Welcome to the 2017 Dwellworks Intern blog! Each week for the next 12 weeks, our summer interns will be blogging about their Dwellworks Experience and musings from the Internship Program.
Below are their thoughts from week two.
Read their blogs from week one here.
Maggie Lowman | How I’ve Experienced the Dwellworks Culture
Despite starting my internship a short two weeks ago, I have already experienced so much of Dwellworks’ culture. While many companies boast of a fun yet professional mentality, Dwellworks actually embodies it. I was always told that my first few weeks as an intern would involve brewing coffee for my boss and doing work to support his or her agenda, but for me, that has not been the case. The work I’m doing is important and beneficial to the company. Between creating content and conducting communications research, my first two weeks here have been anything but dull. And, to sweeten the deal even more, that’s only the professional part of the equation.
One of Dwellworks’ core values is ‘fun’ (they even have a committee dedicated to the cause). In these first ten days, it has been made clear that this value is nurtured by the company’s cultural and desire to gratify employees. From a city walk to celebrate the Cleveland Cavaliers’ big Eastern Conference win to a company-wide bake sale benefitting a local animal shelter, every day here seems to bring something new to keep employee spirits’ high. Working here is not only satisfying because I have the opportunity to be hands on and fully engaged, but also because I’m having fun doing it!
My short time at Dwellworks has introduced me to a piece of the company’s culture by highlighting the balance between work and play. In the next nine weeks, I expect to learn even more about the values Dwellworks represents and the overall culture it fosters.
Alex Leszcz | Why I Decided to Intern with Dwellworks
Being a business major but being quite unsure about what I would like to do for my career, I wanted to take advantage of the summer after my freshman year to gain exposure to the business world. Going through the job search process was frustrating, but then Dwellworks came on the radar. Initially after the phone interview I could tell that this was a promising experience. The program that Dwellworks puts an intern through focuses on both real-world experience, and personal growth and development. This stood out to me, especially when I was told about the various professional development seminars with company executives. The ability to have this face to face contact with executives is great, and further listening to what they have to say is extremely helpful. It is unique for interns to gain this exposure to executives, and especially unique for executives to take a personal interest in the interns and take the time to teach something that would have helped them when they were my age.
More than just those meetings, Dwellworks gives the opportunity to gain real experience, doing a real job- not getting coffee. Since Dwellworks has interns in all divisions of the company, this also helps me gain exposure to more aspects of the business, and the different operations taking place. All of these opportunities combined into a single internship really sparked my interest in Dwellworks, and will provide a great base for me moving forward in school.
Anna Zschuppe | A Project I’ve Been Working on That’s Helping My Department
Interested in blending both human resources and marketing, I have been helping my team improve our job descriptions posted on Indeed. When I took a social media marketing class last semester, I learned the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) – a process used to amplify traction to a link or website through the descriptions and keywords that pop up on a search engine. This in mind, companies have to strategize which words and sentences 1) relate most to their audiences and 2) best describe their purpose in the shortest amount of text. That way, their content can be ranked higher on a search results page so that they gain more attention from Internet users.
Relating this marketing concept back to human resources, our team wants to figure out a way to have our positions pop up immediately on the search results page of Indeed, a job search engine. To do this, I’m analyzing which words job seekers use most in order to fine-tune our job descriptions and differentiate ourselves from the thousands of jobs posted. Although this is project is more long-term, I’m excited to dive into it during Week 2 of my internship and really see how my two career interests can be integrated into one.
Oona Haffey | The Biggest Adjustment from College Life to Work Life
After completing my first few weeks here at Dwellworks, I have a much better understanding of how work-life is different from college-life. The most obvious difference for me is the schedule. At school, I would create my own schedule, and would be busy for only a few hours at a time. Here at the office, we are here for eight hours a day. The biggest adjustment for me was adapting to this new schedule. Although it is much different than my college schedule, I am really enjoying the work-life routine. I have the time to dive deep into my work and really get a good understanding of what my role in a project is.
I will admit though, my first eight-hour day was rough, but after a few weeks of being here at Dwellworks, I have learned to adjust to the longer hours. In fact, I have recently been surprised with how quickly my day goes by! I will arrive in the morning and by the time I am finished with an assignment I will look at the clock and it will already be the late afternoon. Time really does fly by when you are having fun!
Dan Berghaus | My First Impression of Dwellworks, My Leader, and Team
My first impression of Dwellworks began when I was a freshman in college at Cleveland State University. I remember walking past the office on Euclid Avenue on a daily basis and was always drawn to the modern look and feel of the building’s interior that I could see through the front windows. For years I walked by Dwellworks, unsure of what the company did, but always impressed with its clean and modern appearance. After nearly three years of walking by the building, I finally searched online for what exactly Dwellworks was. I was impressed with the website and was excited to find that the company had internship opportunities in a variety of departments, including marketing. I applied for a marketing internship position a few days later and was excited to get a call from an HR representative to set up an interview with the marketing department.
My first impression of the marketing team was just as great as my first impression of Dwellworks and its building. Upon meeting the team in my first interview, I was welcomed with friendly smiles, lots of laughs, and a breakdown of everything the marketing department does. I remember feeling right at home with the marketing team; they were easy to talk to, very fun, and seemed genuinely eager to talk with me. They were certainly a group of people I knew I would enjoy working with every day.
At another interview, I met Andy Horvath, who would later become my internship supervisor. I felt just as calm with Andy as I was with the marketing department. He was kind, had an outgoing personality, and conversing with him felt like second nature. My interactions with him were just as positive as all my previous encounters with the company and its associates.
My first impressions of Dwellworks, the marketing team, and Andy were all excellent and the good vibes have continued since the first time I walked through the Dwellworks doors.
Hailey Atkins | The Biggest Adjustment from College Life to Work Life
Going from a school setting to a work setting, I have encountered myself adjusting to various things along the way. From relating what I learned in the classroom to my internship, to finally having some sort of personal income again and not having to depend on my parents' so much; however the biggest adjustment for me is my social schedule changing.
Getting up at the crack of dawn, following an 8-hour shift, has been difficult for me to adjust from being able to sleep in and be done with class by 2:00pm. Not to mention, the time to take an afternoon nap, which would bring me energy to stay up later or make evening plans. The first week and half, I found it difficult to even do anything after my day at work. I would go home, eat dinner and be in bed by 8:00pm, all to prepare myself for my next day of work.
Now that I am finishing up my third week into my internship, I am finally starting to feel as if I have left over energy when I leave work. I now feel up to go workout when 5:00pm rolls around or to make plans with my friends. Although, I do miss sleeping in some mornings and my afternoon naps, I am adjusting well to my work life for the better.
Jeff Britton | What My Desk Looks Like
I assume most interns wait until they have a desk filled with things to showcase their desk, but I figured I’d write about it early on. My desk is not great, it is not full of pictures of friends and family, but it is… mine (for the summer). During my first week here at Dwellworks, I didn’t think much about my desk’s aesthetic appeal because I was focused on learning the process and just trying to get a routine. As my second week got underway, I began to think about making this space my own. But for now, as of June 1st, my desk is composed of a briefcase under the desk, my complimentary Dwellworks cup on my left, several sticky notes posted around my monitors, and frequently a cup of coffee on my right. Several large foam Lego bricks are the first unique item I added to the desk and I plan to “build” and add more items to the collection in the coming weeks.
Aruni Prakash | The Biggest Adjustment from College Life to Work Life
The biggest adjustment is definitely the set schedule you have from day-to-day when you work in an office. In college, you have different classes every day and can choose what you want to do in-between classes. At work, however, you do have to stay in the office for your set hours. I don’t think either of these options have been necessarily bad as they both have their pros and cons. With office schedules, it’s easier to organize your priorities and get productive work accomplished. With college-life schedules, you do have more flexibility and variety in terms of what activities you do each day. I do enjoy aspects of each different lifestyle, and it has been fun to experience my first office job!
Katharine Zavagno | My Favorite Place to Eat Lunch Near Dwellworks
My favorite place to eat lunch is the Heinens grocery store on Euclid. Heinens is just a five-minute walk from Dwellworks and has all kinds of different options to choose from. On Wednesdays, they have five-dollar sushi, which is something that the other interns and I enjoy doing together. This Heinens is located within the Cleveland Trust Building, a beautiful and historic location in the heart of downtown. Heinens has two different salad bars and a create-your-own rice bowl bar; no matter how many times you go, you can always try something new!
Leslie Flynn | Why I Decided to Intern at Dwellworks
When I was looking for an internship this summer, I knew I wanted to be in a Marketing department. I have had both agency and small-business experience but I was hoping to have exposure to an in-house marketing environment. After this past semester during which I took more in-depth courses in Marketing at John Carroll University, I have started to gain more skills and learn my preferences. Interning at Dwellworks provides me with the chance to market a unique blend of products and services, which is the typical split in marketing. So far, I have really enjoyed this challenge while learning about a new business model.
During my first week, our leaders made sure to explain the company structure and service lines in as much detail as possible. This was very helpful since I was not familiar with the relocation industry at all. I am starting to get a better feel for our role in the process and the ways that we help others.
Since I will be graduating next spring and looking for a full-time job, I knew my internship this summer would be an important learning experience for me. Dwellworks seemed like a great fit because it is a global company. I hope to market for a global company after graduation where I can continue to explore and develop my interests in languages and other cultures. So far, I have really enjoyed being a part of a team that truly values communication and working together to accomplish tasks. I am happy to be a team member with Dwellworks this summer!
To browse more posts about Dwellworks Culture, click here!