Back Again!

Hello!

See? I told you you'd be hearing from me a lot more often. I'm back to talk even more about how much I love my internship!

I know what you're probably thinking. "Ok, so they certainly make it seem like you're important. And you're doing things that matter. But anyone could tweet or post blogs, so it's really just your time they value and not you specifically, right?" Wrong!  Today I'm going to tell you a story that proves otherwise.

It was a Monday, about halfway through the semester, and I'd officially been an intern for about four months (since November). It happened to be a day where not a whole lot of people were in the office, and my boss was in a lunch meeting. So another person who works for the company, specifically the CSO (the S is for strategy), asked me to join him and another employee for lunch. I was surprised because I didn't think the CSO liked me very much, but didn't want to pass up because I knew it'd be a great networking opportunity (and everyone at GW has an undeclared minor in networking).

So we walked to Potbelly together and met with another employee, in charge of customer relations, who'd only been working with the company for about a week. She spent a lot of the time we were eating asking questions about the company and our product in an attempt to better understand it. Then she said that she was working on a project for my boss but needed some help with it, and asked a question about how exactly our product works and how we can sell it. The CSO, who gives sales pitches once or twice a week, gave her a thorough answer. And then they both turned to me.

To put it lightly, I was shocked. "I'm just an intern," I thought. "Why do they care what I think?" But it turns out they did. Not only did she listen to my suggestions, but she even wrote them down. And agreed that some of them were really good! Although, admittedly, I didn't have a whole lot left to say after the CSO had given all of his suggestions.

And this wasn't a one-time fluke due to inexperience. Since then I've been asked a lot of questions about important things, by multiple people in the company. Just yesterday morning I spent about an hour discussing the future of our product and how I thought it could be improved.

The point is, just because you're an intern doesn't mean you don't matter. And even bigger, when you get an internship in DC, you're not just getting a volunteer coffee-getting position. You're going to be actively involved in the place you're interning for, learning and growing, and if you're lucky helping your company/organization do the same!

And hey. Sometimes my boss even offers to get me coffee. :-)

Until next time!
Jennifer

I'm Back!

Hey Guys!

I know, it's been forever since I've written anything. I'm sorry! It's because I was super busy in April coordinating Admitted Student Days and tours for all of you lovely people, and then all of a sudden it was exam time! But I'm back! And I'll be blogging a lot this summer, so you'll start hearing from me MUCH more often. Starting now. :-)

For the next few posts I want to write about my internship. You know, that thing where you get coffee for people in the office a couple hours a week. Except not at my internship. Not at any GW student's internship, really, but I can only tell you about mine.

I love my internship. And the reason for that is my company actually does a really good job of making me feel important! Exhibit A:

 

Me, having a title and a section on the "Team" page of our website

And it goes beyond just giving me an official title and letting me be recognized on the website - it continues through their actions, too. Are the things I do on a daily basis (tweeting, scouring through HR blogs, updating databases) always fascinating? No. But are they important to the company? Yes. And are they valuable to my learning? Absolutely.

For example, from having read over 200 human resources-related blog posts, I now know more about HR than I ever thought I would, being an engineer. And my work on our Twitter account has directly led to our followers growing to five times as many as we had when I first started! Even the blog posts I've written (yes, sometimes I blog for them too) have been pretty popular, and my boss makes a point of showing me the page views.

But the best part? I believe in what I do. Rather than getting paid the stipend they were originally planning on giving me, I'm actually going to be getting $500 worth of stock in the company. Now THAT'S cool.

Look for part two of me talking about how much I love my internship within the next few days. :-)

Until next time!
Jennifer

Oh Hey There!

Hello! :-)

My name is Jennifer Titche, and I'm a sophomore in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences majoring in Systems Engineering with a minor in Computer Science, in the University Honors Program, and planning to do a five-year B.S./M.S. degree in Engineering Management. I guess you could say I'm a bit of an over-achiever.

When I came to GW, I was 100% positive that I wanted to graduate and then go on to be a Foreign Service Officer with the State Department, so I actually started as a freshman in the Elliott School of International Affairs. I was going to major in International Affairs with a triple concentration in International Politics, Latin America, and the Middle East, with a minor in History (see? Told you I'm an over-achiever!) And then one day during finals I woke up and decided I wanted to be an engineer instead. So I transferred! I loved the Elliott School and everything it had to offer, but I also love GW Engineering. And while I do still want to be in the Foreign Service, I've learned that I have plenty of other options as well! Right now I'm thinking maybe human resources or management consulting. Or maybe even higher ed - I could be an admissions director one day!

Speaking of admissions... I spend a lot of time there. I'm half in charge of running our Student Admissions Representative program (our tour guides). You guys already know my co-coordinator, Brandon. I set up all of our classroom and overnight visits, so if you're interested in either shoot me an email at gwvisit@gwu.edu! But I'll also be spending this summer working in the office and giving tours along with fellow bloggers Brandon and Amy.

My growing collection of admissions name tags. :-) 

And admissions isn't the only thing I do. I've also had three internships in my time here at GW, the most recent with a start-up company based in Dupont Circle called EmployInsight. I'm our Community Outreach Specialist, which means I spend a lot of time with our social media - namely tweeting and blogging. But I've also been able to learn a ton about start-ups (from being a part of one) and human resources (because our product is a hiring tool). It's been a great experience, and I wouldn't trade it for the world! It's a huge part of what got me interested in human resources consulting.

As if that isn't enough, I'm also looking to start a flash mob student organization on campus, because I firmly believe that the world would be better if people sang and danced more often. Though I will admit, progress on that has been a bit slow. And, believe it or not, I have friends as well! The way I see it, if you're getting enough sleep every night in college, you just aren't doing it right. :-)

Finally, congratulations to all of you who were recently admitted! I'm looking forward to meeting many of you at our April Admitted Student Days (April 9th, 13th, 16th, and 23rd - I highly recommend them!), and blogging for/with the rest of you.

Hasta luego!

(...ok, clearly I need to work on this send off thing.)