Digital Summer Clinic: Week 5

 We are now nearing the end of the internship experience, and I have strongly valued the insights I have gained as part of the program. I've created a very detailed contact list including socials, contact information, and descriptions of 30+ organizations separated into three categories: potential attendees, panelists, and sponsors. I'm working with my partner to incorporate this into the marketing guide as a permanent resource for RXA to use when promoting their A2.AI conference in the future, while also as a sort of "relationship guide" to make sure that they are involved with other local companies. Additionally, I have been working on video editing while creating minute long highlight videos for social posts: there is a bit of a learning curve, but I am now getting familiar with keyframing and masking when animating intros to videos. 

I've picked up some great advice this week, as I am beginning to reach the end of this internship and am looking forward to starting my professional journey with a full-time position. The first piece of advice I learned was that for every job you apply to, you should have a different resume built specifically to show your strengths in the position you're applying for. This may mean omitting some experiences in order to highlight others that are most attractive to the specific employers. Additionally, breaking down your experiences into bulleted, quantifiable results is also important when displaying your success in past positions. Even if you don't have numerical data or percentages to share, you want to phrase your successes as "putting points on the board;" what projects did you accomplish, and how will they affect the organization? Finally, as I've heard our guest speakers talking about how they reached their success, I began getting concerned about what jobs I should apply for. I began overthinking my career path, and wondering if I took a specific job that I may not end in the place I was trying to reach, but then I was told some great advice: "you may want to take your best shot, but you shouldn't let that stop you from taking any shots." To all those who are in the position I am currently, trying to wade the waters and figure out what direction to start swimming, you are probably desperate to make sure you head in the best possible direction. However, when one lacks professional experience, sometimes it's okay to head into the unknown. This is inline with the idea that one should never discount the journey: your experiences help you reach the point you are at now. If you stop yourself from gaining experiences by searching for that golden opportunity, you may be missing out on learning what you truly want to do. 

At this point, I'm looking for an entry level position in an organization that will allow me to utilize my skills while allowing me to grow as a professional as well. This advice opened up a few more doors for me, and now I'm open to different directions in my field. I hope it can help some of you as well.

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