Photo Source: FanPop.com
Hello Internet, I’m Laine Riley, a recent Cal Poly business marketing grad, and I’m working at LEVEL as an intern in Client Services. I actually secured this internship the day before I graduated (and let me tell you, I was freaking out over employment big time).
I’ve held part time jobs and other internships before, but this position is the most important internship I’ve ever had – important in the sense that people are actually relying on my work. And because this is my first full time job ever!
Since I graduated only about a month ago, it’s still a little easy to compare work to college. For you kids still going to school (aww, so young) or even those still looking for some sort of employment (you can do it!), I want people to know what changes when entering the workplace:
- You have “class” every day. At 8:30 am. And it sure is one long day of class.
But if you’re a few minutes late, there’s no one standing by your desk ready to dock your pay – like some professors I know who would start to lower grades the more often you were late.
It’s still a bad impression if you’re coming in late all the time, but it’s nice to have a little flex time for those “just in case” days.
And hey! No homework! So worth 8 hours of class. - But if you don’t do your “homework,” or I guess, “classwork…”
People want an explanation. But bosses actually understand when you say you have too much on your plate and didn’t have enough time. Again, no docked pay, no being fired.
It’s stranger for me because I’m asked to set my own deadlines. Come on! Just tell me when it’s due, I can totally do that! Otherwise I set my deadlines too far out, to give myself enough time that failure’s impossible, while focusing so intensely on my projects that I complete my work an entire week early. Whoops. But I’m getting the hang of it. - And if you don’t feel like going to “class” that day…
Ugh… so early. The sun just came up. It’s not like there’s a midterm today… I’m just going to sleep in a little bit more and skip it all.
No, no, no, it doesn’t work like now. Sure, there are sick and vacation days and all that fun stuff, but you aren’t allowed to ditch anymore. Your “professors” care where you are. They are relying on you to work, because they seriously need you.
And hey, if you don’t come into work, you don’t get paid.
This totally makes me look like I was a big slacker in college. But I was actually that girl who never missed class, was always on time and turned in all of my assignments. And if you already have that mindset in school, you’ll probably do great in whatever job you get next. LEVEL is always hiring…
And I would like to leave off with a quote from The Office, since I feel like so much like Ryan some days (Temp Ryan, not Corporate Ryan):
Dwight: Everyone, okay? Uh, I have an announcement. Apparently, in business school, they don’t teach you how to operate a toaster oven. Because some smart, sexy temp left his cheese pita on oven instead of timing it for the toaster thing.
Michael: Wow. Okay. Well, I guess they don’t teach how to operate a toaster oven in business school.
Dwight: That’s exactly what I said.
Michael: Hey, did you miss that day there, Ryan?
Dwight: Were you absent?
Michael: Toaster Oven 101?
