What has been your most influential internship?

I have done quite a few internships during my college career, but one stands out above the rest. I took one semester out of my junior year to work for The Walt Disney World Resort. The internship was pretty basic, you work in the parks and have the opportunity to take classes on the side. Although the work was easy, what I learned was worth more than anything.

The Walt Disney World Resort has thousands of guests per year. The amount of different people I got to meet and have conversations with was amazing. I learned so much about different cultures and lifestyles from taking five minutes out of my time to listen.

But, I can’t forget the variety of people I lived and worked with. I lived with five other girls, two being from the United States and the other three were from PR, Brazil, and Mexico. It was wonderful to hear about their lives and learn that we weren’t so different from each other.

My internship also taught me patience and the abitily to deal with issues. There was always a lot goin on at work and The Walt Disney Company has such high standards. Patience was key to keeping your temper down when in a stressful situation.

Lastly, I had many networking opportunities to talk to others who worked within the company. They gave a lot of useful advice and I still use it to this day.

I highly recommend any one to look at working for this company.

Where to look for jobs?

Whether you are looking for your first job or an alternative, there are many resources out there to make the search easier:

Search the Web- The Web has increased a lot over the years, and it has made looking for jobs easier. Here are some good sights to look at:

Careerbuilder-www.careerbuilder.com

CollegeRecruiter-www.collegerecruiter.com

Yahoo! Hot Jobs www.hotjobs.com

Indeed-www.indeed.com

Vault-www.vault.com

Monster Board-www.monster.com

Campus Career Centers - Many career centers have literature and Internet sites to help you look for jobs or find a career you are interested in. Also, there are counselors on hand to help you make the right decision.

Classified Ads-Throughout your college career, look at ads for companies in you area. Make you sure look often to see what the job market it like in your field and find a company you are interested in. Research your interests so you are prepared when it is time to make a choice.

Internships and Part-time jobs- Try out careers in your field. By taking interships and temporary jobs, you will get a sense of what you do and do not like. Even if you find you do not like that career, the contacts made can come in handy.

Interview someone in your field-There is no harm in inquiring about your interests and many people will take the time to talk with you. Inquire about the expectation, skills, and courses needed for that career. You can never be too prepared when getting ready to start your career.

Getting Ready for an Entry Level Job

As you get ready for an entry level job, the first step is to look within. Analyze your interests and dislikes to make the right choices. Many colleges have counselors on campus to help students learn about themselves and there are also career counselors you can pay for the same guidance.
However, you can find the answers yourself by answering a few basic questions:
Do I enjoy working with people or alone?
How important is salary, benefits, and stability?
Would I be more comfortable at a large of small company?
Am I comfortable in an office, or would I rather travel?
Do I enjoy working with data, computers, or people?
How would I describe the perfect boss, job, and coworkers?
Use the answers to these questions to help you narrow down the work field. If you have already chosen a field, these questions can help you find a specific company or environment you would feel comfortable in.
It is important to know who you are and choose a career that matches that.

What is your biggest fault when working with teams?

Teamwork is a major part of life, especially in a work environment. Even if you are an independent person, there is no way around collaborating with people for presentations, new projects, etc.
I find that my perfectionism becomes my biggest fault in these situations. I want everything I do to be perfect, down to the small things. When working alone this is never a problem- I’m the only one doing research, writing the report, making the powerpoint, doing the actual presentation. I have control of everything and the end product is exactly how I want it.
When working with a team, I have to learn to accept others’ ideas and trust that they are willing to work just as hard as me to bring out a great product. My perfectionism stands in the was sometimes and I begin to take over everything. I will go over other’s work and change it to how I would have done it. In the end, I didn’t work as a team member, but an individual and others resent me for that. This is not the way it should be done and I have slowly learned that my teams ideas can be just as good, if not better, than my own.
My fault as a perfectionists has it’s good side too. I pay attention to the smaller details and find that a good place for me in the team is to edit (not change) the final product. This ways everyone has contributed and I’m still satisfied.
Working with a team can be difficult, but I have learned that if everyone works together the end product will be better than imagined.