Welcome to the 2017 Dwellworks Intern blog! Each week until mid-August, our summer interns will be blogging about their Dwellworks Experience and musings from the Internship Program.
Below are their thoughts from week nine.
Read their blogs from week eight here.
Oona Haffey | Why I Would Recommend This Internship to a Fellow Classmate
The Dwellworks internship program is one-of-a-kind because it teaches you about your field while also making each day fun and exciting. I have applied what I learned in the classroom to my work here, and I am sure what I have learned at Dwellworks will help me in my upcoming classes and career. Our accounting department is not huge, so I was able to see every aspect of our department during my internship. That fact alone differentiates Dwellworks from any other company. Our size is our advantage, and as an intern, it was great to be able to see more than just one part of a department. Aside from the work, the culture here is something I have never experienced before. The Dwellworks core values are very present and from day one I knew the employees loved their work environment. Interning at Dwellworks teaches you real-life applications of what you are studying in a space filled with positivity and creativity.
Aruni Prakash | A Project I’ve Been Working on That Helps My Department
In Destination Services, and in most of the departments here, trainings are very important. The amount of work that DS managers have to keep up with can be overwhelming, especially when you have to be very detail-oriented in everything you do. In order to alleviate the amount of trainings DS managers have to provide and to give new hires a template to quickly access, I created a training video for one of the programs new hires are trained on – Spark. This way, time isn’t spent on going through each step of assigning a program in Spark, and managers can have a portable guide to reference.
Katharine Zavagno | Why I Would Recommend This Internship to a Fellow Classmate
My time at Dwellworks has been rewarding and beneficial in a variety of ways. I have learned many important lessons in collaboration, communication, and problem solving that will be extremely valuable to my post-graduate career. I would recommend this internship to college students in any field of study; Dwellworks offers positions across all academic disciplines. Many of these positions do not fall under the traditional umbrella of common college majors, which allows students to imagine their field of study through a unique and different lens. As a communications student, an internship in destination services may not seem to qualify as a conventional job for my major. However, I have learned so many valuable lessons in effective communication not only through my department and fellow interns, but also with our destination services consultants and transferees on a daily basis.
Beyond my work within destination services, this internship program provides a multitude of business trainings on subjects such as LinkedIn, customer service, business etiquette and mock interview sessions to help prepare us to join the workforce. These have been extremely helpful in applying everything we have learned throughout our internship to life after graduation.
Furthermore, the fun, laid-back environment at Dwellworks is another point of persuasion for college students. Between cook-outs, wellness walks, Cavs and Indians t-shirt days, cute pet contests and yoga Wednesdays, Dwellworks ensures that all of its employees enjoy coming to work every morning. Overall, working at Dwellworks has empowered me to feel prepared for any career path I decide to take following my May graduation.
Jeff Britton | The Biggest Adjustment from College to Work Life
Personally, the biggest adjustment between college-life and work-life is that for the most part, I do not take work home with me. Mostly because all documents are on the company server, but also the practice of working hard from 8am-5pm and then leaving when the work in finished. College is a place where the work never really leaves you and is always calling to be worked on. I have very much enjoyed knowing that I can plug into a workday and accomplish things while being able to unplug at the end of the day an enjoy the evenings. The other adjustment has been driving from the east-side of Cleveland to downtown as opposed to stepping out my front door and walking to class as I do during the school year.
Leslie Flynn | Why I Would Recommend This Internship to a Fellow Classmate
Being an intern at Dwellworks has taught me so much about business and myself in just a few weeks. I would highly recommend interning here to my marketing classmates, for many reasons.
This was the first established "internship program" I participated in. Dwellworks has organized specific trainings, events, and goals for the interns, with frequent chances to give and receive feedback. I like how the interns are all gathered together at least once a week for a training or project meeting. I have never worked with other interns before, and it is so interesting to learn with my peers and hear about their own experiences.
Additionally, the marketing team is a great group to work with. They are always helping us interns understand new things, from the industry acronyms to best practices in the field. Since marketing is a shared support service, we work with nearly every department in every location across the company. We are a fast-paced department where communication and teamwork are absolutely essential.
Finally, I would recommend this internship to my classmates in Cleveland because it provides the opportunity to continue to explore our dynamic city. There is always a neat event to attend on the weekends and my list of restaurants to try is growing faster than I can cross them off. With its low cost of living and ease of navigation, Cleveland is one of the best cities for young professionals!
Emily Llewelyn | Interview with My Leader
I interviewed my leader, Josie Brennan, for this week’s blog.
How long have you been working at Dwellworks?
Two years next month.
What was your background before working here?
I lived in London and worked for Hampton’s International; Letting sales, management and appraisal.
Have you been involved in any of the committees here?
If eating the food counts, then yes 😊.
What is your favourite part about working at Dwellworks?
The diversity. I love solving problems/puzzles, and each day the job allows for a new challenge. No day is ever the same, neither are the people - which I love!
Alex Leszcz | A Project I’ve Been Working on That Helps My Department
This past week, I was assigned to a large project that relates to our new business in Canada we acquired from one of our clients. It was my responsibility to enter all the appraiser’s information into our client’s online system. Upon initially receiving the project, it seemed overwhelming. I was emailed a huge spreadsheet with well over 800 entries and never thought I would be able to finish it. However, I calculated how many I can do in a day, and from there determined how many days it will take me. Also, having a goal each day keeps me focused and allows me to feel good about my progress. It was going well until my department needed my help on another project for a different client. So, my fellow intern Jeff and I worked on this other project quickly, until it was finished.
This past week has been a busy one for me, between the huge project I am working on, the intern group project (which is in full swing as we are trying to get our presentation and videos in order), and the last project I was assigned to help Jeff. I can say even though it has been a bit of a grind this week, I feel as if I am helping my department tremendously. We have been very busy with list creation, so my work allows Dwellworks to expand its business, and still keep up with the high volume of orders we have been experiencing these past couple weeks.
Dan Berghaus | What My Desk Looks Like
I like to keep my desk clean and organized, but there are still a few items in my work space that attest to my personality.
Aside from the essentials, such as pads of paper, to-do lists, and binders, I have my Inbound Marketing Certification hanging up, a Kevin Love fat head that I won in a Dwellworks drawing, and the award my hamster, Bellatrix, won in the Dwellworks pet photo competition.
On the professional side of things, I have the Dwellworks color palette hanging up for quick reference and a color-coded list of 30+ blog topics that need to be written, as well as a branding guide and other miscellaneous documents.
Anna Zschuppe | My First Impression of Dwellworks, My Leader, and My Team
Although this question usually is answered at the beginning of the internship, I decided to go off the beaten path here. The first impression of my team traces all the way back to my interview in March – long story short, meeting with the human resources (HR) team definitely secured my interest in joining Dwellworks. Not only were they engaged in the conversation but also were answering my more difficult questions both thoughtfully and honestly. In fact, I was so comfortable during the interview that it didn’t even feel like an interview – our in-person conversation lasted over an hour! Chatting about our dogs and our summer plans, I could tell that I would fit well into a team that truly gets along with one another and works together to achieve company goals and complete departmental functions.
Between my time interviewing and the day I actually started, the HR team shifted drastically – with a maternity leave and some hires/exits within those few months, I was a bit nervous that the team dynamic would change. However, despite everything that happened, the team is working harder than ever to keep tasks on track and – more importantly – to be proactive about future projects. Rather than leaving me out of the loop since I was “just the intern,” the team sought my advice, assigned me big to-dos, and valued my work.
For me, this was my “aha moment” – it helped me realize the kind of team that I want to work with throughout my career: an innovative, organized group who likes to have fun and puts their best foot forward in bettering the company they work for.
I guess that “first impressions are the most lasting” quote really holds true, and I couldn’t be happier to work with the team I do here at Dwellworks.
Maggie Lowman | Something I’ve Learned Through the Group Project
Working with 14 interns, 4 of whom live in different places including Germany and the UK, has been a great learning experience. Though I have worked in many different groups on many different projects, I’ve never completed a project with a team member who I have never met face-to-face. Beyond this, I’ve never worked with peers in different time zones. The planning and strategy it takes to complete work internationally is immense, but that being said, our group and final product would not have been the same without the help of the interns who reside in different places. This group project has helped me realize the unlocked potential of globalization in business, and it has also prepared me to be a more organized and aware group member!
To browse more posts about Dwellworks Culture, click here!