On Your Own
With all the challenges of going into an internship, it gets a lot harder when your mentor is out of the office on your second full week in. Despite all the hurdles I faced and the fear I initially had, I was able to learn so much in the week my mentor was out. Being more independent taught me multiple things. To start with, it taught me that there is still so much more to learn about the job than what I have learned during my past year. For instance, in terms of job searches, I definitely struggled making sure that I was using the right key words in doing my searches for jobs. However, with the help of other recruiters and having to do it on my own I definitely have learned on what should be used for specific job orders and roles. In addition, I was also faced with the challenge of not being able to ask my mentor questions I had right away with specific leads and job order questions. This in turn taught me to focus on really figuring out what information is needed for each specific type of lead. Although there are times where I still mix them up, I feel I have definitely gotten a better grasp on things.
It definitely feels great to have my mentor back in the office, but I can also see how much I have improved in the time he was gone. Today, I am able to conduct my own job searches and have learned different ways to modify my searches to either be more specific to the job or to be more specific towards skill sets, certifications, etc. Although I appreciated the challenge of being independent, I have realized how much I still have to learn and am excited to do so with the help of my mentor and others at the company.