Weekly Reflection Goals #7

At the start of the week, I had set the goal to apply to the seventeen internships I needed to reach fiftieth internship mark. I had felt that I had not reached a number that would help me guarantee an internship, while the rest of my classmates were talking about all the exciting interviews they were getting and an internship offer one of them was given. I am not on their level at the moment and I know that it has been because many had applied to internships in the winter, had reached a grand amount of internships they've applied for, and have been super prepared for interviews. I need to get on that level. I know that I am more than capable of getting an internship but I just keep self-sabotaging.

I was able to complete more than half of the goal; I still have a bit more time till the end of the week and I will complete my goal. There's no doubt. This just has been a super busy week with school, work, and focusing on my health. Now that we are in Spring Break, I will take advantage of the time given, solidify my career.

During the stand up meeting, I was asked by Bruce, what can the group do to help me achieve this goal. I told them that I would appreciate, at this point, to be held responsible by them. It opened my mind that I should really use my classmates as a resource. Especially the ones that have made amazing progress. They have insights I can borrow to hopefully reach their level of success. Insights, such as resume building, their application process, interview readiness, etc. It is not like I had not been asking them questions, it's just that I need to do more of it; go out of my way for their help.

Weekly Reflection Week #6

This week's Personal Statement workshop was really helpful in helping me concentrate on the fundamental parts. Before this workshop, I would not have known what to include in a personal statement, nor what the reader wants to hear. It was great to sort of have a main objective of what you want the reader to know about you, and from that, build a story using a template of questions that builds into that.

What was challenging for me was making certain information pop out. I guess in my mind, I thought my story and successes would speak for itself, but there are certain ways of describing your story with embellished word that leave the reader saying "oooh!"—out-loud.

There was similar feedback where they believed I had great experience but the way I was explaining my story was very neutral; very beige (in my words). Words that I used were also pointed out to be very formal for the type of audience that will be reading it.

My peers were able to catch what the main theme I wanted my personal statement to be but they wanted there to be stronger traces of those elements inserted into the story. I think they seemed to believe my theme was more interesting that what they read.

Though writing and literature have not been my strong suit, I must admit, I wouldn't say I'm a horrible writer. I have been told by my Story professor that I'm amazing at storyteller. Maybe I just don't know how to tell my own story. I have taken all the feedback to improve my personal statement. Now, I have been using the feedback on my cover letters, as well.

I have not applied to as many internships as I would like to because I actually wanted to turn in cover letters. Cover letters that are quality. Not just turn in an application without considering attaching a cover letter. From what I have heard, it tells the story my resume doesn't. It also shows the Hiring Managers that you care enough about the company—even if they might just skim over it. I will still finish my goal by the end of the week; like I said, it's just taking me longer since I am now concentrating on quality over quantity. Hopefully this way I will receive all of the amazing callbacks like my peers have been getting, and be one step closer to getting my an internship!

Weekly Reflection Goals #5

On Tuesday, I had set the goals to apply to at least ten internships this week. I have to be honest, I only completed half. This week had felt a bit busy with miscellaneous work that pilled up. I will be applying for more. Hopefully double to make up for the lost time.

I had also said I would practice interviewing two people this week. I only had the ability to have one person test me. They were not the questions provided to us in the cards but they were from an article of the most common UX interview question, which was really helpful.

On my own, I had hand-written responses to some of the questions on the card that used the feedback from my fellow classmates. I enjoyed writing my responses by hand because I feel like I am more easily able to unfold what I am thinking, because when I think too much on things, I tend to change them for the worse, or have them be too robotic—rather than natural.