Overcoming Obstacles

Although my experience at MAN marketing has been extremely pleasant, I still had to overcome a couple of obstacles. Because MAN Marketing is a full service marketing company they have to move at a very fast pace. During the mornings, everyone is very rushed to ensure that all of their clients’ ads meet the daily newspaper, radio and commercial deadlines. Although this is very stressful, it is also exciting and a great learning experience.

            During my third week, one of my coworkers went out of town on vacation, leaving the rest of us to work with her clients. This was the first time I was assigned specific clients to work with. I was expected to communicate with both the clients and the art department to create different ads and make sure they run on time. I was extremely nervous to take on such an intense responsibility however, everyone was happy to help answer any questions I had. This new responsibility served as a major confidence booster for I realized how much my managers trusted me. If I made one single error then a clients’ ad might not run in a newspaper even though they are paying for it. It was definitely a stressful adjustment but I ended up realizing how much I enjoy working with the clients and the creative team to produce a good ad.

            I consider the challenges that I have faced so far during my internship to be exciting learning experiences. I am very happy that I have more work to do and believe that I truly am getting the most out of this internship that I possibly could. I still look forward to solving the problems that may be thrown my way at any point this summer.  

Blog 2: Getting to Know My Colleagues

I work in the front desk area of the office at Heritage Professional Associates so the people I interact with the most are Nancy, Janine, and Melissa the receptionists, Tracy the head of human resources, Terri the accounting manager, and Celia the secretary. All of these ladies always bring positive energy into the office with their happy and helpful attitudes. I always feel like I can go to any of them if I have questions, and when my work load is light they are very fun and interesting to talk to. Most of them are moms so they like to tell me about their children and ask about my family in return.

I also interact with all of the therapists that work at the office. They will come up to me and ask about the new patients who have completed intakes with me. The therapists will also ask me about my future in the psychology field and offer advice as well as tell me their experience and journey to get where they are. Every week  I talk to Dr. Carioti, one of the therapists at the office, in her office for a half hour. This allows me to tell her about my obstacles as well as ask questions about anything regarding the office or my future. She has really become a great mentor to me and offers great advice from grad schools I should look at to degrees I should consider. Listening to her experience in the field is also very interesting and helpful. She will tell me about the many different diagnostics she has had to give as well as the different clients she deals with.

Aneta and Jenny, two other interns at Heritage, work different hours and days than I do so I rarely see them. I never see Aneta and see Jenny when we switch shifts. Jenny is older than I am and more advanced in her education and experience in the psychology world so when I first met her I was intimidated. After getting to know her, I realized there was nothing to be intimidated by as she was knew to the office and how everything ran as well. Jenny is very sweet and organized so when I take over the shift it is easy to start where she left off. It's nice to have someone to vent to if the work load is crazy and she also always answers questions I have. Overall, I have enjoyed working with everyone at the office. It is very professional yet fun because everyone has a positive attitude and offers different stories and backgrounds.

Conquering Obstacles at BTN

As I sit in my boss's office for our weekly meeting on a Friday morning, he tells me how much he appreciates my enthusiasm, eagerness, and energy...a very pleasant surprise.  Then he goes on to say I will be able to film some stand-ups on Monday in the studio...dream come true!

As I arrive in the office Monday morning, I'm ready to film!  I was given an IFB, which allows me to hear the director as well as a wireless microphone.  The teleprompter is running, and I am beaming with excitement.  In fact, my family had been visiting and came to watch me in-studio, so I had my own audience in addition to fellow interns in-studio who were watching me.  

3, 2, 1....go! Six stories later I was finished with my studio work for the day.  It was an absolute blast and my boss was impressed! Of course doing stand-ups in studio in front of tons of people was a challenge for me because I wanted to make sure I was doing a good job, but I was surprised with how well I handled this challenge.  After my freshman year, I had the same opportunity to do in-studio work, and I didn't handle it as confidently as I did here at BTN.  The fact that I had gained confidence and was able to handle a much higher pressure situation gave me the satisfaction I really needed moving forward to next year.

Me In-Studio!

The following days that week consisted of other small tasks, some easier than others, however the task I faced that Monday morning proved to be the biggest challenge I had faced so far.

Who said Mondays couldn't be fun?

Post #3: Overcoming Obstacles

Hi All,

So I just finished my 6^th week at Conan and it is unbelievable how fast my time here has been going by here.  As far as my time at the internship, I think I have been doing well so far and am picking up on things pretty quickly but I could also improve.  One thing I have found challenging is finding things for myself to do when there is downtime at work. With almost 30 other interns in my department, it can be a challenge to keep myself busy when it is a slower day at the office.  After asking my boss for advice, he told me to try to do laps around the office and stage to see if anyone needs help with anything.  I have found that the more I have gotten to know my coworkers and vice versa, the more they are likely to look for me specifically when they need help. 

Additionally, my boss has informed our intern group as a whole on things we could all improve on. One thing he mentioned was that he did not want people to crowd around his desk when they are bored and that instead they should take initiative to find their own work.  He also informed us that we should be professional when answering the phones and to make sure that we get all the information we need from the caller when taking a message for someone on staff.  Answering phones and covering desks for staff members is something that I at first struggled with and was afraid to do, but am now completely comfortable with.  I surprised myself by how much I now enjoy covering the phones of the talent coordinators during the show, as this was something I was afraid to do on my own at the beginning of my internship.  However, now that I know most of the names of the staff members and other protocol on how to answer their phones, this task seems like a breeze to me. 

Another challenging task I have faced at the internship is training new interns.  As an intern myself, it was at first a little eerie to find myself showing the ropes to my fellow interns, as I have only been working at Conan a mere six weeks longer than them.  At first, I felt a little bossy trying to tell them what tasks they can do such as distributing the mail, getting coffee orders, etc. but now I understand it is necessary for them to learn what they can do to help contribute to the office.  Knowing now that many of the newer interns appreciate being taught new things about the job, I feel comfortable showing them what else they can do to help. 

Can’t wait to see what’s in-store over the next few weeks!

All the best,

Kathleen

Answering the phones!

Some coworkers and I after a long day at work.

Pacers Sports and Entertainment: Overcoming Obstacles

As I approach the midpoint of my internship, I see myself becoming more accustomed to my surroundings and co-workers. Everybody here is so friendly and welcoming, which in turn allows me to become more comfortable and outgoing.
As I mentioned in my last post, my boss has been teaching me the scripts that the ticket sales consultants run through when they call clients. Last week, we also ran through the longer scripts for the corporate ticket sales consultants. I am usually a very shy and introverted person when I am put in uncomfortable situations. Practicing these scripts with my boss was a little bit nerve-wracking for me because I didn't want to completely mess up the pitch. However, as we practiced with it more and more, I saw myself let go of my insecurities by gaining more confidence and strength in my ability to pitch to clients. At the beginning, I was laughing at my mistakes and messing up on the order of what I needed to say; but by the end, I was correcting my mistakes without flinching and running through the script smoothly. While there is still a lot of room for improvement, and I have yet to pitch the script to an actual client, I believe I have significantly improved in this area. Overcoming my shyness and gaining confidence with this task has allowed me to really put myself in the shoes of these sales consultants. I could really see myself being a sales consultant in the future.
Last Wednesday and Friday, I shadowed some of the sales representatives during the Fever games, our WNBA team. I watched them interact with clients and I even met some of them. Knowing that the sales consultants trust me enough to meet their clients is really pleasing. Here are a few pictures of the arena during the game.

 

 

Another fun thing my office does it the tie-cutting ceremony. This is a ceremony that happens when a sales consulting has a $10,000 sale. Everybody gathers in the room and watches as the reps tie gets cut. As you can see, in the background there are a bunch of ties hanging up. He must walk with a half-tie for the rest of the day.

 

2. Getting To Know Colleagues

Because I help my supervisors answer the phones for several promotions dept. execs, I have become familiar with my colleagues in the department fairly quickly. Along with my peers in the office, I have also quickly learned the roster of artists that Atlantic Records represents.

This past week, the promotions department all ate lunch together. The handful of execs in the office talked to the other intern and myself about the kind of work they do throughout the year to promote their artists. It was great to not only learn a bit more about the industry, but also to talk to them outside of just delivering them messages.

I have gotten familiar with my two supervisors fairly well now. The mornings can get very busy and I am needed more urgently by them at the start of each day. Towards the end of the day, if it's a bit quieter, I have been able to get to know my bosses on a more personal basis. I enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the environment. There are times where you have to be very focused and work on a deadline and other times when it is more relaxed and we are able to listen to some of the new unreleased music. The promotions department is relatively small and becoming familiar with everyone has been easier than I originally expected.

Changing Perspectives

            The workplace culture is something I hadn’t been immersed in, and seemed like a strong contrast coming right from my freshman year. Over the course of the internship I was able to regain my professional skills and mindset. I have always been good at talking to adults but I refined that skill in a different setting. Now I am more familiar with certain professional cues and communications.  

            In regards to a change in perspective within my time at Burke, there was one time that I saw the facility in a totally different light. Burke Rehabilitation Hospital is located on a phenomenal campus that is a target for many production location scouts. These scouts, who want to film either movie or film scenes on campus, contact Richard frequently. More often than not though Richard has to decline because their requests usually include scenes in the hospital space. That would be simply too invasive and disturbing considering all the space at Burke is being used everyday.

            However, one production was permitted to use the basement and front entrance of the administrative building because there would be no patients there at night. This was the HBO show, The Leftovers, which will be premiering soon. There were only two very short scenes to be filmed yet there was crew setting up for 3 days and about 80 people in attendance at the 5-hour shoot. I was permitted to observe with Richard and met a lot of people in the industry and learn about production.  I was shocked to see how much effort goes into each brief clip but also turned away from the industry as a whole. I could not imagine working for something so time consuming and tedious. We were there until 1 am, which are certainly not ideal “work day” hours.

            Ultimately, this was a great opportunity to gain perspective on Burke’s multi-purpose facilities. It was great to see that working in an office doesn’t only mean sitting behind a desk. 

Week 2 - Colleagues

I have interacted with two managers so far. Bala is a software engineer and I was temporarily placed under his care until my full time manager returned from vacation. I did not enjoy my time with Bala, although he was very nice and tried to be helpful, I felt as if he was demanding too much of me. He asked to develop complicated algorithms even though I had little to no experience with algorithms. I felt as if the work was a bit too difficult for me and maybe I was under qualified for my internship. During my second week though I have been paired with Zoran who will remain my manager for the remainder of my internship and I have been very fond of working with him. He has provided me with ample tutorials and assigned me small projects that are challenging but at the same time I am able to complete. I have really begun enjoying my internship now.

Zoran is also a software engineer by profession but he is working as a manager and this is similar to what I would like to do in life. I want to obtain a bachelor’s in Computer Science and work as a software engineer for a few years and then eventually become a manager. To do this I will need an MBA. I have spoken briefly with Zoran about following this career path and he has been very encouraging, providing helpful advice as well.

Overcoming Obstacles at the 48th District Court

     Although I am absolutely loving my internship at the 48th District Court, of course, like in any job there have been obstacles. Most of the obstacles that I face in my day to day tasks are easy to overcome with asking for help from my superiors and other interns in the courthouse. Everyone in the court is always eager to help and appreciative of someone asking for assistance instead of causing a problem that later has to be corrected anyways.
    Besides the daily obstacles that come up on occasion, I have faced a few obstacles on the job that I didn't expect to face while applying for this internship. Since the courthouse I am working in is the one in the city I grew up in, I have been faced with the obstacle of knowing a few of the defendants that appear in court before my Judge. While I am sitting up on the bench next to the Judge, it is a very uncomfortable situation for everyone involved. A few times the defendants attorney has approached the bench asking the judge if she could ask her intern to step down from the bench. It not only puts the judge in an awkward position but I am also put on the spot. The judge continues to respond to the attorney "if your client is uncomfortable and embarrassed that they know my court staff than maybe they should have thought about being embarrassed before they committed a crime." Although there is nothing I can do in these situations, they are major obstacles that I must face when they occur.
   I am very lucky that I have the judge and the rest of the court staffs encouragement and support while facing any obstacle that occurs during my internship. I am continuing to love my jobs everyday and feel so lucky to work with such interesting and amazing people.

Post 2

Back at it. It's been a while. I kind of got caught up in the internship experience you could say. I've gotten to do a lot of cool things in the last few weeks. I covered a trial where a man shot his neighbor and claimed self defense. The jury didn't buy it and he was convicted. I also got to write about this big health care study that came out that basically showed how Philadelphia hospitals were charging more than Pittsburgh ones.

I've also gotten to write about drug busts, metal theft, and other crime. I wrote one article when I went to city hall but it was short. I'm hoping to get back into city hall soon and help the reporter out there if possible.

I'm currently working on this big tax credit story. I sent a bunch of open records requests to the department or community and economic development, hoping to get back some audits. I'll post the story if it comes to fruition.

Pittsburgh is really really nice. I didn't realize it was such a great place. I spend a lot of time walking around the city. Point park and its fountain are really nice. And I took pictures from Mt. Washington. I'd recommend people visit for a weekend if they ever have the chance. My parents came and they had a really great time.

Initial Impressions

I had my first day as an intern at Fox Sports Radio two days ago and was very pleasantly surprised by the experience. I am not known for my overwhelming knowledge of sports, so naturally I was very nervous about being a part of such a different and foreign environment. However, upon arriving, I was immediately greeted by warm faces and great personalities. I was expecting to be treated like the stereotypical intern – getting coffee and filing papers – but to my surprise I was never asked to anything like that. All of the radio hosts and personalities came into the room I was working in, introduced themselves and made small talk. This was such a nice gesture to me, being that I semi-expected to be overlooked as the unpaid help. One of the radio hosts who is very established at the station and I even had a long talk about University of Michigan because we were enemies: his family members were Michigan State people. I never thought that I would enjoy working in such a sports-heavy field so much; however, I learned that it really comes down to the people that are surrounding you. My only negative thought so far about working has been the commute. I live very far away from my place of work, and have a very early shift, so getting to work in the mornings is a little brutal, but since I have met such great people I expect that I will quickly overlook the drive and just get excited for work.