Just Another Manic Monday

Wow, yesterday was such a blur! It's so nice to finally have something consistent to be working on, but yesterday I had 3 meetings regarding the same project. It was great until the meeting that was at 5PM. Okay, I like what I do, but 5PM meetings are only good 'cause I get to sleep in (that way I work an 8 hour day, 9-6 or whatever). Except yesterday I came in around 9 to jump immediately into work that needed to be done by my meeting at 10. Stress! A huge part of this project is resting on my shoulders, and while formatting and doing minor changes are no big deal... well, let's just say there's a lot of formatting and minor changes to make. Every detail has to be perfect! I also met with someone who is going to publish the presentation and we're going to make it even more complicated by adding in interactive segments. That's cool, good for the people that are going to be viewing it, but not so cool for me. At least I have help, and he seems nice and approchable, which is good.
I have to say the most frustrating thing is waiting around for people to send stuff to me. Not that they're necessarily slow, but my job rests on their provisions. I'm like the master consolidator of this project; I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that knows what's going on with every aspect. It's really cool to be such a huge part of a really important task! But at the same time I wish I knew more about the content and was able to do some editing.
I also just found out that I accidentally deleted a lot of what I worked on yesterday and it is irrecoverable. FML.

Busy Busy Busy!

Hello, devoted readers. I apologize for the lack of posts - this little girl has actually been doing too much work (well, sort of) to update! In fact, I spent most of yesterday working on a presentation that was shown to the heads of Marketing and Sales. That's right. I'm kind of a big deal. (Okay, not really, but it's fun to think so!). Today is Friday, ahhh, casual Friday! There is always a sort of almost tangible excitement in the air as everybody feels an almost frantic energy, looking forward to the weekend. I definitely think there is more typing going on today! The sound of keys clicking has pretty much become my definition of working rate; although, to be fair, the sound of my keys currently is not really work related, is it?
I'm really starting to get into the groove of work. I get my same coffee, I know my routine of parking in the same spot, going over to Starbucks to relax and read for lunch, etc. It's exciting! Corporate World, here I come! It's going to be interesting going back to school and having homework again; I'm really a fan of the no work after five thing.
So, I don't really have any experiences to share today. I'm afraid that I've had my run of awkwardness in the office. Maybe I should create an awkward moment just to see what happens. Like compliment my boss' makeup or something. Any ideas of such things I can do/say? Let me know!
Here's another question: when writing an email to your whole project team regarding a due date, is it inapporpriate to end the e-mail with "Go team!"? I'm not sure. It could be funny, or it could be immature. I personally think it would make the message more personable, maybe give people a little smile in these stressful times, but I've never worked in an office. Maybe I should send it out and see if anything awkward happens...

What it Means to Forget Your Badge

First off, I have a habit of taking off my badge right as soon as I get in the car after work and placing it in my purse, sort of like a celebration of the day's end. For some reason, I didn't do that yesterday. So I get to work and I'm rummaging through my purse trying to find where I put it the evening before, and lo and behold - no badge! Of course I'm instantly anxious, wondering if I have to drive all the way home lest I can't get into the building. So I call Alex, and yes, he finds my badge still clipped to my pants from yesterday. Lame! I decided to try the front desk; this isn't the first time this has happened, right? Of course, the lady gives me a name tag and buzzes me in. I just have to make sure that I stop by her desk if I want to be let in at any time. I also got a little anecdote about how she decided to get french toast sticks this morning even though she's diabetic and of course she spills syrup everywhere and was spending the morning cleaning the desk with sanitary wipes so she hopes she didn't hand me anything sticky (deep breath). So overall, it was a learning experience. Your badge equates ease, but you can survive without it. I'm just wondering how I managed to remove my pants without noticing this big plastic thing attached to them!
By the way, the VP of Sales and Marketing just walked by with a rolling bag. Nothing says power like the loud sound of smooth wheels rolling on carpet (except, of course, a great suit). And we laughed at those kids in high school.

Convention Day

Well yesterday was quite fantastic! I felt very official, traveling to the city with all these old folks. Okay, I slept most of the way. Gotta build up that energy! So after a bit of confusion as to where to get our badges (we signed up late so we weren't at the regular registration booth), we began our wandering about. The place was huge! There were three separate buildings to choose from - two related to semiconductors and wafer management and one related to solar technology. We decided to start with semiconductors. All the booths were fantastic. There's things being invented and used that I didn't even realize there would ever be a need for! There was a whole booth on ceramic gears, nuts and bolts, etc. Another booth featuring laser etching was giving away pens with one's name on it as a demo; I got one for Alex, I thought he'd get a kick out of it. Many companies even had lounges set up for their employees and the people running their booth. Ours did, but we never really got a chance to hang out there. There were also a bunch of meeting rooms set up. We thought they were for the companies to have meeting with customers or other companies, and in fact we saw our head of marketing heading into the meeting area in the afternoon. After lunch at a great Thai place just a block away, we headed over to the solar exhibits. The stuff there was so amazing! I can't believe so much has been done for solar power in the past few years. The booths displayed anything and everything related to solar, including machines to build the struts that hold up the panels, to combining solar panels and wind turbines, to machines that were created to turn panels as the sun moves based on longtitude and lattitude of the panel's location. My company's booth was really cool as well, and even had a little touch screen quiz about solar power and the company's involvement in the field - if you took it, you entered to win a Wii!
I also got to go with two coworkers, Juan and Luke. I didn't realize before that they were closer to my age. Though older, Juan is even a college intern! We got along great, and had a really fun day. I also noticed that they were both very polite, pretty into fashion, and chivalrous. It's nice to see that maybe once men "grow up" and get jobs, they're not all college alcoholics. I don't mean to generalize about all men my age, obviously there are great guys out there. I just think it's funny that they started a debate about whether a man's Louis Vuitton bag was authentic before I even noticed it. It's nice to finally be able to feel a bit more welcome and social in the office.
Overall, I had a great day, and am very glad I didn't pass up this opportunity. Perhaps sales might be something I'd like to get involved in in the future!

Little Girl's First Business Meeting!

Yesterday I got the opportunity to join a business meeting, both in person and via conference calling. It was a simple review of the status of the project I'm helping out with, and I'm not really sure how necessary I really was, but I gave some input and took notes on what I would need to do in the future. I must say, it was incredible exciting! I am now sure that is the method I would like to lead meetings when I am a manager - anyone in the area comes to a room, and if people far away are necessary they can call in to join. We even used a projector to display my manager's desktop on a wall so that all could see the presentation we were working on and input directly to the slides. It honestly felt very similar to some discussion sections I've had for school. The host asked questions regarding the slides, and people would input, then discuss someone's opinion. It was great! Okay, the content was a little dry, and it was late in the afternoon, but I was still having a good time. I felt important, and that's matters a lot to this little girl. When it's so easy to get intimidated by Business People (in caps for emphasis), it's nice to have a chance to be on a somewhat equal footing with them. Or at least respected as the intern that will be consolidating all their information. Whatever. Moving on up!
Tomorrow I go to a huge conference regarding what my company deals with in San Francisco. I am very excited. There should be booths by various other companies (gotta be sneaky when checking out the competition!) and seminars where really important people in the technology community are interviewed about different things, from where they see solar technology in 20 years to how to best invest in today's markets. I'm not sure it'll be terribly exciting, but I feel as if I should take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way. Plus, I'm pretty sure I get paid to walk around a tech show in San Francisco all day. I'm going with two coworkers as well, so I'll get to foster company interaction. I'm sure I'll write something about it soon, so stay tuned!

Returning from a Sick Day

Last Friday, I woke up feeling quite ill. Having just taken training regarding disease spreading prevention (specifically, the next flu epidemic - watch out for those chickens), I decided to follow the wise advice and stay home. Indeed, having an extra day of rest allowed me to return to work today in a semi-healthy state. I was under the impression, though, that I would be faced with a full inbox and leftover tasks that would take me at least a day to catch up. No luck there, folks! I got a few emails regarding contact information which took me a good 90 seconds to consolidate. I had to do my weekly Monday assignment, which took me about an hour and a half. I also got a meeting invitation set for 5-6 tomorrow, so now I get to stay late on Tuesday.
On the plus side, last week I worked on the same project for two days straight. It basically involved a lot of Excel work. I believe the other intern in our group is not very familiar with Excel, so I had to walk her through a lot of stuff about formatting. Very tedious for someone who has been fortunate enough to have used Excel frequently in the past. It gave me a really bad headache, there were a few unnecessary complications, and it literally took two days of two interns doing formatting and consolidation to finish. Thus, probably the only upside of being sick was that I didn't have to spend Friday morning re-rechecking (yes, for the third time) the data we had compiled.
Lesson learned: rough mornings hurt, but not nearly as much as losing a days pay. Yep, interns don't get sick hours. Surprise!

Little Girl's First Teleconference!

This morning I had my first ever teleconference! It was quite exciting - I got an e-mail with the information, I logged in online, I called in and said my name after the tone, and suddenly I could see a list of people also in the meeting, and the host's desktop! "How exciting," I thought to myself, "another cool part of being in the real world!" I failed to mention this teleconference was a training session. It was very boring. I have also listened in to previous eMeetings with my manager, and have been very unimpressed. Sure, we're saving paper and trees and time; we also get to meet from the comfort of our own office (or, as it may be, cube). Yet you have to fight on the phone with people to get them to stop talking and listen. You lose the personal connection that comes with learning something with a group of people. There's no big conference table, no projector, no screen. I'm quickly learning that my impression of the "real world" died in the 90's. Now it's all about efficiency. If you can't have a meeting while concurrently typing up a spreadsheet and planning your next dentist appointment, you are not a successfully efficient businessman/woman. If only things were not so. The most interesting thing about this experience is that one of the points stressed in the company overview is to interact personally in the office, be it with coworkers, customers, supervisors, etc. Yet in my opinion, having an online meeting as opposed to in person contradicts that basic principle. I one day will manage a group that will meet in a conference room for all meetings, and I will wear suits every day. Though the modern world seems to believe otherwise, I do not equate efficiency with a lack of human connection.
As a small aside, along the lines of restroom awkwardness: After washing my hands, I turned around to grab a towel and realized a cleaning lady had been standing behind me, waiting for me to finish. As I ripped the towel off the dispenser, she said "No soap?" (it was actually "no soup?" but I think I got her drift). I replied, "No, I used some." Very, very awkward.

The Corporate Lunch

Today I went to have lunch at a nearby salad bar type restaurant (like Fresh Choice). It was quite tasty. I was surrounded by other office types, wearing various badges indicating their place of work. I got some stares - obviously I look young to be working at a desk already. It made me think. I have been avoiding the cafeteria because I believe I'd look and consequently feel so out of place. Now, I'm not asking for a welcome wagon, or anything, but I remember the previous intern telling me how he never really talked to anyone in the office. And really, they are all much older than I am, or at least at a different place in their lives. They talk about kids, marriage, excercise, recipies. I'm not yet ready for that to be the stuff I talk about! I have other interests - in fact, last night I stayed up late trying to learn how to play a song that Chris wrote on the guitar. My manager was telling me just this morning how happy she was that her daughter goes to bed early because she gets so tired from summer camp. Now I'm happy to talk about these things sometimes, but they only serve to remind me how young I am, and how my friends and I do NOT talk about that stuff. Sure, we don't really talk about anything more important, but at least it pertains to my life. Basically, I'm not sure I'll be having a very social lunch schedule in the future. Good thing that salad place is so good!

Summertime

Welcome back, devoted fans. Last week my company was on shutdown, so I obviously didn't have many office experiences to share with you. I can say this: having a week off every month is really nice, as it gives me a chance to have some kind of summer vacation. This past week I went shopping, and visited camp. And I slept, a lot.
But on the way back from camp, Alex and I had a conversation regarding if we would ever return to work there. You see, I felt very sad at some points this weekend, as I was watching the kids I had previously been a counselor for be all grown up. Basically, I felt old, and that I was missing out on one of their most critical growth periods. They're now going into junior year, and I know that that summer at camp was probably the most influential on me. I had been a counselor for the same kids for three years previously, and feel as if now when they need me most, I'm not there. But how could I be? I have to get a "real world" job, and get payed. But here's the question: once I get into law school, will I be able to perhaps return to be on senior staff, or maybe direct the Avodah or CIT program? What does one do during the summers of graduate school? More work? I just assumed yes, but perhaps not.
Am I wasting my summer freedom working, or at least working at a deskjob as opposed to something more fun? I guess it's all about priorities - I chose to spend my time improving my resume, and perhaps learning about a career and/or company I might be interested in. Others don't see this as very important at the current moment. In this competetive job market, I feel the need to get an edge, but is that feeling misplaced? Will my work here really affect anything other than my bank account? Of course, there's no right answer, and every situation differs per person. Too bad there's no manual to tell you all about it...
For a mini office experience: today I'm working on a report with a coworker who is also here only for the summer. We were both working with excel, yet while I was trying to consolidate information, she was trying to simplify the labeling of files. My point is when sharing a file, I wish there were no such thing as "Read-Only," and more than one person could access and change a file at a time. Gosh darn it, Excel! I basically spent much of my morning waiting for her to finish with a file, then taking my turn, then letting her work, and having to write down stuff to remember to type in somewhere else. It was very frustrating, but at least it killed some time!

The Perks of Being a Manager

I got the opportunity to join my manager in a conference call meeting yesterday. Some members were running late, so while waiting, I looked around her office a bit. She has a bookcase littered with a combination of books about technology and books about management. Another shelf holds binders containing information regarding clients, instruction manuals (for interfaces and Microsoft Office applications), and meeting logs. Atop this bookcase are so many awards I couldn't see all of them from my chair; the most prominent was an award for having worked with the company for over ten years. She has two calendars, a few pieces of art, and a smart board. She also has a separate fiscal calendar, another large calendar for her desk, and a table of the time in different time zones across the world relative to the time in the US. For some reason, she also has a periodic table, but who am I to judge. As I sat there waiting for our meeting to begin, I just had to pen out some notes. I got to thinking - is this the life I want to live one day? My manager informed me that she was very tired, as she had been working since five the previous morning and was on her e-mail until midnight the night before, just to wake up to come in to work at eight again. She looked flustered and exhausted, and is constantly in meetings. Even while we were waiting for this meeting, she started doing other work. As I am helping her with her project, I am aware it is incredibly complicated to implement and requires a lot of time. Even now, so soon to the go live date, problems are being found. Every issue requires so much extra time. She is in meetings almost all day long, every day. On the other hand, these are special circumstances as she is getting ready to go live on her project, so I'm sure she is not nearly as busy as she is now all the time.
It just makes me wonder: is the corner office really worth all the stress? My current answer is still yes. Perhaps this job also seems not as rewarding because I am growing to realize I never want to work in the department I'm currently interning for.
What are your thoughts on management? Does a higher salary have to come with a lack of sleep? I'd love to hear your response.
And as an aside: Michael Jackson passed away yesterday. Crowds were seen outside the hospital where he passed, crying for their icon, their hero. Here's my deal. It may seem heartless, but Michael Jackson has not provided anything positive to our society since he stopped making music in the early 2000's. Sure, he was going on tour, but really, he's been just tabloid fodder for the past few years. He touched little boys. He named his children Prince Michael I, Paris, and Prince Michael II (I think - the point is, they're silly names). Now I can sympathize for his family, friends, people that knew him well. I understand their grief. But to mourn his death as more than the passing of an icon is just ridiculous. I was really ticked by an away message one of my friends had on her buddy list; it went something along the lines of "Michael, you changed the way I saw music and now you're gone. RIP." Okay, first statement can be true, but what does his death have to do with the fact that he changed the way you appreciate music? Why don't you just aknowledge he impacted your life and that him being gone has nothing to do with that? (Trust me, there'll be a post about bad logic sometime) I just get so upset when people emphasize the death of celebrities. I understand why it needs to be in the news, but I think that comparing him to Elvis (I heard a fan on NPR this morning) is just ridiculous. Conclusion: Call me heartless, but Michael Jackson, rest in peace and good riddance. Maybe now I don't have to hear about your next molestation or plastic surgery. And RIP Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon.

The Downside to a Great Outfit

Another one today! Lucky you! Unlucky me, for undergoing the following situation that required writing about.
Along the lines of clothing, I was very excited for my outfit today. I'm wearing white jeans, a black blouse, black flats, and a long silver necklace. My boss is wearing white jeans, a black blouse, and black flats. Huh. That's awkward. Especially since she noticed, and made some joke about how I should go change. Then proceeded to tell me everything I had done wrong with a report she asked me to do.
So here's the question: what do you do when you match your boss?
Here's my answer: pretend it isn't true and go about your day, avoiding her at all costs. And then when you have to run into her, make a joke about how she hasn't changed yet.
I think I lost this one.

The Rules of Office (Cube) Decor

So it comes time in every office worker's life that the cube seems bare. To trudge to work every morning just to look at an empty, purple tackboard and some green felt covered storage units gets very dull. What's a girl to do? Decorate, of course!
Okay, so now what? What's acceptable? Obviously I don't want obscene beer pong pictures of me all over my wall, but what about a frisbee? Is that weird? I think not, but who knows? I remember my mother used to have framed pictures, artwork, some memorabilia from clients, etc. But then again, she'd been working there for fifteen years. I am but a wee summer intern. Obviously I don't want to deck out my cubical with posters - this isn't my bedroom. It doesn't help that the intern before me didn't decorate at all, and all that was on the walls when I came in was a checklist, a certificate of participation in a company event, two calendars (one has a Pooh picture over every month - the previous intern informed me that was not his), and a dartboard with competitors on it. In effect, it was barren. Incredibly depressing. I literally had thought no one was working there before me. I decided this would be unacceptable for the whole summer.
I started small; today I brought three photos in individual stands of me with friends and my boyfriend and my UCLA Football Mr. Potato head to put on my desk, a little bear in a bee costume with magnetic hands to stick to a cabinet that says "Bee Mine" on its chest, a small wooden m that has my name written on it and a motivating sign that says "the best was to predict your future is to create it" to tack on the tackboard, and my "Princess Maya" mini umbrella from Disneyland and a disc to put somewhere, once I figure that out. It's the little things that make me smile!
So it occured to me that one might be reading names from now on, so I will introduce some important people in my life (basically, the ones in the pictures on my desk). First, my boyfriend's name is Alex; we've been dating for almost four years. Second, my best girlfriend Priyanka, or Pri, from high school. Third, my best guy friends, Peter and Chris, also from high school. Now, in case I ever need to use those names, all my loyal readers will understand who I am talking about.
Again, thanks for reading. I'd love to hear what you have to say, or any experiences you have had in the workplace, or life in general.

Day 1

So in general, I always used to dislike the idea of blogs. I find them a little pretentious, assuming people want to read what you have to say, or are thinking about. But lately I've been having some thoughts and experiences I thought I would write about, and thought blogging might be a good creative outlet for writing, which I haven't done is a very long time. So really, if you are reading this, I am completely flattered. Thanks :)
So this summer, I have the pleasurable opportunity to work for a tech company in the Bay Area. I will not specify which one, nor specific location. Regardless, I have been waiting for a long time to get to work in what I consider a "real" job with a "real" office and a "real" badge, etc. I must say, it really is everything I thought it would be - corner office, here I come! Some of my friends can attest to hearing me say the following many times: I can't wait for a job where I get to wear a suit and heels every day! Well, I don't exactly wear a suit; it's more like business casual attire. For those of you that might not know what MY definition of business casual is, I will provide it now. For women: skirts, blouses (incl. button ups), no "spaghetti straps," no flip flops or sneakers, subtle makeup, pants are acceptable but never any denim (except, of course, on casual Fridays!). For men: pants (again, no denim), a nice clean shirt, either button up or polo, nice shoes (One of my pet peeves for men is when they wear sneakers with slacks. Please, get one pair of comfortable leather shoes to wear to the office!), and clean facial hair. Gosh, men are really easy to dress.
Anyway, so keeping my guidelines in mind, I went shopping with my mother, who offered further guidance, and bought a few key pieces that could match many outfits. In case this matters, I would consider my style very classic - I like buying basic pieces that I can wear with many different things, and then dressing up with accessories to make each outfit unique. So today, I am wearing a khaki pencil skirt (boys: google image), and black polo tee tucked in, and black heels with a gold buckle. Earlier this morning, I needed to use the restroom. As I walk into the bathroom, my manager came out of one of the stalls. Now, as an added note, I despise public restrooms. Not for the cleanliness or anything, but I feel a significant discomfort when I know others can hear me, well, doing what one does in the restroom. Consequently, I don't like running into people I know in the bathroom, because I always feel as if every time they see me from then on, they'll be reminded of the sounds of me using the toilet. Silly, I know, but it's just how I feel. So not only do I run into my manager, but she compliments me on my outfit! Here's the issue: if I don't want to say a quick thanks and turn my back on her, because I feel that is a little awkward to your superior, and it emphasizes how bad you have to pee. But on the other hand, I don't want to stay and have a chat - the bathroom is not for chatting! Add this dilemma to my previous discomfort with public restrooms, and you have a thought forming that I needed to write down.
The point is that no one prepares you for all the little things that can happen when you enter the real world, and as I experience all of these events/situations, I will write about them. You can practice for an interview or brush up on your Excel skills, but nothing will ready you for an awkward bathroom encounter with your superior.