Tools to Take-Over!

Sawasdee everyone!

I am coming up on 360 hours of my internship this Friday! Technically I don't need to do anymore to graduate, but I am enjoying my time here so much and really enjoy my supervisors. It would be silly not to stay here and soak in as much experience (and sun) until the end of the semester! I am honestly going to miss the people who work at Verizon and my supervisors so much, once this is all over. I hope to keep in touch with them and continue being friends. I was really blessed when this door was opened for me!

A few tools and tips that I feel has made me pretty successful so far here in Tampa!

I bought a separate journal that I solely used for this internship. It helps me keep track of everything I need. Important times you want to whip it out are:

1. When your preceptor is giving you instructions. I made sure to write down how to locate a program/file/website or how to complete a duty/task in my journal to reference back to in case I forget. Especially in your first week, it can get a little overwhelming learning so many new things. I also keep important passwords and logins just in case I need to reference back to it.

2. Keep track of your progress/projects. I write down what I've done that week so I can figure out how to organize it and update my resume.

3. Contact information. If you are in charge of a big project, make sure you write down their contact information so you can continue to keep in touch. Any important people to email in charge of different departments or important last names to remember.

4. To do lists. If it weren't for my to-do lists I would be so lost during the day. My supervisors really trust me with different things including sometimes opening and closing by myself. I've been a key-holder since the first week ;) I have several little tasks to get done during the day and writing them down and checking them off as I go really helps me stay on track.

5. Thank yous. I am currently in the process of making a list of people to write thank you notes to before I leave. I have met so many people and many of them have been very helpful throughout this internship. Between copy/scanning/printing, cafe, IT, human resources, customer service, etc...so many different departments don't realize how much they mean to me in my learning experience here at Verizon. Being exposed to a corporate culture has been so great and I can't wait to share my appreciation!

6. Questions/Ideas. Write down your questions and ideas so you don't forget to ask or share them!

7. Say hello and introduce yourself to everyone. I try my best to make everyone feel welcome in the health and wellness center. When I'm walking through the call center or to the cafe, I greet everyone with a smile. I try to repeat someone's name 3x during a conversation to better remember their names.

8. Initiative. Take the initiative to do something outside of your comfort zone. Not only does this boost your confidence and makes you a better leader, but it's a learning experience and that's what an internship is about. So maybe something didn't work out the way you wanted to, maybe your approach was better or you can incorporate a different way to do something. It's all about progress, not perfection!

9. Ask how you're doing. I try to ask my supervisors at least once every 2 weeks what I can do to improve or just in general how I'm doing. They're very honest and I appreciate all their feedback. If I knew everything, then there would be no point in this internship right? Of course there's always room for growth and learning how to take constructive criticism is one of the best characteristics you can adopt in the professional world.

10. Clean! Sometimes cleaning up and making things neat gets noticed. It's the work that not many people pay attention to or want to do. Do it without being asked and you're on the right track!

I'm going to probably blow up the blog this week. I wanted to share my healthy delicious banana bread recipe, I have a personal view I came up with on my drive home from work today and I still need to share my projects!

It's 9PM EST in Florida and I have work bright and early tomorrow at 6AM! So sweet dreams everyone!

ciao xoxo,
Cheyenne Peluso