The Very Laid Back Employer
I need to get to my music industry internship every morning at 10:30am. That said, if I get there a little later – it’s really not a big deal. If I’m not feeling like making the 15 minute walk over to the office, I’m welcome to work form my apartment, or the Pavement Coffehouse nearby.
I have a number of tasks and long term projects that I am working on, largely revolving around completing promotions and marketing for shows that our bands are playing, or that we are sponsoring. I also create content to post on the Engage section of our website, and post on various social medias. Occasionally I research plane tickets, or “end of night transportation options.” I DJ before bands play at The Brighton Music Hall from time to time, and talk to important people within the industry. All in all, it’s exactly what I signed up for, and is really not very hard.
That being said, I’ve found a lot of it incredibly difficult. Before I arrived at Babson I engrossed myself in the world of theatre – where deadlines and perfectionism are valued above all else, and those who arrive 5 minutes late are scorned or simply cut out of the show. After arriving to Babson, I found the cultures I was a part of to be similar. You did your work, well and on time, or you got a poor evaluation. Super simple.
But that isn’t how it is here. The attitude of my supervisors is largely pretty lassiez faire. As long as I get my basic, daily tasks done (which take usually one to two hours out of my 7 hour day), what I do thereafter is mostly up to my own interpretation of the tasks at hand. This has been challenging for me as a person who generally is used to having strict dictation as to what my tasks should be, and when they should be done by.
That being said, this has also given me a lot more confidence and drive to go above and beyond in the tasks I’m given, and to really make myself stand out. Ultimately, I believe it is a good thing, but it certainly is taking some getting used to.