Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

The Struggle in Refraining to Over Water My Seeds

Friday June 15th, 2018, marked the end of the second week in my internship with StreetLight Data. In working for a data collection consulting company specialized in transportation, many aspects of my job include tasks and knowledge that Babson has not entirely prepared me for, such as privacy screening of our LBS data to ensure the data is de-identified. Therefore, much of my journey so far has included plenty of training. In addition to working directly with the VP of Privacy, I have done much work in sales transactions, inspecting of public sector proposals for unappealing language, research into plenty of StreetLight Data projects, including our work with the Alphabet Inc. in Toronto and Uber’s Skyport, and research into projects I am not allowed to disclose.

 

Although I am very grateful of StreetLight’s substantial trust in my ability, not entirely knowing all aspects of StreetLight Data’s market could be very frustrating. I have participated in many meetings where I am powerless due to a new facet of this data collection market arising, and therefore must research and understand this new aspect before having the ability to share my findings. However, upon speaking to the VP of Privacy, I became aware of the commonality of this learning process, and the importance of not becoming frustrated at this powerless feeling, but rather being patient in my growth. Hence the title, my largest lesson in my first two weeks working with StreetLight is learning to become patient with my learning process, rather than frustrated that I do not entirely understand the market. A man who over waters his seeds suffers when the season for harvesting finally arrives.