Intern Program VS Singular Intern
Last summer I was the only intern in a larger companies accounting group. I was the only person without kids and without a garden. I hardly spoke as I had nothing to add about my mother-in-law or the pot roast that was going to be a smash at dinner later. I fell into a dull routine where my lunchtime walks down the street were the most exciting part of my day. The work was new, however after a week I got the hang of it and continued to do the same thing the rest of the summer. Since I was the only intern, they treated me more as another co-worker, doing work that they themselves didn’t want to do. I figured this was how my next internship would be, but I could not be more wrong.
On my first day at Sotheby’s, I met with the CEO and marketing director, as well as the other interns at the larger parent company, Realogy. We took a tour of the office, which even has a chiropractor and shoe-shiner inside, and met with our respective teams, Marketing for Sotheby’s International Realty for me. Once there, I was meeting with numerous people within the group, all telling me what they do and how I am going to help them out this summer. I could tell I was in an environment that wanted me to learn and experience as much as I could this summer.
As the week went on, I continued to attend meetings and jump into calls to familiarize myself with the new campaign that just rolled out last month. We went to TopGolf as a group team building event, and had an intern debrief on Friday to see where everyone is at and what we have been doing in our first week. I had already analyzed KPIs for the new campaign, researched new vendors for a new eGallery, and participated in a company-wide roundtable meeting. I already knew more people within the company than I had after my entire internship last summer.
Throughout my first week there, it was interesting to begin to see the relationships between those in the office, including my hiring manager who happens to be the VP of Global Marketing. Although her title is so impressive and she is high in the chain of command, she still continues to include me in her meetings and take the time before and after to brief me on the background of what the call or meeting is about. I cannot wait to continue to see these relationships and how they translate to the work being done, and how I will fit in with the group as a whole.
So glad it is off to a good start and a much welcome, more engaging environment than last summer. Good discussion about how you’ve learned about the organization, about how they develop teamwork, etc. Seems like it is relatively informal communication – within the organization; I’m just surmising that as you don’t directly address this. May want to think some about how – perhaps – the industry/type of organization may impact your experience last summer versus this summer; if something about your site’s context lends itself to this different environment (versus last summer)? Remember to look at the items identified in the prompts.