Using Excel… to excel

My experience at Harmelin has been extremely valuable to my education. I’ve gained many new skills and have a deeper understanding of the media planning/buying processes. By far the best skill I am learning is the use of Excel (hence the title) through daily projects. Like most students, I am only really familiar with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Knowing that I was never properly taught how to use Excel, presented a huge set back for me since Harmelin uses spreadsheets for everything. This worried me a little since I am asked daily, “do I know how to this or that in Excel?” However, being on a team who functions as a team, they give me a quick tutorial and then, I am ready to go.

On my second day as an intern, I was assisting on planning and buying for TV and then actually got to perform a buy (under supervision of course). This was a huge moment to me because I was new and already assisting in the main processes of the company. Another major/tedious assignment I was involved in was contacting client representatives to collect data and organize it by specific categories in an Excel spreadsheet. I never understood the importance of Excel until I started my internship. Now, I don’t know how I will ever function without it.

This internship with Harmelin has exceeded my expectations. I was not expecting to jump right in on client projects and tackling them on my own. Most importantly, exposure to a professional setting has opened the door to a new reality beyond the classroom. In class, you are given assignments, deadlines, and grades. In the real world, you are given assignments, deadlines, but no grade. In class you are walked through the steps of the assignment. In the real world, you have to go the extra mile and figure out the steps on your own. That is just what Harmelin has shown me to do. I am provided with the resources, given the tasks, and then, it is up to me to figure out the best way to execute it.

Strategy. Solutions. Success. That’s the Harmelin way.