Final Reflection

In order to fulfill my Jepson Internship requirement for the Summer of 2019, I interned at the Office of the Nassau County Comptroller’s Office in Mineola, New York. My internship lasted for 8 weeks, and I can say with absolutely certainty I learned something new every day while working this summer. My role was a financial intern within the Accounting department, and I was tasked with numerous projects including updating internal control directives, financial projections and analysis, assisting in the creation of financial documents, and many other unique hands-on projects. My expectations of the work I would be doing, the knowledge I would obtain, and the skills I would acquire were all met or exceeded, and I am very satisfied with my internship experience this summer.
When I accepted my offer from the Office of the Nassau County Comptroller on June 17th, I had many expectations of skills I wanted to learn or develop further, which I laid out in my Personal Contribution paper. The skill I was most eager to develop was experience in writing contracts and other legal documents. I conveyed this desire to my supervisor and what we came up with together was a project working on internal control directives and memos. While I had hoped to work on an agreement between the County and another entity, working on the verbiage and protocol for specific departments was very informative and rewarding.
Another skill I hoped to acquire, as mentioned in my Personal Contribution paper, was giving presentations based on research I had conducted. My internship essentially centered around conducting research or creating a deliverable and then either formally or informally presenting my work to my supervisors. At least twice a week a found myself with the opportunity to practice my public speaking skills. As part of my internship program, every intern is given time to practice public speaking, leading up to a final presentation explaining the work we conducted throughout the summer, which we all individually presented to the entirety of the front office. I can honestly say that my work this summer as allowed me to become more comfortable presenting in front of large groups and efficiently articulate my points during a presentation.
Another skill I mentioned in my Personal Contribution paper which I hoped to hone during my internship opportunity this summer was collaboration and becoming a “team player.” During our Jepson EDGE Institute sessions, I theme I noticed amongst all the professionals who took time to give us advice and answer our questions was that they all emphasized being a “team player.” My work at the Comptroller’s Office this summer definitely allowed me to further develop my collaborative skills, as a majority of my work involved problem solving within a group of both interns and professionals, which allowed me to become more comfortable working with individuals of all backgrounds, ages, and professional status.
In my Learning Contract, I mentioned that I believed I could evaluate my own performance by assessing how comfortable I was operating in local government, considering I had no prior experience in this field prior to this internship. In the beginning of my time with the Comptroller’s Office, I often struggled to understand some of the vernacular and other intricacies of working for a government entity. After a few weeks I noticed I was able to understand these intricacies much better, which allowed me to perform better in my role, and by the end of the summer I felt as though I could seamlessly operate in my role without every second-guessing myself on a given term or operation.
Throughout my internship I also developed several skills which I was not expecting to learn, but I am grateful to have learned them, nonetheless. In my role as the only financial intern in the entire internship program, I was asked to work on a number of different projects, often at the same time and with little direction. From this experience, I believe I honed by adaptability, and I believe this is the arguably the most important skill I learned this summer. I have had numerous supervisors compliment my ability to pivot between assignments seamlessly, and they have all mentioned how this is a skill many managers look for when hiring younger employees out of college or graduate school. Another skill which I was not expecting to develop was further honing my critical thinking skills, which is a cornerstone of Jepson’s Leadership Studies curriculum. In a few my more confidential projects, the technological limitations of local government brought about unique obstacles which my fellow interns and I had to find creative ways to overcome them. By the end of the summer, I found I enjoyed being faced with a new obstacle or limitation because my fellow interns and I enjoyed coming up with new ways of doing something to circumvent or solve a problem.
Because of the weekly reflections we were required to write this summer, the theories and teachings of my Leadership Studies courses were often on my mind during my internship, as I was looking for ways to apply them to my work. Before I began working, I was admittedly skeptical about how well some of the leadership theories would transfer to real world applications, but I was pleasantly surprised by how applicable they truly were. My role’s necessity for critical thinking presented me with challenges I most likely would not have been able to overcome as quickly had it not been for my understanding of effective critical thinking techniques and logical reasoning.
My understanding of the ways my superiors managed their staffs was also heavily aided by my understanding of the contingency theory of leadership, which I studied heavily in my Theories and Models class. Given different circumstances, I noticed different managers were more effective or less effective. Prior to my research of the contingency theory, I would have assumed that if a leader was ineffective in a given scenario, he or she was simply an ineffective leader. Thanks to my Leadership Studies courses, I was able to understand that certain types of leaders are more suitable for certain situations, and I believe this increased understanding of situational leadership helped my relationship with my supervisors.
Another situation I encountered which was aided significantly by my Leadership Studies education was times of conflict during my internship. While never major, there were times where conflict arose between interns and employees, and the conflict usually stemmed from an office culture which was change averse. Many of the interns, including myself, were tasked with a confidential project which would bring significant changes to certain operations of the office. Many employees who were not consulting in assigning the project were not as receptive to change as others and dealing with this tension required careful choice in words and understand the dynamics in play. I used many of the theories involving group dynamics which I learned in my Theories and Models class to carefully approach these challenges and come to resolutions. Understanding how to approach individuals given their demeanor and biases was incredibly helpful in navigating this project successfully.
Finally, my successful internship experience would not have been possible without the knowledge I obtained during my spring Jepson Internship class. Getting real world advice about what to expect as an intern and was is expected of incoming interns was invaluable and allowed me to have hit the ground running when I began working. Our work during the Jepson EDGE Institute on navigating social situations which could arise during our internship experiences or in our careers was incredibly helpful. Understanding the write way to write emails, speak to my supervisors, and conduct myself in the office was essential in ensuring I put my best foot forward throughout the summer. I also found having access to my fellow students’ blog posts to be very helpful, as I can read about their experiences to see if there is anything I can learn and apply to my own work.
Looking back at my internship, I am very satisfied with how I performed, and the skills and experiences I obtained along the way. I appreciate the resources the Jepson School of Leadership Studies has put into place to aid its students in their search for an internship, and then prepare them for the internship so they can make positive impressions on their supervisors. I have made numerous professional contacts this summer which I hope will help me in my professional career as I plan for my future after graduation in May of 2020. I would not hesitate to contact the Comptroller’s Office next summer if I am in need of an internship as I hopefully prepare for law school, as I believe there is even more I can learn if I were to work at the Comptroller’s Office again next summer. When I began my search for an internship about a year ago, I did not expect at all to have learned as much as I have and be as confident as I am about my ability to exist in a professional workspace, but I am pleasantly surprised with how far I have come.