holmesgleninternship

[holmesgleninternship]

Entry 8 - Your overall reflections on the internship and your studies

My overall internship experience has been tiring, but something that I was encouraged. Internships identify what I can do and what I do not want to do. It shows the perspective of a real-life working environment. It could be the next step in getting a career that you will like (Forbes, 2022). The internship programs given to us were good but wish we had more internships in different sports. Internship programs are related to the courses that we are doing, which can help us develop and gain more outside of the classroom and use what we have learned for our internships (Anjum, 2020).

My Baseball Australia internship was one of the best experiences I had since moving to Melbourne. I have loved the game so much since I was young and felt so much excitement coming back to a baseball field. The role I did was really good since I was so interested in data analytics in sports. This gave me an opportunity to know and understand what is like working with the high-performance and data analytics department. The recent games I did were the best because I had a chance to sit beside the game production team. This can give me a chance and experience what it is like during gameday and the production crew. And I had a great supervisor guiding and discussing what was happening in the sports industry.

My Hockey Australia internship had some ups and downs. It started off very well with joining meetings, developing a live stream event, preparing for shipment to the events and assisting some of the departments with their spreadsheet. Then, it went downhill after not doing so much work and just joined the different events they had in their workplace.

But this internship experience is something I should be proud of doing. It really feels like going to normal full-time work, but we do not get paid. Hopefully, after I am done with Uni, this will lead me to get a full-time job in the sporting industry.

References:

Anjum, S. (2020). Impact of internship programs on professional and personal development of business students: a case study from Pakistan. Future Business Journal, 6(1), 2.

Forbes. (2022). The Importance Of Internships And The Invaluable Relationships They Bring. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2022/08/12/the-importance-of-internships-and-the-invaluable-relationships-they-bring/?sh=1fc3ae417fd1

[holmesgleninternship]

Entry 7 - Reflection on your supervisor evaluations and how these align with your future career professional development requirements (these will be available at different times for individual students)

It is important to take and provide feedback for both parties involved. It can set up in having a positive work environment and it can progress and improve in the future (Kaushik, 2021). Having feedback from my supervisors was good at the end. I did a lot of good performance and jobs during my internship stay at Baseball Australia and Hockey Australia. I also provided feedback about the internships, which was similar to the feedback from my supervisors.

In Baseball Australia, I was able to maintain my composure and get used to the pressure when recording the play in the system. It is very challenging since you always have to keep your eyes on the field and watch and remember what happened.

For Hockey Australia, I was always kind enough to assist the different departments and I was always willing to do the work. Though there were times I could not do anything, I was still able to work it through and finish the internship.

This feedback can assist me when I have a job in the sporting industry. The evaluations help me understand what I need to do in order to have a successful job career.

I will use the supervisors as my references when applying for jobs and hopefully, it can turn out well at the end. The supervisors can also assist me by refereeing me for a certain organisation Having references can assist me in gaining more connections and a possible job if the organisation I applied for knows that person, which creates new opportunities  (Chen et al., 2018).

References:

Chen, T., Ching-cheng, S., & Gosling, M. (2018). Does employability increase with internship satisfaction? Enhanced employability and internship satisfaction in a hospitality program. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sports and Tourism Education, 22, 88-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhlste.2018.04.001

Kaushik, S. (2021). How Intern-Employer Feedback Is Important For The Company’s Performance. Youth Ki Awaaz. https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2021/08/importance-of-an-interns-feedback/

[holmesgleninternship]

Entry 6 - Career aspirations including goal setting (you will arrange an interview with the Holmesglen Skills & Jobs Centre to review your CV, interview skills and preparedness for applying for work post-studies)

Career aspirations are considered a long-term plan and ambition. It is based on their development, experiences, skills and many more (Coursera, 2023). Some of the career aspirations can be based on the person with females applying for this certain job and the males for another job based on the studies of Al-Bahrani et al. (2020). This means some jobs are not meant for certain types of people. Unless they have some diversity rule in their organisation.

During our transition to professional practice class, we had an interview assessment with the Holmesglen Skills & Jobs Centre. They were asking us questions that we usually hear when we do our job interviews. They would also look at our resumes and see if this is good enough to submit or apply for a certain job. I have to plan out what I want to do in the future based on my experiences. My resume could lead me to operations, events, and data analytics. These are the types of roles I want to do in the sporting industry.

When I apply for jobs, I use the same resume I did last semester, which highlights and defines my roles in the organisations I worked with, I decided to use a cover letter this time. The reason why I did not do cover letters before is that it takes a long time to develop a cover letter for each job. So I use the same cover letter that I developed at the start of the third year, but change some of the words for specific jobs when I apply for them.

My goal after I finish with Uni is to get a full-time job in the sports industry, which I have been doing since the start of my last year. It feels like it might take some time, but I am hopeful when applying for jobs and doing interviews. And my other goal is to get a permanent resident in 2 years. But to achieve that, I have to find a full time job and if I still work at the same organisation, I have to ask them if they can sponsor me when apply for permanent residency.

References:

Al-Bahrani, M. A., Allawati, S. M., Abu Shindi, Y. A., & Bakkar, B. S. (2020). Career aspiration and related contextual variables. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25(1), 703-711.

Coursera. (2023). How to Answer “What Are Your Career Aspirations?” Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/articles/career-aspirations

[holmesgleninternship]

Entry 5 - Achievements and milestones (both technically and professionally, during the internship and personally)

During my internships, not only did I want to gain more skills and experience, but I also wanted to gain more connections and work achievements in the sports industry. Studies show that students not only want the experience, but they also want to accomplish something that they gain out of the internship (Wei et al., 2021). These internships can help in their normal life and work. It can help them decide what they want in the future and if the role of their internship is what they want to do.

 The achievements that I got through my internships were gaining more connections and working with people in different kinds of departments – from operations, finance, growth, and media. Sometimes, I do not like being told what to do because it makes me feel weak mentally and physically during work. But, I have to think it of a way as a sign of respect for doing the work.

I was also invited back to do another season with the Australian Baseball League and the Melbourne Aces, which I feel is better this time because I was going to be the only intern in the workplace. Now, I feel like I'm doing a lot of work, keeping myself busy, and gaining more confidence doing it by myself. Below is the data analysis I did during the baseball season in 2022. There were no errors and the clubs were able to understand what I did, which for me is an achievement. I think surviving and doing a 228-hour internship with Hockey Australia can be also an achievement. Through the tough times, I was still able to manage to get through the internship

Even though these are kind of small achievements, working hard gives you a good work ethic and they will notice you for doing it (Student Brands, n.d.).

Maybe it also helped me get another job experience. I was able to get hired as a Venue Manager for the VAFA Finals, which was a great experience, and the internships could have assisted in me getting that role. I was also able to get hired as Matchday coordinator for a soccer organisation, but that was gone after a few days when the organisation went out of business.

Hopefully, these achievements in my internships can assist me in gaining a job in the sports industry.

References:

Student Brands. (n.d.). 10 important things you learn from an internship. Student Brands. https://studentbrands.co.za/career-guidance/10-important-things-learn-internship/

Wei, L. Z., Zhou, S. S., Hu, S., Zhou, Z., & Chen, J. (2021). Influences of nursing students’ career planning, internship experience, and other factors on professional identity. Nurse Education Today, 99, 104781.

[holmesgleninternship]

Entry 4 - Challenges you faced (the nature of the work, working hours, organisation, motivation, tabling of ideas)

The nature of the work or having the working adaptation can be tough, especially when it comes to long hours and not doing anything.

In the Baseball Australia internship, there was another intern doing the same role as me. We did not get along as much since we were doing the same thing and one person had to step aside just to watch the game. This was really challenging for me because I wanted to work as much as possible so I could get used to the workplace and gain more knowledge about the system that we were using. The most challenging part was travelling to the ballpark, which was almost 90 mins by public transport. I had no choice but to take that transportation. However, I was willing to take it because I did not want to miss this opportunity to work in baseball.

In the Hockey Australia internship, the 1st 40 hours were great because I had some work to do and prepare for events. But after that, it looked like it was not progressing well as before. After doing the live stream of the “Reconciliation Action Plan”, I was not doing much work. I would ask the employee if they needed any help. But they say the same thing all time that they did not do anything for me to do at this time. So, I decided to talk to Simone about the situation that I was not getting as much work as before. I had to find a way to talk to Steph, our internship supervisor, about not having as much work as before. And, we did set up a meeting to discuss it and it has not changed. I think some employees had too much work to do and I felt I did not want them to interrupt their work or be interrupted.

With these challenges, a skill of communication can solve these problems. Studies show that communication can also lead to improvements like a positive workplace and learning outcomes (Nguyen Thi & Dakich, 2022). Having communication will give transparency and can solve the problem during hard situations. It can also develop teamwork and trust, even though it can be uncomfortable (Australian Internships, 2020). Communication is still what I need to improve on, and these types of situations can gain my confidence in communicating with the organisation and in the workplace, even though it can be uncomfortable at times.

References:

Australian Internships. (2020). Building your Teamwork Skills. Australian Internships. https://internships.com.au/career-advice/building-your-teamwork-skills

Nguyen Thi, N. H., & Dakich, E. (2022). Student internship experiences: areas for improvement and student choices of internship practices. Education & Training, 64(4), 516-532. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-09-2021-0337

[holmesgleninternship]

Entry 3 - Becoming an effective team member and contributor: how did utilise the support of your supervisor/co- workers to help build your confidence and become more efficient as an intern (this may include feedback, training or other support/opportunities)

I had to find ways to work or contribute to the organisations so they knew they could rely on me when doing the job. If I do this, the internship will allow me to improve and discover skills while gaining experience. Studies show that if you gain more skills and feedback, it can illustrate how you can work in an organisation from hiring companies (Finch et al., 2013 as cited in Kapareliotis et al., 2019).

In my Baseball Australia internship, I was informed there was an Australian Women’s Tournament event that was happening, 3 weeks before the event. It was a one-week event where there were 3 to 4 games a day. So, me and the other intern still take turns recording the games. But when I was not doing anything, I was able to direct the live stream and scores for the Australian Women’s Tournament. It was a really good experience because I was not into being part of the sports industry in the media department. But when there was an opportunity to gain some new skills, I always gave it a go and gained the experience.

In my Hockey Australia internship, I was always willing to contribute and assist the departments with their needs. Whether it is developing and fixing a template for them or moving physical types of equipment in preparing a shipment for the events. There were times I was asked to fix a spreadsheet that was too complicated for them to work with. So, I was able to fix it for them quickly and hopefully, they can give me more jobs after. I was also asked to do a Kahoot quiz for the all-staff meeting, which I had a lot of fun doing it. It looked like it was fun for everyone too when they did the Kahoot quiz. When there is nothing to do, I always try to ask each employee if they need any help with their work. Most of the time they say not at this time, which could be annoying to hear. But it is what it is, and I just must wait if they ask me to help them with their work.

Having interns in the organisation can give them something fresh and give them more ideas for upcoming projects and events (Indeed Editorial Team, 2023). Contributing more can lead me to more opportunities in the internship and something that can gain me more confidence in the workplace.

References:

Indeed Editorial Team. (2023). What Are the Benefits of Interns and Why Do Companies Hire Them? Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/why-do-companies-hire-interns

Kapareliotis, I., Voutsina, K., & Patsiotis, A. (2019). Internship and employability prospects: assessing student’s work readiness. [Internship and employability prospects] Higher Education, Skills and Work - Based Learning, 9(4), 538-549. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-08-2018-0086

[holmesgleninternship]

Entry 2 - Finding your feet in the internship: induction, and completing initial tasks (i.e. the first 40 hours discussion)

I started my first internship with Baseball Australia at the end of my second year because I wanted to get ahead, and the baseball season was around the summertime. My role is data acquisition support and I had to record what happened during the game after the baseball was thrown or whatever was happening on the field. The workplace of the internship was far, and it was a three-hour journey to the stadium and back home. I only do the internship if the Melbourne Aces are playing at home. I was able to get an induction before the season started. Once I saw the system, I was able to understand what I was going to do for the internship. Usually, organisations will show you how their business runs. You can possibly assist the different departments and roles and in a few days contribute more to the team (Capital Placement, 2022). It was kind of a tough start and I started slow because there was another intern, and we had to find a way to share the workload. We were able to resolve it once I got used to the system and the pace of the game.

My second internship with Hockey Australia was a good start. I did not know what to expect at the start. The role that I was doing was assisting the business operations and growth departments. I was surprised there was another intern joining me. We had to join meetings and try to understand what was going on with the organisation. The meeting was about the events coming up and what were the updates from the team. We had to create flights for umpires. Then, we had to prepare in their storeroom what needed to be shipped to the events. We also did some Microsoft Office work just to make the employees have an easy time doing their work. We attended some events like Mental Awareness Month, where we all gathered with a speaker talking about the importance of it. The biggest project we had was to develop a live stream for their “Reconciliation Action Plan”. It took some time researching on what was the best platform for streaming but we were able to get the job done.

The organisation values the applicant’s ability and skill, which is why internships can be very helpful in gaining more experience. It can determine the development and salary when applying for jobs (Zuo et al., 2020). I am hopeful and expect to do some more work, talk more with the employees about their roles and assist them with their projects going forward.

References:

Capital Placement. (2022). Role of an Intern: What to Expect From Your Internship Role. Capital Placement. https://capital-placement.com/blog/role-of-intern/

Zuo, Y., Weng, Q., & Xie, X. (2020). Are all internships equally beneficial? Toward a contingency model of internship efficacy. Journal of Career Development, 47(6), 627-641.

[holmesgleninternship]

Entry 1 - Your preparedness prior to commencing your internship and how you assimilated into the organisation’s culture.

Our preparedness for our internship had classes before the start of 3rd year and 1st semester. We decided as a class to start early so we can get ready for our internship and we will have fewer classes for the semester, which does not interfere with our internship and work as much as before. So, we were able to develop different resumes and cover letters that we could use for our internship application. We also did practice interviews to prepare ourselves for answering the questions that the interviewee would give us.

I had 2 internships that I applied for. One was through Simone and the other I had to develop a resume and cover letter. The one with Simone was the Baseball Australia internship. I wanted this internship because of my knowledge and love for baseball. So, I had no interview or had to submit a resume or cover letter. I was accepted right away. Maybe because I know the game of baseball very well, and Simone knew someone who needed an intern or assistance during the Australian Baseball League.

The other internship I had was with Hockey Australia. I had to prepare my resume and cover letter to show the organisation who I was and why I wanted to apply with them. Then, I checked their selection criteria and explained my experience with these selection criteria they need to be a selectable candidate for the internship. The reasons I decided to apply for them are: there was another internship option in the operations department, and I was not accepted by Basketball Victoria. During the interview for Hockey Australia, they asked questions that were very similar to my practice interview. I felt that my interview was good at the end after talking about myself and what I wanted to accomplish after the internship. Then a few days later, I got a call that I was accepted.

The importance of having an internship when going to university is students can experience the realistic nature of work and information about the partnered organisation (Zhao, 2013, as cited in Sekiguchi et al., 2023). This can lead the university to have a better business relationship with the partnered organisation and possibly have future employees from the university. Students can also gain this opportunity to learn and gain the skills they need to become part of an industry they want. Virginia Tech. (n.d.).

I am hopeful that these internships will be exciting, and that these experiences will assist me in getting what I want in the sports industry.

References:

Sekiguchi, T., Mitate, Y., & Yang, Y. (2023). Internship Experience and Organizational Attractiveness: A Realistic Job Fit Perspective. Journal of Career Development, 50(2), 353–371. https://doi.org/10.1177/08948453221094311

Virginia Tech. (n.d.). Preparing for your internship. Virginia Tech. https://career.vt.edu/experience/Internships/prepare.html