Hi
all! I’m back to shed some more light on what it is like to be an intern and
the journey so far!
What
I really want to focus on is something we are all probably experiencing at our
placement, not because we are bad at what we do, or can’t be trusted to jobs,
it is all down to sometimes our supervisors just don’t have time. So this I
like to call Interns and the boring ‘stuff’.
As
we all know there is a considerable difference between being on a payroll and
working for free. Unfortunately in our situation we are volunteering to help an
organisation just so we can experience what people do in our field and be in
that environment on a weekly basis. Although we get to create documents that
are based around our role, such as newsletter articles, speeches, information
packs and much more, there are somethings which I feel have just been
backlogging till I came along.
The
team at CBH have been more than supportive in sending me tasks and giving me
the opportunity to communicate with our stakeholders regarding information and
social media, such as the current Broome campaign which I am completing.
Although there are jobs such as filing and organisation which has not been a
priority throughout the corporate affairs and marketing team. Therefore I have
found myself doing the boring stuff, such as organising over 300 CDs into date
order and placing them in cupboards, or putting documents into alphabetical
order for the data collection team. Small jobs I have been given purely because
having someone who does not have a specific role in the team means that my
supervisor has to stop doing her role in order to occupy me.
Although
I understand that filing and organisation of photo data is in the role of what
I do and what I may have to do in the future. I feel they found themselves on a
winning ticket to have an intern to do tasks that simply take too much time out
of a day. I have had many productive
days where I have had my head down sending emails and researching information
for a company tour, and these days I feel have given me real insight into where
I will be in the future and what I need to prepare for. Although small filing
jobs I do not feel I get as much experience from, even though they are a
necessary part of my job.
It
simply all comes down to time! The time to organise tasks for the intern, the
time to check over their work, the time to stop your jobs and explain what they
need to do. This time is very precious to someone who is constantly working on
social media or newsletters, therefore I glad that CBH has taken the time out
to give me the opportunity to experience a workplace environment and consider
it to be a wonderful place to work.
After
that rant! I would like to fill you in on what I have learnt so far… just
today. I have learnt that the paper you
print your marketing on is extremely important, I went to a meeting with the
graphic designer and a manager from Spicers, who are a paper company, they
discussed new paper that is in, the weight and what colour of white they should
use… This was a very interesting meeting as I had no idea there was more than
white A4 in a printer. Also I have written some executive emails and been in
contact with our suppliers of things for events such as lecterns and cameras,
being involved with the money side and filing quotes has been eye opening to
exactly how much money goes into event, more than what we have discussed in
budgets throughout university.
Happy Interning Everyone!!!!
Good luck!
Rachel
