On this page you will find my report on Professional Attitude. What I did was list down the 4 elements and asked questions to myself about the subject, this is also exactly how I wrote it down; first a question and then below my explanation for that subject.

 

Work according rules and agreements

Are there any rules and agreements at my internship company?

There are not necessarily rules here, it is more ethical things and common sense around here. For example with lunch breaks and how you work. At around 12 o’clock or something you are allowed to have a break and eat your lunch and in between work you can take a break as well. With the work that is going around here, there are some kind of rules, concerning deadlines. Not all the work has big deadlines but some do, for example if you need to make a presentation for a meeting. You can’t cancel the meeting because the presentation is not ready.

With other work it is different, if you need to make an email for example, that does not have a deadline. You just have to make sure it goes out that day. Or you need to finish an assignment within an hour.

 

It is also not a big problem if you come in a bit later, providing that you do not make it a habit for yourself. The one rule that does apply here is that you get your work done.

 

Which agreements did I make with my coach? (company & internship)

With my company coach: I did not have a personal conversation with my company coach or another teacher from school. But in class we had a conversation with all the classmates and the teacher, saying that we need to act and behave differently at the internship than we do at school.

 

With my internship coach: I also did not have a personal conversation with my internship coach, I mean, I did, but we did not specifically talk about the rules within the company or how I must behave or anything.

 

Are there different rules and agreements per employee/intern?

Given the fact that there aren't any rules, once again, I do not think that other employees have to act different because of that. Of course there are different functions, some higher than others, so there kind of are but I would also consider that as ethical rules.

 

Should there be certain rules?

I don't think so, everybody is working very well and I think that if there were any rules that you must follow, that everybody will be more stressed and not work comfortable.

 

 

Feedback

 How do you get feedback at your work placement?

Mostly when I begin a task or when I just finished a task. When I started on a new task it is more tips that I get than actual feedback, an example could be; “using excel makes it easier for you to make this checklist”. When I finished the checklist, my coach could say something like “looks great, but, it would look better if you categorize the tasks like this…”. Or I could ask for it during the making of the checklist, asking how they would do it for example.

 

Who gives me feedback?

Mostly my company coach and the director of the company, which is also kind of my company coach, give me feedback, that is because they give me assignments and discuss progress and other stuff with me. Automatically they give me feedback, both of them also check my work to see how I did, and give me feedback where needed.

 

At what times do you get feedback?

As said, I mostly receive feedback before and after an assignment I got.

 

Do you ask for feedback?

Not specifically, but sometimes when I have finished an assignment I send it to my company coach and let him check if it is good, then he automatically says what is good and what needs to be improved. It is kind of a normal thing to give feedback really, especially with an intern or when someone is new at a job or something like that.

 

 

Flexibility

What is meant by ‘flexibility’ exactly?

I think what meant is here, that how do you react if your coach asks you to come in earlier or stay longer, if the deadline moves etc.

 

How flexible does your work placement expect you to be?

They did not specifically say to me how flexible they want me to be and I also did not tell them how flexible I am concerning working hours etc. But I know that the expect me not to freak out or panic if I need to stay an hour longer or if a deadline moves 2 weeks forward.

 

How flexible is my work placement?

In my opinion my internship company is not that difficult with changes. For example, when I needed to go to the dentist they did not make a big deal out of me coming in a bit later. Overall my internship company and coaches are not that hard on me concerning work hours and other appointment I might have between those hours.

 

 

Shows initiative and is pro-active

What is pro-activity?

When you are waiting for your internship coach to tell you what to do or waiting when he asks you if you have any tasks left, that is the opposite of pro-activity. So, pro-activity is not waiting around to get tasks, but going out there and ask for them. Taking action and ask if you can help out anyone, that is pro-activity.

 

What is initiative?

It is very comparable with pro-activity, but it has is differences. Initiative, for example, you could come up with your own tasks, or propose something you could do; ‘’could I maybe help you with making that presentation?’’ or ‘’can we start a new project on social media? This way we can have a new target group’’ etc. This way you show that you are eager to learn and not afraid to make propositions.

 

Why is initiative and pro-activity good?

This is both good for yourself as for your internship coach, as it makes it easier for him to come up with tasks, and for you because it shows that you want to learn and help out the company instead of sitting around and just waiting for tasks to show up. Also, if your goal is to get a letter of recommendation from your internship company, this is also a very good way to do so, showing initiative and being proactive are two very good characteristics.

 

Am I pro-active and do I show initiative?

In the first couple of weeks, no, not enough. When Mr. Jong came by to see how I was doing, a lot came up, including my pro-activity. I did not understand certain assignments that we got from school, waiting for it to be explained or ask for it when I got asked about it. This clearly is not being pro-active. After he left I sat down once again with my company coach to discuss what we just talked about with Mr. Jong. He started to talk about how I need to be more active overall and ask questions, something I rarely do.

 

After Mr. Jong has visited, I tried to ask more questions and be more pro-active, for me this was a step forward as I barely asked any questions before, not only with my internship but also at school etc.