Entering the Shark Tank

I really had no clue what I was walking into on the first day of my internship. I had my interview. Check. Researched the company. Check. And read over my job description to see what tasks I would be doing. Check. There wasn’t more I could do except throw myself in on day one and see what happened. Don’t worry, it’s been a good time thus far.

Me on my way to work being overdressed

I remember on the first day, my coworker was explaining the company to me in depth. Since my supervisor was not there, day one was all about getting acclimated to my workplace and trying to learn the company’s functions. Two things I realized. 1- While I am doing marketing and advertising for them, they are a business that invests in start-up companies. Kind of like that show Shark Tank. Which I know absolutely nothing about. However, despite being on the marketing side of the company, they made it very clear that they wanted me to sit in on business meetings just so I could learn something a little extra. 2- With the tax year coming to an end, my coworkers ensured me that this would be a ‘mental’ time of year. With all of this explained to me on the first day, I was ready for a very different experience from what I was originally anticipating.

Me in the pitch meetings acting like I'm not an intern who doesn't know what they're talking about

After the first three weeks of the internship, I feel like I have a pretty good understanding on how the company functions and what their dynamic is. The people that are higher up (the CEO, COO, whatever other CO somethings exist) value professionalism. They have to though, because they are supposed to be helping start-up companies as well as linking them to other investors. Within that professionalism, they are all very knowledgeable and know when it is time to relax vs. when it is time to be demanding. I’ve seen both sides, I guess it just depends on the day. As for the people that work around me, their values are different. They treat the job seriously, but love to joke around with each other. When they are working, they are focused. All of them are a bit of perfectionists, mostly because of the pressure of adhering to young businesses and investors. That leads to their success as a company and has won them numerous awards over the years. However, sometimes all of us will talk for an hour without touching our computers. Although it is their ‘busy’ time of year, it was almost comical to me how much a difference it would have been in America. ‘Hectic’ for them just means they have to sit down and focus more often.

Adjusting to the work environment was an interesting task. I’ve actually loved it every step of the way. I call it ‘interesting’ because my company is filled with international people. There are workers from Lithuania, China, France, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal. The collaboration and interaction that goes on every day is always interesting, because everyone comes from different backgrounds and has different sayings, senses of humor, and work ethics. Some people were a lot more welcoming to me at first than others. However, after the first week everybody seemed to open up a lot more. When it came down to it, everyone was very trusting of me to take on tasks from the beginning. I would be handed tasks of writing articles, emails, and social media posts without anybody really checking up on me. In was really just thrown into the job and treated like a paid professional, which I have loved. It has made me adjust to the environment very quickly, and I’m thankful I do not have anyone hovering over my work. It forced me to concentrate and put in my best effort off the bat, because I wanted to maintain the trust that I was given.

The values of my workplace are professional, but not always so serious. Though it is a British business with British influences, the diversity of employees really creates a unique dynamic (Not to mention, it makes for great conversations when talking about cultural differences). I am happy with how I’ve been treated so far, and definitely understand why my company is so successful in their field.