Recently I began my internship for photography/photojournalism at Jacobs Media, who is over Access North Georgia and WDUN Radio. This has been an incredible learning experience thus far, and it is only been one day. I have learned the most in the following aspects of my internship, that I will discuss throughout the blog post: office politics and dress, and I have learned many things from this experience that resonate on a personal level. I have only had one experience, but through said experience, I have learned all this things. In the following post I will relay the narrative of the events that I experienced and learned from on my first day on the job.
I walked in to the Hoschton Fall Festival entirely alone and completely unknowing as to what exactly it was that I would be doing that day. However it did not take long for me to catch on and fit right in. Protocol was simple: I was to be efficient, professional, personable, and not distracting. I was to promote Jacobs Media through my professionalism and friendliness. After I gathered as much I was ready to begin the day. I walked around for two hours, just taking pictures... exactly what I wanted to do! Except it was much more than just walking around clicking buttons.. It was documenting an event, the history, of a place. It was promoting the idea of companionship and festivity already evident in the atmosphere.
I was nervous, for first I had to meet the lady that had been my contact, and who I had learned to be my boss and person who gives my instruction. She was incredibly nice and introduced my to several other employees, all in increasing order of being in charge. While a hierarchy was definitely in place, it was not frightening or oppressive. It was clear that I was on the bottom, however, it was also clear that I could move my way up. This was evident after I was introduced to a previous intern who had done just that. After observing how the employees interact, I saw that the interactions were professional, but at the same time, very casual and friendly, showing that though first they were in business together, they were definitlely friends. I was included in this friendly conversation, my favorite of which being one between me and my direct boss/contact, we can refer to her as Kate (names changed) and the previous intern, now college student, who we can call Jake.
Through these interactions I began to get a feel for the place, like what they expected and what one was supposed to wear. Every employee I met was wearing casual but still professional clothing. For example, "Kate" was wearing a UGA t shirt with a WDUN jacket and black slacks. Everyone was similarly dressed. I could not get an accurate representation of what I should wear at the actual office, because this first interaction was at an outdoor fall festival, which might be the reason everyone dressed casually. "Jake" was also wearing a UGA t shirt and this showed me that their dress represented a deeper level of friendship and getting along with one's coworkers. This effected personal interactions in that everyone was comfortable with one another and everyone was dressed for the fall festival occasion.
The last thing I would like to mention about the experience is the fact that I was able to put my skills to use. I have been a yearbook photographer for 4 years now and I was able to use that experience to go out and photograph the festival. I received no training from Jacobs Media, just the instruction to go out and do. This was in no way a bad thing, because it made me rely on and strengthen my old skills and allowed me to gain new ones from learning by doing.
