When I first accepted my internship
with Shoshanna, a women and baby girl’s clothing designer, I had no idea what
to expect. The entire office is made up of only sixteen people so I knew I
would be helping every department but I didn’t know how I would balance
everyone’s need. After working there for a week and a half I find that this is
in fact the hardest part of the job to navigate. I find that one of my greatest
weaknesses so far has been my inability to say no to my coworkers. Always
wanting to help the next person who asks for my assistance it can be hard when
I am already working on a project and I am forced to say no until I finish my
current job. However with this challenge also comes the ability to learn from
everyone in the office and the chance to try my hand in every area of the
company. Despite only being in the office for a week and a half working with different
departments has exposed me to many different aspects of the business.
The first task I received only ten
minutes after arriving on my first day was to go out for the public relations
team (that already had a photo shoot well underway) and pick out flowers that
would appear in the photo shoot with the models. With little instruction other
then the fact that the flowers needed to be white, I was sent out not only to
find appropriate flowers but also find a flower shop as no one in the office
knew of the closest one. After a moment of panic I was able to find the closest
flower shop with the help of a kind person on the street and return quickly
with flowers that were perfect for the shoot.
On the other side of the office
later that day the production team had me working on what they call “tech
specs”, which are detailed packets of information used for ensuring garments
are made the way they are intended. Due to their detailed nature it took a few
tries to get the hang of everything that needed to be included but now I can
complete them thoroughly in less then ten minutes.
Since my first day the range of
tasks and responsibilities given to me has only continued to grow to the point
where I could never include everything in one post! Everyday is packed with
wide range of projects that can get backed up while waiting for the proper
attention. Luckily the women in my office are all very understanding and are
always looking for an opportunity to help me learn; otherwise so many different
tasks would easily become overwhelming. I look forward to sharing more with you
as my projects become more involved and I find what department I love the most
(so far I am really enjoying what the PR and e-commerce girls are doing but you
never know how things can change!)
Gina
It's awesome that you get to work with such a small team, I definitely value my internship with the smaller magazine, Galore, rather than the larger Michael Kors. I do completely understand how it can be hard balancing tasks, it gets awkward when you are in the middle of something and another employee asks you to do something else. It sounds like you are getting to be involved in so many different areas of the company, which is really nice because hopefully you will see what you like the best at the end of the six months and know where to look for careers in the future!
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