Category Archives: Lauren

1 Month Review

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It’s been four weeks! Four weeks! I can’t even believe it. The days get all jumbled together a little bit. In a good way, though.

I’m finally getting into the swing of things here. My main job is to put together a manual for software the company is making and using themselves to manage advertising. It’s an order management system that allows for input of the ad information, targeting, test the ads, track how it delivered, pull reports after delivery, send to billing, etc. It’s still getting made by the engineers, while simultaneously used by the ad/sales teams. My job is to learn how it is used and make a manual for new hires to be able to understand when and how to use each part of the system. It seems like a daunting task, but I’m working on a different section each week, so it’s not all at once. Surprisingly, it’s been kind of fun to put together.

We are also getting a few smaller projects here and there as well as getting training on all the other programs, analytic tools, etc. so that we can better understand the jobs that this team does within the entire advertising team. I’m definitely learning something new every day.

Last week, my mentor helped me connect with some people in other departments so that I could get a better idea what other departments are and how each department works together (because businesses are interdisciplinary also). Yesterday, I met with a wonderful woman on the Brand Marketing team, who so eagerly sat with me for an hour and a half. Brand Marketing has always been a field that fascinates me ever since I learned what it was. It seems like the perfect blend of corporation and consumer, of strategy and execution, creative and structure. So it was really interesting to finally hear about it in practice as opposed to in concept. Not only did she give me advice for my future, but she shared with me how she got here, what she does, what she enjoys. We talked about the importance of always asking questions, especially when you feel they are dumb.

The most rewarding aspects of my experience so far have been the people I work with, the stories they share with me, and the environment of this work space. It’s not that the work I’m doing isn’t interesting or fun, it’s actually both, but, I’m learning more from others than from the actual work I’m doing.

Learning from People in Power

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So far, my internship has been a great experience. Each day, I have not only learned more about the company and how my team fits into the whole, but I have learned computer programs, the sales and advertising processes, and the various products sold. The company culture is one of hard work, dedication, laughter, and food. Lots of food.

One of the benefits of my internship, is that they understand that it is a two way street – a help to the organization, but also a learning experience for the interns. They have created a lecture segment (once or twice a week) where high-ups in the company share their story about how they came to work here, what they learned, what advice they have, and what they do at the company. By the end of the summer we are supposed to understand a few different ways to get to the same place and generally understand each of the complex facets and teams that make up this company. We’re learning about sales, music curation, and how the company was founded, from the VPs and founders themselves. They are extremely candid, passionate, hard working people. And they each have a different story.

We’ve had three speakers so far, with many more to come and I have learned so much about the company. Not only that, but hearing about how they ended up where they are now was the most fascinating part. By following someone’s career you begin to understand that there isn’t only one way to get to the same place. It was refreshing and inspiring to learn that even the VPs of this wonderful, successful company don’t always have it together all the time. You learn from trial and error and you hope that your previous experience will be enough to help guide your future decisions in the right direction. We always look up to people ahead of us, in more successful positions and put them on pedestals (often times they should be because they have done wonderful things), but you forget that they’re human too. You forget that even though they may look stable, put together, have it all, that they are chugging along like the rest of us. Some may find that upsetting, but I find that refreshing. It means that we are all searching for an ideal that doesn’t actually exist. That we can do great things without having everything. We just have to show up, be present, and have passion and determination.

I’ve been here two weeks now. I’ve learned something new every day. So far, so good.

First Impressions

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“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

I don’t know who said it, but I will always remember that. Ever since the first day of Kindergarten, my parents have given me what they call “the first day of school speech.” In short, they tell me that I never get a second chance to make a first impression. I’m to be on my best behavior, always say yes, wear a smile, look put-together (it’s always better to be over-dressed than under-dressed).

Because, whether you like it or not, people make judgments about you within 90 seconds. Proof comes from this very interesting infographic I came across in my interview prep.

It says that when you meet someone new, 55% of employers makes decisions and judgments based on the way you act, dress, and walk in the door. 65% of bosses say clothes are a deciding factor between two similar candidates. 26% say they are turned off when a handshake is too weak. I could go on and on, but you should look at it yourself. Basically, all the things that we like to think shouldn’t be important when deciding about a candidate, are in fact super important.

So besides the fact that I have received a “first day of school speech” from my parents once a year for 15 years, I also get it every time I go to an interview and when I start a new internship, including this one.

Even though I nod, don’t really listen and say “Thanks Dad. I got it.” It’s because after 15 years I don’t need it anymore, and I really do get it – and now there are statistics to back it up.

 

The Internship Game

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As I anticipate and anxiously await the beginning of my internship, I’ve been thinking about all those traditional questions they ask you at your interview. Particularly, what do you hope to learn from this internship?

I remember what I said in the interview so that they were clear about why I wanted to work for the company, to show that I understood what the job entailed and how I could do it well, to express my excitement for the opportunity, etc. Just like interviews, internships are just as much for the company as they are for my professional growth. But really what are the benefits of internships?

1. Practice.

Practice in applying for jobs. Practice in getting turned down. Practice in interviewing skills. Practice in business communication. We’ve all heard the saying practice makes perfect. The process of finding, applying for, interviewing, navigating the right things to say to acquire internships is an art and a science. But the more experience you have, the easier it gets. That way, when you are actually looking for a job, you’re not aimlessly meandering the “real world,” you know exactly what you need to do and by what date. You’ve learned (like I have) that no matter how many jobs you apply for you’ll hear back from the ones with connections. You’ll know how long to wait before you start pestering the company about not having heard back. You’ll know how and to whom to construct your emails. You’ll know that even though it’s extremely awkward to call up a family friend you’ve never met or email a Scripps alum you met on vacation, that’s how you find an internship. And that’s how you find a job. Practice. Practice. Practice.

2. Networking.

Just like when you go to school, you have classmates, when you start working, you get colleagues and bosses. These people, these resources, are the connections you will use later to help find you a job, are your references in future applications.

3. Experience.

You get experience in the “real world” with some training wheels. You get your foot in the door at type of company, job, career you think you are interested in. You get to see for yourself what corporate culture is like. I once worked in a small office. There was a small team of women and a considerable amount of gossip. I really didn’t like that. It’s one thing to talk about someone when they have failed miserably or done extremely well, but this gossip was about nothing. I was really disheartened and frustrated by it. It’s because of my experiences last summer that I started asking about corporate culture during interviews.  I learned something about the “real world” and about myself in that office and I can only wait to see what new lessons I will learn this summer.

4. Corroboration.

Just as I mentioned earlier, interviews and internships are as much for the company as they are for you. They provide personal and professional development. As a result, the internship functions as a means of personal and career corroboration that you are on the right track: that you are interested in the field or not, that you want to work for a small or large company, etc. It provides you with experience to allow you as the intern to decide what you want and don’t want in the future. When I was deciding on a major, there were too many options. But because it’s just as important to know what you don’t want as it is to know what you want, you can cross out potential options and it makes the final choice easier.

Will my internship be like all the others? Since I haven’t started, I can’t really answer that question yet. However, I know my summer internship will have all of these components. But in what capacity and how I will grow, well we’ll both have to wait a little longer for that answer.

 

Junior Year: Success

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As I look back at the year that just ended, I look upon my junior year favorably.

When I was a young girl, I would scour the Internet for quotes I liked. I would write them all in a journal. Three journals later, I decided that I should stop. Since then, my mom had bought my books of quotes (arranged by themes). Every once in a while, I look back at these. In honor of the end of my junior year, I pulled together a list of quotes about success that I think embody some of the concepts mentioned at commencement, that embody how Scripps has taught me to think, be critical, and not always follow that “one” path to greatness.

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. – Bill Cosby

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.  – Winston Churchill

The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity. – Ayn Rand

I do always keep in mind that success is never actually defined in these quotes. I get to define it myself.

This year:
I have succeeded at thinking critically, involving myself and my peers and my professors in animated discussions over controversial topics, I have succeeded at working with my peers to deliver 12 issues of The Scripps Voice all over campus,I have succeeded at planning the 4th annual Relay For Life at the Claremont Colleges, I have succeeded in finding an internship, I have succeeded in running a campaign (even though I lost), I have succeeded in finding and maintaining wonderful friends, I have succeeded at completing all of my general education requirements to graduate, I succeed in making Dean’s List in the fall, I succeeded at mostly having good health.

Despite all the stress, frustrations, procrastination, anger, bad days, sick days, “feeling stupid days,” I have a lot to be grateful and thankful for.

I have succeeded. Correction: I am successful.