’s nothing more intimidating than the first day of a new job. Make that the first day of a job doing something you want to do for the rest of your life, and the pressure gets a thousand times worse. So when my first day of my internship at Wesley College came around, needless to say I was very nervous!

There are many things to think about, like what to wear, what to say, how to act, all to ensure you ‘fit in’ to your new environment. So after getting advice from friends and family, I stuck with my (well advised) black and white corporate clothes, and began my new journey walking into my new office with the confidence that I would learn from this experience, no matter the outcome.

After the initial introductions and a quick campus tour, it was time to get settled in and do some work. I’d revised the night before some of the ‘PR101’ skills we got taught in second year, hoping I’d be able to handle any tasks given to me…

Honestly, I had nothing to be worried about – my biggest challenge was remembering everyone’s names! Even my first tasks – simple things like reformatting documents and inputting data from spreadsheets to the College website – were rewarded by my new colleagues with support and many thanks, making me feel very welcome and that this wasn’t going to be as intimidating as I first thought.

So for anyone about to embark on a new chapter of their working lives, my advice for your first day would be to be confident, be yourself, and don’t be afraid to get it wrong. Especially in an internship, everyone just wants to help you succeed. So ask as many questions as you can, learn from all the experience around you, and most of all, don’t forget to have fun! There’s only so much you can be told about working in the ‘real world’, the rest you have to learn yourself.

I’m so excited to embark on this journey with the Wesley Community Relations Department, and can’t wait to see what my future here holds.