This project was both important for me and for the company. It was not extremely important to where if I didn't complete it the company would go under, but it still can cost them a lot of money if they go through with it. This is a multi million dollar purchase if they buy one for EVERY store. But it wasn't just important for the company. It also held importance for me as well. It really helped me with research skills and learning self advocacy. So I found that in the end it was VERY important for me to master those skills. My project just started off as a basic idea that would tell the company if an investment in digital signage was beneficial or not. I started off just thinking of course not. It is thousands of dollars for a tv screen. But as I started doing research I found i was completely wrong. As I developed an awareness of what digital signs were and the purpose they served, I realized I had to convince UPS to get one in each store. I started out by just researching and looking for other places that had digital signs. Then I did research for different companies to see which would be the best for the business. In the end I found a company that would be cheap and easy for UPS to use. *SPOILER* I did not know what I should then present because if I just gave a boring old presentation, no one would care and all my work would have been for nothing. So I thought to myself, what if I just put my whole presentation on a menu board and see how people would react to presenting info that way. Of course it is RIDICULOUS to get your point across on a poster board, which is what I am truly trying to show. No sane person wants to get info from a menu/poster board. They want digital so I decided I would print my whole presentation on a poster to really demonstrate how useless they are in this day and age. So I called Kinkos, but they didn't understand what I was trying to say. When I got into work the other day, 06-09-014, I asked my mentor what I should do. We then took a "fieldtrip" down to the printing room and I asked for what I wanted. Right away the man knew what I was talking abbout and a half hour later, he delivered a beautiful example of what I wanted. So my small vision of just saying they should not invest, turned into a full demonstrational powerpoint and presentation. Now I am just practicing my speech for the big presentation I have tomorrow in front of powerful business people. This experience was truly eye opening and life changing for me. when I thought of college and majors to study, I always just limited myself to film and acting. I never really thought I should go to school to strudy marketing, because I thoguht there was not much to it. That is just what I thought before coming to UPS. After sitting in on countless meetings and watching people scramble to complete national projects on time that could potentially make or break the company, I realized how much work and preperation everyone in the office has put into their jobs. I saw there is a very extensive vocabulary that I had never learned in school or life. These were terms that I would only learn through school and studyding marketing, or obviously interning in a marketing department. Because of this experience my view for studying college majors has been altered. I do love film and acting still, but if I do not find that is my passion in a year or so, I have found that I would love to major in business and perhaps take a marketing course to see if I want to pursure it for the rest of my life.
This course of internship has got me asking a lot of questions. Like, why is the corperate office so far and why can't converse be a professional shoe for a highschooler to wear. But the specfic marketing portion really has me questioning society. When I went to the presentation that UPS gave, I learned so much about marketing so fast. But one thing was WHY the ad reached out to people in certain ways. I still have no idea why, but I question, why did they use those colors? Why did they market to that age range, etc. Now when I watch tv and look at the ads I always wonder if they picked the actor specifically for a "certain look". Another thing I learned was the process for a radio ad. I had no idea, but they have five people come in to read a part for the commerical. They narrow down to the person who has the best voice and then they have to read the same script for hours at a time. I cannot imagine it to be "fun" to listen to one person say the same line over 500 times in one day. Now when I listen to radio ads, I think to myself, is that the sound they wanted? How many takes did they have to go through until they got what they had. A lot of the information I learned has catalyzed my interest in marketing. It is all around us and it is very interesting the way they can market something sub-consciously. Not only was my work as an intern fun, but it was genuinely beneficial for me. At times it did not even feel like work, with the help of my very entertaining mentor Sara. However it was not ALL fun and games in the office. I learned alot through the work I have completed at the UPS Store office.
A lot of the work I have done during this internship has been very beneficial to me and my educational career. I have had a great amount of responsibility come witht he work I have done for the company. The majority of the work I have done has either been online using my mentor's account, or logging onto websites that only certain employees have access to. I have also learned business world etiquette and professional dress that will help me with college, college internships and real world business situations. It had a big impact on my education because I learned skills to help me through the rest of my educational career, as well as flat out content that can and will help me in Senior year and college. There were a lot of business terms that were thrown around that I kept in the back of my mind to impress Mr. Hensley and Ms. Hollenbeck with. My project just started off as a basic idea that would tell the company if an investment in digital signage was beneficial or not. I started off just thinking of course not. It is thousands of dollars for a tv screen. But as I started doing research I found I was completely wrong. As I developed an awareness of what digital signs were and the purpose they served, I realized I had to convince UPS to get one in each store. I started out by just researching and looking for other places that had digital signs. Then I did research for different companies to see which would be the best for the business. In the end I found a company that would be cheap and easy for UPS to use. *SPOILER* I did not know what I should then present because if I just gave a boring old presentation, no one would care and all my work would have been for nothing. So I thought to myself, what if I just put my whole presentation on a menu board and see how people would react to presenting info that way. Of course it is RIDICULOUS to get your point across on a poster board, which is what I am truly trying to show. No sane person wants to get info from a menu/poster board. They want digital so I decided I would print my whole presentation on a poster to really demonstarte how useless they are in this day and age. So I called Kinkos, but they didn't understand what I was trying to say. When I got into work today, 06-09-014, I asked my mentor what I should do. We then took a "fieldtrip" down to the printing room and I asked for what I wanted. Right away the man knew what I was talking abbout and a half hour later, he delivered a beautiful example of what I wanted. So my small vision of just saying they should not invest, turned into a full demonstrational powerpoint and presentation. I was so excited to complete this project and I am happy and relieved I completed it. I have always loved to sell people things. Whether it be on a certain stand point or if it be selling magazines for a school contest. I never really thought of it as a major to study to turn it into a career. however after working in the marketing department at UPS, I realized I was wrong. Marketing is just a form of trying to sell something to a consumer. I was sitting in on a meeting and I made a suggestion that the designers took into consideration and I got this feeling of fulfillment because I helped critique a piece that will be seen all over America. I truly have fun with marketing and coming up with ideas that will target a very large audience. This has majorly influenced my idea of my college path. I have been worried that a career in film and acting may not work out, given that the average student switches their major three times. I always worried about a back-up. But by working at UPS I have found something I want to definitely minor in, if not major in. It is business marketing. I think I could do very well with keeping up with the trends and selling it to people all over the world.
At the office I have seen many hard working, diligent and dedicated employees. I have seen some with injuries who still work in the office, and managers busy with meetings the whole day. Not once have I seen someone slacking off or procrastinating their work. I am always seeing critique and feedback in the office, which I think is very similar to HTH. We always give kind specific and helpful critique on our projects. I think HTH ha prepared me for a career in marketing. We have been given project after project, and helping us learn the ways of working with a team and getting a project done. This is exactly like the work ethic of UPS. They all work together to accomplish a project for the marketing firm and check in with each other at least once a week to see how it is progressing. Everyone contributes something different; much like the idea behind projects at our school. I am very glad I was able to get into the habit of hard work and staying focused so that I am more prepared for the real world and college. One habit I have grown fond of is dressing professionally. I never took HTH's dress code seriously until now. I realized you need to dress for success, and I love to do it. It makes me feel professional and proud when I wear professional clothes. Overall this year at HTH and this month at UPS have been a great learning experience in more ways then I could have imagined. I have advocated for myself multiple times while working at the UPS Corporate office. When I got out of a meeting the other day, and I had nothing better to do, I asked one of the other interns in the office if she needed help. She brought me to the filing room to file different documents from each store location they have which is over 4700 stores. I was all ready to file but there was a complication with the system so I did not end up filing. On Memorial day weekend, I had monday off and my mentor offered the previous Friday off as well. I knew I wouldn't be working for four days and I felt that defeated the point of internship. So I asked David if there was any work I could do and asked him to email me any work he would like me to do. So he did and I completed the task all on my own. I honestly have not seen any other co-workers take initiative, but they all handle their own work very well. I think they are all forced to advocate for themselves because the boss of the office is pretty strict and so everyone gets their work done anyways.
I have followed every single tip expect getting to know my colleagues. I always ask for work if I am just sitting and my mentor is doing something else. I am always like that even in class so it was like a habit for me. I also bring my notebook into EVERY meeting, and I have a lot of meetings to go to. Even if I do not take any notes, I bring my notebook to look professional and seem like I will. It gives the impression that I want to be there and I am truly interested in learning more about the business. I do show up on time for everything. I always arrive before 9 which is the time that I am usually asked to go in. However I have never gotten here before my mentor which I want to do before internship is over to impress her. And last but not least I do dress more professional than most in the office. I wear slacks, dress shoes, a button down and a belt everyday. On special occasions I will wear a tie and a suit jacket, but that is very rare. |
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