This guest post was written by Evan, about his intern experience with us this summer.
Before starting my summer internship at Yellowstone Landscape, I had never worked in an IT Department. My only exposure to computer systems was self-taught and through classes at the University of North Florida. These varied types of hands-on experiences have shown me how broad Information Technology is!
While working the Help Desk I learned some very valuable life lessons. Lesson #1; it’s important to know who you are talking to. This is essential because people come from different walks of life and may not be exposed to the same things, especially when it comes to technology. When you are trying to help them with their computer issues, it is important to be patient and willing to walk them through to resolution. Lesson #2; know when a problem is beyond your capabilities. Sometimes things don’t work out and it’s okay to reach out and ask your coworkers for help. Sometimes an extra set of eyes are all you need. Lesson #3; taking responsibility and overcoming challenges as a team. IT and more specifically, helpdesk, is about accomplishing goals and solving problems as a team. This lesson was learned the hard way one Friday morning when a miscommunication caused a snafu before an intern meeting. The IT interns were responsible for ensuring these weekly meetings were set up and on this morning, no one showed up. I felt blindsided, I had to hurry to the office to set up the videoconference platforms as fast as I could. Even though it was not my week to set up the meeting, I realized it was important that all of us took responsibility. It was a great learning experience because we could see afterwards the importance of taking responsibility as a “team” and covering for each other!
I am grateful to my coworkers and what they have taught me these past months. I learned about areas of technology that I didn’t know existed. I learned the ins and outs of how servers are set up and how they’re managed. How one branch can send a file to another branch and for that information to stay secure. Overall, it’s been a great opportunity and I will treasure these experiences throughout my career.
