My final day has arrived and at the
beginning of this internship, I never thought I would make it here. I can still
remember my first day during the middle of December. I was so nervous and
wasn’t sure how I would go, or if I’d be good at anything. I want to say I was
sweating because it was hot, but I was so damn nervous it was ridiculous. I was
really quiet, completely out of my comfort zone, and trying to the best I could
do, with my limited amount of practical experience.
I sit here now though, having finished my
twentieth day and it feels amazing. The best thing I could have done was an
internship. You actually don’t understand what people mean when they describe
the feeling of being ready to enter their field after a work placement. But I
am here now, having finished a work placement, and I feel ready to become a
nine-to-fiver, so to speak. Let me tell you, it feels pretty awesome.
On my final day, I figured I’d be doing the
same sorts of things that I had been over my time at Magnetize. But when I
walked in, my boss greeted me with a smirk and said “you’re going to be calling
people today”. My heart stopped. My throat sank into my stomach and I
immediately thought OMG! I am not ready
for this. I was handed my list of people to call, tried to remember what I
had to say and picked up the phone. I
was lucky enough to go through to a few message banks at first. When my heart
started to beat at a normal pace, and my voice shook a little less noticeably,
I ended up chatting to a potential client for around twenty-five minutes. He
was interested in what I was telling him about, and it felt pretty good to have
had a successful phone call.
Before I had ever cold-called people, I
thought it would suck. I’m just going to be honest here. And when I was handed
my cold-calling assignment, I was worried because I didn’t know what I was
“selling” (I use that term lightly) very well. But the power of bluff is a
wonderful thing, and when you can’t immediately find facts, you either give a
close estimate or blame the computer for running slowly – everyone seems to
relate to that one. I will still probably be shaking in my boots the next time
I have to cold-call someone for work, but at least I know it’s not a death
sentence. If you continue to be a person, and not a salesman, the person on the
other side of the line will be more inclined to listen to what you’ve got to
say.
One more little victory moment was when
my boss looked at me and told me how much I had changed over this time. I was a
little perplexed, and she explained that my writing had become much better
since my first piece and she was pretty happy with my work. In the real world,
you don’t really receive positive feedback, so I just reveled in that a little.
I obviously don’t think I am the best
ever, or anything, but I have walked out of that internship feeling like “I
can do this”.
