Assignment 7: Growing Leaders

This week, I read an article from Tim Elmore's blog, Growing Leaders. The article discussed how an internship is more than just an opportunity, it is like along interview that prepares you for the future. It talked about an employer's poor experiences with a college internship program at his place of work, and how he interpreted the interns' positions as something he wished would have been cut short. In the article, the author discusses how this employer shifted the perspective of an internship as a job to the idea that the internship be interpreted as the college students being put under a microscope for evaluation like an extended interview. He discusses four skills that potential employers look for: teachability, initiative, responsibility, energy. The most important point that was made in the article is that an internship is a simulation of a real job that a college student will hold one day.

I like the perspective this provides for my mentorship. I know that when I am in a foreign setting, I will tend to act more prim and proper as I would in a comfortable setting. This creates an issue within a vocational setting in which I am too comfortable with some people and not comfortable with others. I actually call my mentor by his last name (Mr. MentorGuy) and everyone else in the office by their first names. I think one of the ways to make a good impression is to maintain boundaries with my direct boss, but use the opportunity to connect with my other coworkers and communicate with them in a first name basis. Another way to make a good impression is to be consistent. I like the quote "I am nothing if not consistent," and I try to apply that in every circumstance in my life. Additionally, the most relevant thing about the article that I was able to read is the four skills potential employers look for. I always assumed what employers were looking for, but the article help reinforce the validity of these invaluable skills. Lastly, treating an internship like an extended interview keeps a creature of habit like me from becoming too comfortable in my work, and on my toes.

Yasamin, 9/23