Becoming the blogger.

Ideas for a witty and insightful blog...

     - A day in the life of...an intern.

     - One step down the career ladder – two steps up. The oldest interns story.

     - Budget planning...intern style!

Now as excited and thankful I am for the opportunity that my new internship provides me, I am sure you will agree that none of the above titles sound like anything close to a ‘thrilling read’.

My conclusion therefore is this:

BLOGGING IS HARD!

I don’t want you to misunderstand me. I enjoy a well written and articulate blog as much as the next person. A friend of mine recently wrote about the perils of riding the London underground at peak times and I admit I found it entertaining...honestly.

My struggle is not with the blog but with becoming the blogger; the transition from the reading to the writing. Now the temptation is to simply write very minimal text and fill the body of the blog with wonderful and captivating images to distract the reader from the poorly written and slightly drab content.

NO...fight this temptation!

Again; don’t get me wrong images are not the enemy! I like to think of them like the packet of chocolate hobnobs (the king of all biscuits in my humble opinion) in the break room. One or even two of these with your afternoon cuppa are fine but after that point you must step away and cut yourself off so not to overindulge.

Then there’s the pressure. I am almost positive that most if not all of my fellow interns feel this, the pressure to make your blog interesting or amusing or just that it does not make the reader wish they were getting their ear drum damaged by the most awkward customer in the world instead of reading this.

I unfortunately have not yet discovered a remedy for this and simply hope that it will subside in time. If I do devise some blogging anxiety coping mechanism then I will share it with you all; fear not!

Other than ‘the pressure’ I have aforementioned I also find it extremely arduous to make detailed observations and convey them to the blogging world. How to make the mundane exciting...what is the secret?!

Is there some secret blogging for dummies guide that can help me in my quest? If there is I have not yet purchased a copy. I even feel I should apologise to my reader if I have not provided an informative glimpse into my first forays into the world of blogging. No I’m holding my ground and staying strong. I do not apologise and I even think that actually writing a blog has been some what of a cathartic experience...again – honestly!

However, if you do wish me to say sorry all I ask is that you take a few more minutes and keep ‘reading’...

        Thanks everyone!

The first 3 weeks

Hi, I’m Andy Coates and hopefully this will be the first of many blogs during my time as a Fire and Ice intern!

I’m a few weeks into my 6 months here and I've had a brilliant and interesting time already. The nerves of starting a new job were quickly overcome by the friendliness of my colleagues here and they have all made it easy to settle into the job.

The first stumbling block I had to overcome was the early mornings. 3 years of being a student has taken its toll on me and having to set my alarm and be up for half 6 was definitely a shock to the system. I have to say I've never drunk so much coffee in my life!

 

2 coffees and I'm slightly more awake

So far I've learnt a lot about the events industry and am finding it really interesting. As well as events specifically, this is my first real experience working in an Office environment and there’s definitely a big difference to my previous work places. For one, I haven’t done much phone training in a business environment. Although it sounds like a fairly mundane thing, I could see the fear in all the intern’s eyes as the first couple of phone’s started to ring, and even recording my voice mail message took a couple of attempts.

 

The dreaded phone

All the interns have been getting to know the company and having Q&A sessions with different departments has given an insight into what happens day to day in the Office, as well as how each department work with each other. It’s really helped me understand the overall process of organising an event and the different elements which are involved in the running of a successful company.

So, the first few weeks have gone great and I can’t wait for the months ahead. I’m off to Sandhurst for my first taste of a live event and am looking forward to what the day will entail. Lots of hard work I’m sure! I’ll make sure I post details of the event on our twitter (@FireIceInterns) and maybe even another blog.

 https://twitter.com/FireIceInterns 

 Follow us interns on twitter for daily updates of what we're getting up to!

I want to say another thank you to everyone in the office for making the first 3 weeks enjoyable and I’m sure over the next 5 months there’s going to be a lot more early mornings, hard work and definitely more searching for the cheapest lunch in Brighton!

The struggle of being an Intern

Hi my name is Bascilia Greene-Manja. I have just started my internship at Office Christmas as an Event Co-ordinator. When you start a new job, especially an internship that you really want, its scary. 
You do not want to mess up, you want to impress and show that you are the right person for the job.

I am usually seen as:

      

However,

 My first two weeks have not been going well:

•   Being late
•  Not understanding the tasks given which lead to me feeling frustrated. I then started to lose concentration and self confidence. Especially when my colleagues understood and were picking it up so easily.

•  I started putting myself under more pressure
• Scared of asking questions
• Wanting to give up
•  Doubting myself

The bad things I didn't want to happen were happening; 

I felt like I was in a nightmare that I wanted to wake up from.

A voice in my head saying:

    

 WELCOME TO THE REAL WORKING WORLD

BASCILIA

After confiding to my mum and good friends, they all told me to:

·         Relax

·         Have more confidence in yourself

·         Try harder as this is what you want

·         Fight for it

                                                   

NOT PHYSICALLY FIGHTING! LOOOL

15-7-2013

This week I woke up with a new attitude. Which is to:

•  Try my hardest  
• Work at my own pace
• Take notes
• Try and remember the tasks set
• Know a bit more about the tasks and the job
• Focus and work harder

YEAH! I feel like I am achieving these and I am now relaxed and comfortable at work and being myself.

I know I still have a long way to go but I have taken the right steps to achieve my goals.

Useful tips for other interns that are in the same position as me:

I know what your thinking, its easier said than done. If I can do it you can as I have never had any office, computer or telephone experience. I am willing to learn, so I started picking up calls  and taking bookings frequently to get confident and if I didn't know sometthing (which is often) I  ASK QUESTIONS.
Don't be shy, do it as you will learn faster. 

When I am under pressure, my brain blanks out and I find it hard to remember things. I was never an exam type of person, so taking little tests about what I have learnt during the week really scared me as I am a visual learner and love asking questions frequently as that's how I get to understand the task. If you are just like me, at the weekends or during your free time, revise on what you have learnt .

I hope I have been an inspiration.

BASCILIA GREENE-MANJA