Friday, July 24, 2015

Think About It - One More Time

Please respond to this question when you have wrapped up your internship.

For the past four weeks, you have been deeply involved in the world of work. You have been immersed in a corporate culture, shadowed professionals, chatted with co-workers, and tried out many new "hats." What did it all mean?

In the proverbial "25 words or less"  (okay, maybe 50 words), distill the essence of your internship experience.  What meant the most to you?
  Maybe your mentor made a comment that really resonated. Perhaps it was something you observed in your co-workers that provided you with a "eureka moment." A task that seemed mundane when assigned may have proved to be profound in a way you never expected.

Whatever it is, tell us what you will take away from PRIME 2015.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Think About It - week 3

To respond to this week's post, try to pay conscious attention to the corporate culture at your internship for a day or two. Corporate culture refers to the "personality" of an organization. It defines "how things are done around here." Corporate culture guides the way employees think, act, and feel at work. A good fit between an employee and the culture of his or her workplace almost guarantees success and happiness, and - one could argue - may make the difference between a job and a career. 

Please read the short  article entitled "Uncovering a Company's Corporate Culture" at http://www.quintcareers.com/employer_corporate_culture.html


The author argues that companies can deliberately build a culture that will attract the type of employees they want and help their organizations survive and grow.  At the end of the article, he gives links to some companies that brag about their employee-friendly cultures.  He and other authors I've read maintain that when interviewing for a job, the culture of the workplace is one of the most important things to notice. 

Choose two or three of the components of culture mentioned by Mr. Hansen and describe your internship's culture in these areas.  Then note how this culture fits with what you would look for in a work environment.  All else being equal (in other words, if the work were the kind of work you wanted to do), is this the place for you?

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Group Day Reflections - July 15

Take a few minutes, please, to reflect on the time we spent at at the Arlington County Courts and Police Building yesterday. Choose one important, interesting and/or new idea, fact, or bit of information you learned during the morning. Spend a few sentences explaining why you chose to write about that item.  (You do not need to respond to anyone else's comment, unless you feel you must.)

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Calendar Post- logistics for July 15

Wednesday, July 15 will be a PRIME group day.  All PRIME summer interns will report to the Career Center instead of their internship sites.  Your mentor should be aware of this, but please remind him or her on Monday just to be certain. 

We will gather in the Commons at 8:30 am in order to be at the Arlington Courthouse by 9:00 am. The bus will leave at 8:40 - no exceptions.  Please dress appropriately for a courtroom setting.  At the same time, we will be doing quite a bit of walking throughout the day, so be sure your shoes are comfortable.  Plan to travel light, as we must go through the Courthouse screening devices.  I will collect all our cell phones and lock them safely in a locker at the jail while we are at the Courthouse, as phones will not be allowed inside and the bus is not staying with us.  As far as anything else is concerned, if you are not sure it will pass inspection, please do not bring it.


The agenda for the day includes a meeting with Court officials, Courtroom observations with debriefings by the sitting judges, a panel of Court officials, and a brief tour of the detention center.  We will eat lunch in the Courthouse area before the bus picks us up.  

Friday, July 10, 2015

Think About It - week 2

Respond to this post after you have spent at least one full week at your internship. If you like, start your post with a few sentences summarizing your tasks so far. Devote the remainder of your response to this "thinking assignment":

Choose an adult who works with you at your internship. This might be your mentor, but it may be someone else at your work site. Discover the official title of the job he or she holds. Write a short paragraph about the day-to-day tasks you observe this person doing. Include your opinion about the level of satisfaction he or she seems to derive from the job. You may base your opinion on your own observations and/or on conversations with the person you are observing. Is this satisfaction intrinsic to the job itself or related more to job environment, co-workers, etc.?  Is it, perhaps, most related to the person's outlook on life? 


In your last paragraph, consider briefly whether this job is something you could imagine yourself doing as a career.  As you justify your answer, are you at all surprised by what you "hear yourself saying"?  Do you think your answer to the question would be the same if this job were located somewhere else (i.e., in a different type of business or in a different city)?

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Group Day Reflections - July 8

Take a few minutes, please, to reflect on the time we spent at ESRI. Choose one important, interesting and/or new idea, fact, or bit of information you learned during the morning. Spend a few sentences explaining why you chose to write about that item.  (You do not need to respond to anyone else's comment, unless you feel you must.)

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Calendar post - logistics for July 8

Wednesday, July 8 is a PRIME group/SDV day.  All PRIME summer interns will report to the Career Center instead of their internship sites.  Your mentor should be aware of this, but please remind him or her on Monday just to be certain. 

We will gather in the Commons at 8:30 am in order to be at ESRI by 9:00 am. The bus will leave at 8:40 - no exceptions. Dress for this field trip is business casual: Khakis or similar pants with collared shirts  for the gentlemen and skirts/ dress pants or summer dresses for the ladies.  No shorts or jeans for anyone, please.  


At ESRI, which is a web applications center in Rosslyn, we will break into smaller groups for a tour and some hands-on work with GIS.  Be sure to bring your iPad or other mobile device, so you're not just sitting and watching.  It would be a good idea to check out ESRI's web site - http://dc.esri.com/ - before Wednesday so you have an idea of what you might see and perhaps have some general questions in mind.  There will be plenty of time for Q&A after the tour.

We'll come back to the Career Center before lunch, so you can bring your lunch in a cooler type bag and leave it here or hit one of the fast food places near by.  SDV 100 will start promptly at 1:00 pm and run until 4:00 pm.  

This is an informational post only.  No need to post a response.