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Getting job experience early has become incredibly important for students just coming out of college. From communication to personal project management, working will always be the best way to gain and develop skills that will help in future endeavors.
I am currently a pre-junior studying for a bachelor’s degree in computer security and technology at Drexel University. I am on a 5-year, 3 co-op plan of study and have been working at AG Marketing Solutions as my first co-op for six months. Working here has taught me so much and provided me with valuable experience in many areas.
1. Coding
When picking my career path back in my senior year of high school, I knew I always wanted to do something related to computers. However, when I reflect on my high school coursework, coding class was definitely not my favorite. It was always a rush to iron out a problem, and because of other important commitments and AP schedules, making time to figure out coding issues was never easy. Because of that, I never found the free time to explore different possibilities in coding. Now that I’m a college student, learning on my own has become possible, and working at AG Marketing Solutions has definitely allowed me to expand on the knowledge that I already had. I am so grateful that through my internship I have found peers that will gladly help me if I am ever struggling with coding or have general questions about my work.
2. Communication
Whatever field you may be in, communication is key. It is so important to be able to communicate with your peers so that you can update them with your current status on a project, express what you have been working on, or even just to make friends with your coworkers. With COVID-19 still impacting workplaces, communication is a lot harder. Rather than simply walking to a coworker’s desk, we really have to rely on using online services to communicate. While my communication has always been solid, mostly from leading group projects, working at AG Marketing Solutions has enabled me to pick up on some communication pointers that I can translate to future careers or even in day-to-day life.
3. Time Management
Not just in the workplace but also in real life, time management is essential to anyone. At work, managing your time is very important, especially when given multiple projects to work on. Here, I would be given multiple projects on the same day or big projects that would take at least a couple of days. I learned to set goals for myself and a time frame to finish said projects. If it was a big project, I would ask myself, “When can I finish this part of the project, and then work really hard to meet that specific deadline?” If I were given a smaller project during my bigger project, I would ask myself “How long will it take me to finish this project while still meeting the deadline for my other big project?”
4. Organization
WRITE, WRITE, and WRITE! Write everything down! Keeping yourself organized is huge, especially when managing multiple projects. By working at AG Marketing Solutions, I learned that writing all your different projects down and then keeping track of your progress helps a lot, especially when starting the day. Before I start working on projects, I always look at my notebook and check my projects from the day or week before. When the day ends, I will always try to write down all my work in a notebook so that I can remember all the work that I have done for that day.
5. Take Your Time
Not everything is a rush to get finished! It’s definitely way more important to take your time and make sure the work you are doing is of quality. In school, I would try to rush my schoolwork so that I could have more time to myself. After working for six months, I realized how important it is to check over your work, especially if it is for a client. Double-checking is crucial for success!
From hard skills such as coding to soft skills including organization and time management, the past six months I’ve spent interning here have helped me to grow both personally and professionally. Thank you to AG Marketing Solutions for the experience and thank you to my peers for providing me with the resources I needed to succeed!
