Always be a Professional
People always told me, the purpose of an internship is the knowledge you take from that particular learning experience. I couldn’t agree more with that, except the type of knowledge I gained was something that I never expected to learn through my internship. To me, I always thought that this experience would supply me with tangible knowledge that I would take with me to apply to the real world, but I found the most important knowledge learned to be something else. Not only will I take the tangible knowledge with me as I go, but most importantly I will take something that I never thought I would from an internship, and that is, improving my work ethic as well as gaining knowledge about office etiquette.
I’m so thankful for the knowledge I’ve gained by applying what I do in the classroom to the work I do at my internship, but I’m most thankful for the knowledge that I have gained that can’t be learned in a classroom. No matter how stressed I get a work, I know it will someday benefit me. Some days I walk in, and I already have 5 different things to do for 5 different people, who all seem to think that their needs are first priority, and I’m clearly stuck in a pickle. Through this stressful situation, I’ve learned to designate my priorities, set a timed schedule, and communicate with my colleagues. These are attributes that someday will apply no matter where future will take me.
Office etiquette is also something that I have always downplayed. I always viewed myself as a polite person, and to me I thought that was all I needed. But this is also something that can’t be learned in the classroom. From sending emails, to communicating with colleagues, to simply introducing yourself is all very important in any workplace. This is all where office etiquette is instilled. It doesn’t matter how good of a worker you are, if you send an email that is perceived to be unprofessional or rubs someone the wrong way, that could be damaging to one’s image and perception in the office.
To conclude, it’s not always the tangible knowledge that the most important, sometimes it’s more about the little things. As for my experience, I’m truly thankful for learning these “little things”. These “little things” are what I will take with me and one day standout from others, and I can’t express the gratitude I have for what I’ve learned.
