Life Update: The First Week of My First Job

As I arrived to my first ever internship job, I realized how unprepared I was. It’s not that I wasn’t able to work, it just wasn’t what I was expecting. When I got to the building I expected to enter a giant office space and walk up to the assistant’s desk to introduce myself as “the new summer intern” (I had practiced my speech the whole morning commute). unfortunately, when I was buzzed into the office I found myself staring at an empty desk wondering who to look for, and that threw me off course for the start of the day. Until a woman came up to me from around the corner and introduced herself as Katie (I later found out that I misheard and her name was actually Kane). After that it was smooth sailing. 

The office is much smaller than I expected so it wasn’t hard to find my way around. It only took me two days to learn the names of the 8 employees working there, and the office is very casual so no need to stress about what I wear every day. I showed up to work the first day in my most put-together professional and stylish outfit, but after meeting Kane who wore jeans and a striped T-shirt I felt very out-of-place. 

I was expecting to be assigned work that would allow me to do some photography (since that is what I signed up to do), but it wasn’t until the last day of the week that I got to work with any physical images. 

The first day consisted of cutting paper, entering data into excel sheets, and making lunch runs. Not really the most exciting first day, but I really enjoyed meeting my colleagues (one is British!) and learning bit by bit about the company and about the fashion photography industry. The next day was a bit more interesting because I did some research on potential clients for one of the photographers we work with. Did you know that every brand and company works with specific advertisement agencies to create each of their ads? I had no idea how much work goes into one advertisement. 

Every day I learned something new about the photography industry and each day the work that is assigned to me is more and more interesting and hands on. I am also realizing that sometimes in order to get the more interesting work I have to be more proactive. Sometimes it is hard for me to speak up and ask one of my colleagues for extra work if I have nothing to do, but this week has really brought me out of my comfort zone and that helps me get the most out of this internship as I possibly can in one month. I am very excited to work more and learn more from this internship.

Another great part about working there is that I get to go out for an hour long lunch break in Soho and find cute cafes every day to eat lunch at (hint hint - next week's post). It is such a great area to work in.