On Friday March, 24th I had the first meeting with my mentor. My mentor is Mark James and he is the Wheaton College phonathon manager. I have been an employee at phonathon for the past year, and Mark started as our new manager at the beginning of this semester. He is a previous Wheaton Student who graduated in 2009 as a Sociology major. After moving around the country and working for various organizations he’s now back in the Wheaton area working for the college and leading our team. Since I know Mark from my job and interact with him on weekly basis during our first meeting at Sam’s we talked a bit about phonathon in general. We talked about what the mission and purpose of our work is, and he also shared with me a bit about my performance as a caller. We also had a chance to talk about where we see the organization going and what he can do as a new leader to influence and change the culture of our work environment. It was great to talk to him about my experience as an employee before he came and what changes I would like to see going forward. It was really nice to see that he cares about all of us callers and how we grow and thrive in our positions.
We also had the chance to talk about life in general. He asked me about my future plans, for the summer and beyond graduation. I shared about my desire to find an internship this summer and a little bit about the struggle it has been to find something I’m interested in. I’ve been trying to find a public relations or marketing internship and have been having trouble finding a company whose mission I support but also a place where I can get experience. He told me from his experiences the most important thing to look for is the culture of the company, and if it’s someplace I would fit into. He explained that many organizations and companies can provide the same job description and opportunities to learn and grow but the main difference between companies are their cultures. He encouraged me to keep looking for an organization where I can gain valuable experience, but also one where I can fit into the mission of the company and actually get behind what they are working towards. It was nice to talk to someone who has already gone through all what I’m currently experiencing. He was once a Wheaton student who looked for internships, and transitioned to life after college so it was great to hear his perspective.
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI think it is really encouraging to see who you chose as a mentor. Mark seems like a very impressive boss and mentor. It is cool that Mark is a Wheaton grad so he can give you some advice for the rest of your Wheaton career. Talking about the culture and your experiences with your work seems very helpful for the future. I would agree with Mark that it is very important to understand the culture of an organization in order to decide if you would like to work there or not. Really interesting that you can listen to him and gain insight for you future. Thank you.
Caleb