R|Intern: end of wk 3 - networking at Tommy's
Amabelle is still with us. Her probation period ends in week 4 (next week). Her midterm presentation is on Wednesday the 8th. She came in an extra day (Friday) of this past week. (Awesome!) And based on eMails I have received from her, she also is working extra hours, by choice, outside of being in the office.
One of her projects for remainder of internship ... Friday was a good day. She prepared a meeting agenda, and she led the 45-minute meeting that we had to discuss her role and responsibilities. We talked about one of the projects she has - with the objective to learn project management concepts and skills. Without going into details, she'll be wearing two hats - project manager-lite & air quality permit application preparer.
Networking is part of the internship ... Networking is actually one of the goals that Ama has as part of her internship. (Keep in mind, she chooses her goals/objectives, and we agree to support her on at least three goals/objectives. See syllabus.) For lunch, we went to Tommy's - YES! They (Tommy's from L.A.) have opened one up on Clairemont Mesa Blvd - a strategic location, y'think!? She met Andy (engineer who recently left corporate America to start his own corporate America so he can consult to corporate America) and Ralph (who works in corporate America).
So the questions for this week --- Will there EVER be a Tommy's in the BA? Will it travel beyond the SoCal region? (Answer: not likely.) And more importantly, why did Amabelle order the tamale at this burger joint?
Labels: reality intern amabelle
posted by shirlnutkin @ 3:03 PM
3 Comments:
I like tamales. As soon as I saw the tamale on the menu, I knew I just had to have it. If I hadn't ordered it, I would have been left wondering how a Tommy's tamale would have tasted. Anyway, now I know to stick with the burgers at Tommy's.
Networking is great. From my experience, people are pretty willing to share their experiences and advice regarding the working world. Thanks to Shirley and my college mentor, Jesse Ante, I've been getting a lot of opportunities to network. My goals for networking are to ask lots of questions, keep an open mind, and follow up. I have to admit, following up has been challenging in the past for me, but I'm determined to overcome it.
Indeed, networking is rather fun. Most of the time, you meet some super neat people! Like a lot of things though, it’s definitely a “learn as you go” activity. On the follow-up, timing and frequency are very important. For best results, your first follow-up after meeting someone should be within 24 hours. This makes you more memorable. Future follow-ups can be spaced out over weeks or even months depending on the depth of a relationship. You may talk to your childhood buddy only a few times a year, but that’s enough to keep the friendship strong. If you’re seeking to develop a relationship though, you and the other party need to make an investment in time, including an effort to meet face-to face again, and emotional energy.
Be prepared that relationship maintenance may not come easy even with your well-timed follow-ups because it is such a big investment on both ends. You can be 100% committed to building that relationship, but the other person may not reciprocate because s/he does not value networking as you do. Other times, the expectations that both of you bring to the new relationship may not be aligned. I like having some professional and some personal contacts, but that line can blur very quickly. Unfortunately, in a few instances, I had to cutback the networking because the “professional” contacts felt like they were getting too close for comfort.
Fortunately, in other cases, you get really lucky when you meet a similarly minded networker because s/he will be just as good if not better at keeping in touch than you, and you can take it easy for once. Jesse Ante and Shirley are both great networking role models!
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