Every week, each intern chooses a new prompt to answer in a blog. Each of my blogs is titled with the number that correlates to the prompt I answered.
1. A CAPStone Internship is more than just doing some job for the 2nd semester of your senior year, it is an investigation of the industry of which you are a part. So to get the ball rolling for you, write about what your initial/preconceived idea of the industry is/was before you started working for your particular company/organization. If you have a point of delineation for where this perspective started, include it. (For example, maybe your initial understanding of this industry stems back to the fact that your aunt or grandfather was involved in it and he spoke about it at the dinner table or at family gatherings.)
2. Do research on your industry. Investigate websites of competitors or sister branches, find articles published about your industry in the past few months, then the past few years, then as far back as you can find. What does each say about itself? What do others say about it? Is there a disconnect, or are they in line with each other? Discuss the article/site/video generally first, then in relation to what you learned about your industry from it.
3. How does this industry sustain itself economically? Is it a per-client industry? A commission business? A non-profit (and if a non-profit, what do you know/understand about how it is able to operate/generate revenue)? A sales industry? A grant or government-funded business? How does knowing how a business generates revenue affect your perspective of that industry? (If you don’t know, find out.)
4. What is the general employee attitude at your internship? Are the people driven by their work? Do they seem more interested in socializing/gossiping? Is there an air of respect for the job and the people who do it? Do people see this as “just a job,” and if so, how does this attitude influence their daily tasks within the job? Is this a job whose employees make you want to be a part of it?Reflect!
5. Interview at least three different people at your industry. If there are not enough people on site, then find people who are elated or work in union with the job. (For instance, maybe the site you’re at only has two or three other people, but you can find someone with whom they deal/associate regularly. Interview that person.) Get them to narrate the industry for you. These will be some of the most revealing, and genuine, responses to your project, so prepare your interviews and listen well.
6. What is the general public’s knowledge about your industry? How do they perceive the company as well as the people who do the work within the company? How do you know? Try creating a survey to find out, or use interviews and ask around.
7. What is the goal of your industry? Customer satisfaction? Expansion? Profit? Research? How do you know? Is it static, or does it change?
8. No doubt, as you live this life for several months, there are bound to be interesting stories that occur to you and to the people around you. Select a story that sticks out to you from your time on the job so far (Note: it doesn’t have to be strictly in the office or on site) and recall it. Why’d you pick this moment? Is it symbolic/expressive of your industry, or uncharacteristic? (Try to avoid pointless stories like, “At work today, Stevie was sweeping the floor and he totally tripped over a wastebasket. I was laughing for like two hours!” Instead, consider this tale: “It was 10:30am and I was walking through the cubicles toward the water cooler where I noticed that four employees were napping at their work desks.” Think about what that might mean? Are they overworked? Does the industry demand too much from them? Are they bored by the inane repetition and lack of creativity demanded from them by their job? These are stories that reveal.)
9. What does it mean to be an employee of a company/group/industry? Declare your definition here. Then, reflect on it.
10. Who inspires you at your job? What about him/her do you find inspiring? Who, if anyone, disappoints you? Why?
11. Sometimes there can be a rather fine line between work and play. How does your industry attempt to play? Is it productive? Should it (does it have to) be?
12. All of you should have time to have lunch at your jobs--it’s part of your worker rights. What’s lunchtime like? Do you eat with employees, or do you eat on your own? Do employees eat together regularly, or must they eat what they can when they can? How does the way lunchtime is treated at your job reflect the job itself?
13. Paint a (written) picture of your job using all of your senses. What does it smell like there? What are the characteristic ambient sounds? The most notable images/sights? Textures? Can you ‘taste’ your job? (For example, as a teacher, one of my favorite sound/smell combinations is when I assign students an in-class essay and tell them to “Get to it!” For an hour all I hear is a relative quiet littered with the quiet clacking of fingers on keys, mingled with the warm, slightly acrid waft of toner as it prepares to spew out students’ work. It’s paradise! I sit in my seat, close my eyes, and just revel in it.)
14. Answer the following question in relation to your industry: Is there an endpoint to learning at your job? Do you want there to be? Whatever you choose, explain your answer.
15. Does your industry take pains to take care of the little things? How/why not? (Interpret how you see fit, but the more you think about this question, the better your answer will be.)
16. What food and beverage symbolize your company/industry? Now get profound: turn it into a short story or a personal essay.
17. How would the world be different if your industry didn’t exist, or if it were to somehow disappear? Speculate and ponder.
18. Who were you the night before you started your internship? Who are you as you walk off site at the end of your last day? What’s changed? If you could go back in time to talk to the you you were the night before it all started, what would you say to your past self? Would your past self be impressed with / proud of your future self? How come/why not?
1. A CAPStone Internship is more than just doing some job for the 2nd semester of your senior year, it is an investigation of the industry of which you are a part. So to get the ball rolling for you, write about what your initial/preconceived idea of the industry is/was before you started working for your particular company/organization. If you have a point of delineation for where this perspective started, include it. (For example, maybe your initial understanding of this industry stems back to the fact that your aunt or grandfather was involved in it and he spoke about it at the dinner table or at family gatherings.)
2. Do research on your industry. Investigate websites of competitors or sister branches, find articles published about your industry in the past few months, then the past few years, then as far back as you can find. What does each say about itself? What do others say about it? Is there a disconnect, or are they in line with each other? Discuss the article/site/video generally first, then in relation to what you learned about your industry from it.
3. How does this industry sustain itself economically? Is it a per-client industry? A commission business? A non-profit (and if a non-profit, what do you know/understand about how it is able to operate/generate revenue)? A sales industry? A grant or government-funded business? How does knowing how a business generates revenue affect your perspective of that industry? (If you don’t know, find out.)
4. What is the general employee attitude at your internship? Are the people driven by their work? Do they seem more interested in socializing/gossiping? Is there an air of respect for the job and the people who do it? Do people see this as “just a job,” and if so, how does this attitude influence their daily tasks within the job? Is this a job whose employees make you want to be a part of it?Reflect!
5. Interview at least three different people at your industry. If there are not enough people on site, then find people who are elated or work in union with the job. (For instance, maybe the site you’re at only has two or three other people, but you can find someone with whom they deal/associate regularly. Interview that person.) Get them to narrate the industry for you. These will be some of the most revealing, and genuine, responses to your project, so prepare your interviews and listen well.
6. What is the general public’s knowledge about your industry? How do they perceive the company as well as the people who do the work within the company? How do you know? Try creating a survey to find out, or use interviews and ask around.
7. What is the goal of your industry? Customer satisfaction? Expansion? Profit? Research? How do you know? Is it static, or does it change?
8. No doubt, as you live this life for several months, there are bound to be interesting stories that occur to you and to the people around you. Select a story that sticks out to you from your time on the job so far (Note: it doesn’t have to be strictly in the office or on site) and recall it. Why’d you pick this moment? Is it symbolic/expressive of your industry, or uncharacteristic? (Try to avoid pointless stories like, “At work today, Stevie was sweeping the floor and he totally tripped over a wastebasket. I was laughing for like two hours!” Instead, consider this tale: “It was 10:30am and I was walking through the cubicles toward the water cooler where I noticed that four employees were napping at their work desks.” Think about what that might mean? Are they overworked? Does the industry demand too much from them? Are they bored by the inane repetition and lack of creativity demanded from them by their job? These are stories that reveal.)
9. What does it mean to be an employee of a company/group/industry? Declare your definition here. Then, reflect on it.
10. Who inspires you at your job? What about him/her do you find inspiring? Who, if anyone, disappoints you? Why?
11. Sometimes there can be a rather fine line between work and play. How does your industry attempt to play? Is it productive? Should it (does it have to) be?
12. All of you should have time to have lunch at your jobs--it’s part of your worker rights. What’s lunchtime like? Do you eat with employees, or do you eat on your own? Do employees eat together regularly, or must they eat what they can when they can? How does the way lunchtime is treated at your job reflect the job itself?
13. Paint a (written) picture of your job using all of your senses. What does it smell like there? What are the characteristic ambient sounds? The most notable images/sights? Textures? Can you ‘taste’ your job? (For example, as a teacher, one of my favorite sound/smell combinations is when I assign students an in-class essay and tell them to “Get to it!” For an hour all I hear is a relative quiet littered with the quiet clacking of fingers on keys, mingled with the warm, slightly acrid waft of toner as it prepares to spew out students’ work. It’s paradise! I sit in my seat, close my eyes, and just revel in it.)
14. Answer the following question in relation to your industry: Is there an endpoint to learning at your job? Do you want there to be? Whatever you choose, explain your answer.
15. Does your industry take pains to take care of the little things? How/why not? (Interpret how you see fit, but the more you think about this question, the better your answer will be.)
16. What food and beverage symbolize your company/industry? Now get profound: turn it into a short story or a personal essay.
17. How would the world be different if your industry didn’t exist, or if it were to somehow disappear? Speculate and ponder.
18. Who were you the night before you started your internship? Who are you as you walk off site at the end of your last day? What’s changed? If you could go back in time to talk to the you you were the night before it all started, what would you say to your past self? Would your past self be impressed with / proud of your future self? How come/why not?