Week 1: Organizational Culture

Last week I started my internship at O’Neill and Associates, a government relations and strategic communications firm. They have offices in Boston and Washington D.C but have not returned to the office yet, so my internship is remote. When we are not in organized Zoom meetings, we communicate throughout the day through email and Microsoft Teams. I am in a Microsoft Teams group specifically for interns, a company-wide group, and a group with my mentors. 

Before officially starting my internship, I participated in an orientation led by my supervisor, who walked me and the three other interns through basic policies and expectations. So far I have not had a lot of interaction with the other interns because we are all assigned to different mentors, but starting next week we will be having weekly meetings as a group with our supervisor. During these check in meetings, different staff members will be coming in to talk more about their roles and answer any questions. My supervisor was an intern at O’Neill and Associates herself and has been running the internship program since she started full-time 15 years ago. She has really made an effort to be available to us throughout the day in case we have any questions and has put together a document called “Advice for Interns” that any employee can add to. Along with my supervisor, who is in charge of the internship program as a whole, I have two mentors, both of whom are also former O’Neill and Associates interns. I have a regularly scheduled check-in meeting with my mentors each morning to go over my tasks for the day, and we usually meet more informally a few more times throughout the day. I also participate in any client meetings that either of my mentors is involved in. 

Although I have only been here for a week, from what I have observed so far the environment at O’Neill and Associates is very collaborative and welcoming despite there technically being a hierarchy. For example, at the end of my intern orientation, the CEO and COO, who are husband and wife, joined the meeting to introduce themselves. They asked us questions about ourselves and seemed genuinely interested in getting to know us. In most meetings that I have participated in, there is usually one or two people who lead the meeting, but everyone is acknowledged and encouraged to share their ideas. Even though one of my mentors is more senior than the other, they interact with one another in a very friendly and informal way. Many of the employees that I have met so far have been working here for a very long time, which I think demonstrates a high level of employee satisfaction.