Looking for a place to intern at was an exciting yet challenging experience for a college senior - there is a lot of time spent on being anxious about coming up with a solid resume, crafting a good portfolio, and reviewing questions for possible interviews. There is also the mental preparation for receiving rejection letters and being ghosted, and just moving onto the next opportunity one could find. I think that this is where the learning process starts. I got to know my strengths, weaknesses, and the things that drive me to do better as an aspiring professional; and I was fortunate enough to find myself as a part of the A-Team at GetCre8ive.
As an Information Design major, most of my training experiences and exposure in the university was heavily grounded on creating human-centered design in many forms - from collaterals to posters and websites (to name a few). With this, I felt like there has been a hefty but rewarding shift when I started my work as a Systems Intern at GetCre8ive. I got the chance to see what kind of work dynamics make a great team and which qualities I would want to bring to other places once I start my professional career. The daily check-ins and check-outs made me better at recognizing not just the things I have accomplished for the day, but also and more importantly the challenges and what I could do to address them better the next time. Having a weekly coaching session with our supervisors also helps in letting us identify the tasks that we think we could take on. This made me feel more confident, included, and overall receptive to the real work environment.
My HubSpot training on the concepts and applications of Inbound, Growth-Driven Design, and the software hubs made me gain a better understanding and a fresh perspective on how successful companies are the ones that prioritize the needs of the customers instead of the quickest ways to gain profit. I saw how these concepts are put into practice when I attend onboarding sessions and the needs of the clients are always inclusively addressed. My knowledge on HubSpot continues to grow through these sessions, and with the help of my mentors who make debriefing sessions more digestible and informative. Day by day, I learned how to navigate HubSpot with more ease and use the tools in creating workflows, emails, chat flows, and sequences, and editing landing pages and articles.
The most important takeaway I have from my internship at GCC goes beyond learning the tools of HubSpot. I do think that the technical skills I acquired have helped me become more agile, but it is through making an effort to adapt to the work environment that allowed me to create connections with the inspiring people I work with and realize that it always pays off to step out of our comfort zones and stay driven despite the hurdles.