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Taking the internship to the "Max" - Max Events (Quarter Times Article)

After years of being locked down during my 3 years of studying at Holmesglen being able to commence and complete my internship in full within the industry was extremely exciting.

My time with Max Events has been hectic, fun yet extremely rewarding. When I first agreed to the position, I was unsure of what I was walking into but I knew I had learnt the adequate skills and knowledge during my degree to be able to complete any of the tasks that were set for me.

Over the next 228 Hours, I was placed under the wonderful team at Max Events who all gave me multiple opportunities. I was given a variety of different roles over multiple facets of Sport Event Management. From Sport Presentation where I was floor managing moving the correct people into the correct places, following the cue sheet so the event can run as smoothly as possible.  Running Events for the Australian Boomers, Melbourne Storm and Manchester United in front of 74,000 fans at the MCG to kick off my internship was incredible. So many moments where I would just find myself taking a moment to stand back and cherish the position, I was in. Being able to sit just behind the coaches in the middle of the MCG as one of the biggest sporting clubs in the world is playing on the pitch, people would pay thousands and thousands of dollars and I was there theoretically working a monumental event.

It was these moments that continued to happen throughout the internship that continued to make it so enjoyable, whilst continuing to learn and work on events I got to meet so many new people who were so open to giving me new information and advice to help better me as much as I can.

My big moment during the internship was being asked to start running events myself. Collingwood’s AFLW Home Games at Victoria Park gave me the perfect opportunities to do this, I completed three games successfully with one of those being Collingwood AFLW’s Marquee Pride Game. With so many different pieces moving with different acts, songs and performances it kept me on my toes but once that game wrapped up the sense of fulfilment and success was wonderful.

The past 3 years of studying my degree in Sport Business helped prepare me for the position I am in now, completing units in Sport Event Tourism, Sport Business and Event Management and Digital Media Production all gave me the tools necessary to put myself ahead of the other external interns. My lecturers put so much time and effort into not only helping me but my whole cohort to support us into reaching our goals and the end of our degrees.

This internship has led me to access new openings and opportunities. As much as I start to sound like a broken record, but I would have never imagined myself doing the work I currently am now with Max Events. This degree and this internship have led me to my next path in my professional life and I couldn’t be more excited to see where it goes.

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Your overall reflections on the internship and your studies.

This internship has been everything I expected and so much more. From the minute I walked through the doors of the office for my interview to my last day as an intern with Max Events, I have been welcomed with open arms by everyone. There is not a single person within the Max Events Team who wouldn’t put aside time to have a chat with me or teach me something new. There wasn’t a single time where I felt like I was an “intern” the experience I was provided, the “ROI & conversion to Full Time) Zhang, (2021) was in the front of the Max Events minds during the internship. I was treated the exact same as everyone else and that made the transition much easier. Considering I got this opportunity through networks and my resume being sent out they didn’t owe me anything but instead they’ve given every chance for me to succeed. Although you could say Mitch and Erin were my main to supervisors. If it wasn’t for people like Courtney or Tyson who said “Dan, we are going to stand behind you in case, but this is your opportunity.” It would’ve taken me longer to take that initial leap. Or if it wasn’t for Marissa and Olivia, I wouldn’t have been able to run a Match Day production for Collingwood Football Club which is my Childhood team and the opportunity to do so in such a wholesome and welcoming environment of the AFLW was something I’ll never forget.

If you were to sit my down at the start of my final year of this degree and said ‘Dan, you will rub shoulders with the Australian Boomers, Manchester United, Collingwood, Melbourne Storm, Melbourne United and many more, my reaction would be worth recording as here I sit now and I still can’t really believe it all.

The other half of this entry is a reflection on my studies, the past 3 years haven’t been a walk in the park but have been a true character-building experience. Having finished school and my diploma with extremely good results it was a harsh but fair kick to the teeth when I failed my first-ever assignment for this degree. It was what I needed to realise this isn’t school anymore and I’m going to have to work for what I want. Covid and lockdowns came very early on in my degree and completely changed the landscape of it all. It sometimes made it easier to manage my time and get my assignments done but it also made things difficult when it came to learning and listening. But here I am passing all my subjects bar this one knowing well I will be graduating in just a few months. It's hard to believe it, the student who had failed their first assignment to getting 20/20 on their final evaluation. The growth I’ve had in the past 3 years, the connections I’ve made, the opportunities I’ve captured. I couldn’t have asked it to have gone any other way.

Carson, L., & Fisher, K. (2006). Raising the Bar on Criticality: Students’ Critical Reflection in an Internship Program. Journal of Management Education, 30(5), 700–723. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562905284962

Zhang, E. (2021) Key Metrics to Optimize & Scale Your Internship Program: Exceptional Experience

.https://symba.io/blog/internship-program-management/key-metrics-to-optimize-scale-your-internship-program-overall-intern-satisfaction/

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Reflection on your supervisor evaluations and how these align with your future career professional development requirements

Reflecting onto my first evaluation when I had just passed 100hours as mentioned earlier it truly shocked but appreciative to read such positive feedback. Being able to read that it has been seen by my peers how much effort and planning I put into every event was extremely comforting. As someone who currently has a part time job, casual job, studying and completing this internship my organisation must be above the standard level. Constantly being in contact with multiple managers, planning out my work weeks occasionally a month in advance and making sure that none of this clash with one another is extremely important to me. When I read that Mitch says that my organisational skills make their lives easier it really showed me that I am continuing to grow as a professional. Just trying to manage workloads used to be a struggle when I was in school so being able to see first-hand these kinds of improvements really does boost my professional confidence levels.

My professional development continues to develop every time I go into the office or complete an event during the internship. Being able to now suggest my own ideas, ask for feedback, complete tasks autonomously and confidently show me the growth in a professional self that I have been working on throughout the duration of my studies.

Now that the second evaluation has been received, having a chance to reflect and assess the feedback was pivotal in helping me realise just how much I’ve done over the past 6 months with Max Events.

As mentioned earlier when I completed my entry for 100 hours, I was shocked but appreciative about the feedback Mitch and the crew at Max Events gave me but even at 200 Hours I’m still in the exact same mindset. Mitch evaluating my skills and criteria as exceptional in all but 2 was fantastic to hear! Putting in the effort to learn, develop and grow with max events with every opportunity they presented me with was one of the driving forces to these scores. It wasn’t a case of just all flaws being pointed out, which has happened before at a previous workplace but the evaluations provided covered multiple facets and painted a clear picture (PrimaLogik, 2022)

One of the important parts of the evaluation for me was the aspects where I can improvements. These aspects are crucial to continuing to improve and becoming the best person I can be professionally. Both evaluations were a great way to learn more about myself and what more I can do as explained in the article by Verney, T., Holoviak, S., & Winter, S. (2011) the importance of an evaluation and and adapting it to make the feedback more concise gives students, lecturers, and the company plenty of information that will help all involved.

Learning to develop media and design skills is an aspect I too believe I should look to learn and develop. This will help open up many more doors and opportunities within the sports industry. As mitch mentioned learning how to use excel will help myself greatly especially with Max Events. Creating match day cue sheets is made much easier and the time spent reduced greatly.

Comparing both supervisor evaluations, I am very happy with the way I have presented myself at Max Events, there have been countless opportunities to learn and grow as well as try something new. Every time something came up I can gladly say I have it my best and it has been reflected through the evaluations. My future professional development is continuing to evolve, the more I work with Max Events the more I enjoy the work that they do and the more I want to do it myself. Continuing to learn from the team at Max Events will be nothing but beneficial to developing my professional self.

Primalogik. (2022). Supervisor Evaluation – A Complete Guide from A to Z

.https://primalogik.com/blog/supervisor-evaluation-complete-guide/

Verney, T. P., Holoviak, S. J., & Winter, A. S. (2011). Enhancing the reliability of internship evaluations. The Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 9(1), 22.

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Career aspirations including goal setting

My career aspirations have changed since starting the internship from when I first applied for this degree. For so long I was so certain and pigeonholed into being a Talent Manager I truly believed that was the career for me. But since applying for multiple jobs and not having even the slightest bit of success and starting my time with Max Events this has changed.

I now really enjoy the work in Sport Event Management and whether I continue a role like the one my internship is currently like or something within the production side of sports events is my new goal. I feel I will still go back to doing talent agency but as a young person straight out of university it is hard to create those connection, opportunities, and those professional relationships.

Making an appointment with the Jobs and Skills centre was initially difficult but it was eventually sorted with an Appointment booked on the 5th Dec with Ella. Sending through my resume and cover letter that had previously been looked over by Sharyn I was confident that I was going to be in a pretty good position but another set of eyes to look over can do nothing but good.

Ella was extremely helpful during the appointment as she advised me to tighten up my resume for my internship description but other than that the resume was well put together. Whilst looking for prospective jobs I also came across an article on indeed which helped me improve my about me section on my resume, including work related achievements, skills and accomplishments are all things that future employers will be looking out for especially (Indeed, 2021)

The cover letter is still something that I’m getting used to using in a professional manner, considering I hadn’t applied for professional work since I was a teenager learning the importance and the use of a cover letter I’m still learning. With my cover letter Ella recommended that I utilise the posted Position Description to help integrate my skills and experiences with the ones that have been posted within it (Holmesglen Jobs & Skills, 2022). Doing this will help show the employer that I have had the experience and start to build that understanding of what I’m able to provide them.

Finally, I also got a chance to ask Ella some questions of my own that I had been meaning to ask.

I have had multiple interviews and even multiple applications that I was yet to hear back from I had asked Sharyn earlier in the semester for her advice and she said if you haven’t heard after the application call and find out but I wasn’t sure what to do if I had made it to the interview phase, Luckily it was the same result call after a week from the interview if you haven’t heard anything and ask for feedback if you weren’t successful. The last question I got to ask Ella was a question that I had been asked during an interview which I wasn’t sure how to answer at the time. That question was “What is my expected salary?”. This threw my completely off guard as I’ve never discussed my pay with others as well as been in a position to be able to gauge what my salary should/ would like to be. The advice that was given to me was really helpful as I learnt to check what the award rate is going in so that if I am unsure, I can just say I would expect the award rate so it is entry level but then I am also not undercutting myself.

Holmesglen. (2022). Get Job Ready.

.https://holmesglen.edu.au/Industry/Holmesglen-Skills-and-Jobs-Centre/For-employers/Get-Job-Ready/

Ross, C. M., & Young, S. J. (2005). Resume Preferences: Is It Really “Business as Usual”? Journal of Career Development, 32(2), 153–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845305279162

Indeed, Editorial Team, (2021) What Is an “About Me” Section of a Resume? (Plus Benefits).

.https://au.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/about-me-in-a-resume

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Achievements and milestones (both technically and professionally, during the internship and personally).

During my internship with Max Events, I have already experienced some integral milestones and achievements. My first major milestone was within my first week with the team, I was told that since it was a minor event, I wouldn’t have a floor manager with me, and they would like me to do the event on my own. Being able to complete the event successfully was a massive moment for me as it’s something I didn’t see myself doing at all. That feeling continued throughout the whole of the Melbourne Storm season, every game improving more and more, taking control of different things, and continuing to round myself out. 

 At one point whilst doing the floor management for Collingwood’s AFLW team, one of my supervisors, Marissa informed me that she will not be in attendance for the next two games as she had events interstate that she needed to complete. When I was asked if I could run the event by myself, I jumped at the opportunity to be able to show how much I’ve learnt and how I had applied it to my skill set. The first game was successful with only a minor blemish in that the GWS Giants team song was played a little late but to the spectators they wouldn’t have even known! That was a really big moment for me as it has really shown me how much I have enjoyed the Events internship and how much its bettered me professionally. I was starting to see results like increases in efficiency and competence grow leaps and bounds (Phan, H.P., 2014) 

The second Collingwood game I had to manage has been my biggest achievement so far. Not only was it the last home game for the season but it was also AFLW’s Pride Round. Going into the event I knew how important this game is not only for the players but the fans as well, so I really wanted to perfect it, having project milestones continued to deliver the sense of pride and joy of completed major tasks and researching about how important they are discovered by a great article written by Eade, D. (n.d). We had multiple performances, dances and activations and the game went extremely smoothly. Receiving such positive feedback from Collingwood’s Brand Experience Coordinator Glen was a moment that I didn’t fully consider until sitting with my family, reading to them the feedback and them explaining how important it is to realise the position the internship has put me was the eye-opening experience that I needed. 

When I reached 100 hours on my logbook was another key milestone for my internship, knowing I was halfway there and realising how far I had come was a moment I really enjoyed taking in. This was when I incorporated a journal to start noticing and understanding just what exactly the tasks I was completing ranged within and it helped give me a sense of accomplishment seeing all the tasks and milestones I continued to complete (Neale, P. 2021) Starting out as the brand-new intern lurking in the shadows and observing everyone’s every move to feeling like I am a part of the team, taking up every opportunity that I could. I’m learning of new people every event and building up new connections and new networks at every corner. Getting a chance to read the first evaluation that Mitch had finalised and sent through to Sharyn for grading was my favourite achievement so far. Initially I was nervous to read the feedback as I still doubted myself about where I fit in the internship position and if my enjoyment of something new just created an illusion. But getting the opportunity to see that the enjoyment and appreciation was reciprocated was astonishing.

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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).

My career aspirations have changed since starting the internship from when I first applied for this degree. For so long I was so certain and pigeonholed into being a Talent Manager I truly believed that was the career for me. But since applying for multiple jobs and not having even the slightest bit of success and starting my time with Max Events this has changed.

I now really enjoy the work in Sport Event Management and whether I continue a role like the one my internship is currently like or something within the production side of sports events is my new goal. I feel I will still go back to doing talent agency but as a young person straight out of university it is hard to create those connection, opportunities, and those professional relationships.

Making an appointment with the Jobs and Skills centre was initially difficult but it was eventually sorted with an Appointment booked on the 5th Dec with Ella. Sending through my resume and cover letter that had previously been looked over by Sharyn I was confident that I was going to be in a pretty good position but another set of eyes to look over can do nothing but good.

Ella was extremely helpful during the appointment as she advised me to tighten up my resume for my internship description but other than that the resume was well put together. Whilst looking for prospective jobs I also came across an article on indeed which helped me improve my about me section on my resume, including work related achievements, skills and accomplishments are all things that future employers will be looking out for especially (Indeed, 2021)

The cover letter is still something that I’m getting used to using in a professional manner, considering I hadn’t applied for professional work since I was a teenager learning the importance and the use of a cover letter I’m still learning. With my cover letter Ella recommended that I utilise the posted Position Description to help integrate my skills and experiences with the ones that have been posted within it (Holmesglen Jobs & Skills, 2022). Doing this will help show the employer that I have had the experience and start to build that understanding of what I’m able to provide them.

Finally, I also got a chance to ask Ella some questions of my own that I had been meaning to ask.

I have had multiple interviews and even multiple applications that I was yet to hear back from I had asked Sharyn earlier in the semester for her advice and she said if you haven’t heard after the application call and find out but I wasn’t sure what to do if I had made it to the interview phase, Luckily it was the same result call after a week from the interview if you haven’t heard anything and ask for feedback if you weren’t successful. The last question I got to ask Ella was a question that I had been asked during an interview which I wasn’t sure how to answer at the time. That question was “What is my expected salary?”. This threw my completely off guard as I’ve never discussed my pay with others as well as been in a position to be able to gauge what my salary should/ would like to be. The advice that was given to me was really helpful as I learnt to check what the award rate is going in so that if I am unsure, I can just say I would expect the award rate so it is entry level but then I am also not undercutting myself.

Holmesglen. (2022). Get Job Ready.

.https://holmesglen.edu.au/Industry/Holmesglen-Skills-and-Jobs-Centre/For-employers/Get-Job-Ready/

Ross, C. M., & Young, S. J. (2005). Resume Preferences: Is It Really “Business as Usual”? Journal of Career Development, 32(2), 153–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845305279162

Indeed, Editorial Team, (2021) What Is an “About Me” Section of a Resume? (Plus Benefits).

.https://au.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/about-me-in-a-resume

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

My first challenge that I experienced was actually the first task that was given to me. I was asked to go out and collect Aunty Joy at a specific time and bring her to the Back of House area so we could prepare her for her Welcome to Country acknowledgment. When she wasn’t where she was meant to be 5 minutes after her expected arrival, I gave her a call to find out where she was. She said she was running late and that she was on the way. When working we are given communication headsets so we can contact each other with information and follow the cue sheet when necessary. Although it was cutting out, I could hear Tyson and Erin asking if I could find Aunty Joy yet, and with the time getting closer to her allotted time I was starting to stress more and more. It was nearly 30 minutes after the time I was meant to collect her I finally found her and brought her into the stadium. She didn’t even get time to put her stuff down it was taken off her by Erin and was directed by Tyson to the court where she completed her Acknowledgment of country.

I remember vividly at that time just panicking outside when I could hear Tyson and Erin, I said to myself, well this is it, it’s over before it starts, and I’ve let Robbie (my reference) down. But when it was all said and done Erin just laughed and told me not to stress it was out of my control and that made everything slow back down to normal. Once I had calmed down I learnt it was best to stay as calm as possible in these situations but to also reflect to see what went wrong and where (SEFE, N.D) It was the way they acted and reacted in these situations that I appreciated.

One of the biggest challenges that occurred was the lack of pre planning by the Melbourne Storm crew for the final home game for the members.

The Melbourne Storm team planned out and completed the run sheet and proceedings for the event. They had planned to do to a giveaway, but the way they had planned it didn’t work out and it needed to be changed on the fly. This was stressful for the floor team as we didn’t have a lot of time to think and plan how we were going to complete that particular part of the event. Another challenge I faced was the constant changing of “workplace” for the past 6 years I have worked in the same place or studied in a singular point for a year, learning how to become more self-sufficient by learning how to become more proactive in my tasks and developing skills to tracking what went well and what was a challenge so future me could avoid the challenges again as discussed by Richardson, & Mackinnon, D. (2018). Trying to stay on top of what stadium I was at, or whether I was going to the office before or after was initially a challenge. But learning how to plan correctly and effectively made a great difference in being on time and being effective.

It was these major moments during my internship that stuck out to me the most as they were the moments that when they were over, I could feel my own development occur from it and the obstacles that I overcame were important to my development professionally and personally (Claunch, S. 2013)

SEFE, (N.D). How To Overcome Challenges in the Workplace .https://www.sefe-mt.com/careers/blog/overcome-challenges-workplace/

Claunch, S. (2013, August 22). Overcoming Obstacles – Steven Claunch [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MGMvEnoD6U

 Richardson, & Mackinnon, D. (2018). Becoming Your Own Device: Self-Tracking Challenges In The Workplace. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 43(3), 265–250. https://doi.org/10.29173/cjs28974

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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 personally have felt and saw my personal progression in becoming of an effective team member come to life during the Manchester United Tour of Melbourne. My internship supervisor Mitch was in charge of this event, and you could tell this meant a lot to him as he had worked so hard with so many stakeholders and other team members to get the event up and running.

Previous events I still felt like I was an “intern” just trying not to get in the way of the others and just helping when I needed to/asked. But this event for me was the one where I was ready to really dive in and get amongst it. Whether radios needed to be taken across the other side of the MCG or Microphones down on the ground I was being proactive and helping the others wherever I could. As stated previously this event meant a lot to Mitch and I wanted to do everything I could to make it as easy as possible for him. For me that showed me I already cared about the team, and I wanted to contribute wherever I could. 

The whole team at Max Events has done everything they can to help support me in so many ways, some of the ones that really stuck out for me was when Courtney helped me cue in Aunty Joy during the Manchester United vs Melbourne Victory Game in front of 74,000 excited fans. The nerves nearly got the better of me, but she made sure I was counting in at the right time. 

Another way I was helped to build confidence by the team was when I had that first boomers’ game. Tyson asked me to grab Jack White for a player interview and initially I was a bit apprehensive as the boomers I grew up watching and Tyson turned around to me and said “Dan, they are just another human being you will be able to go up to him and grab him.” It was that small moment of trust and faith in me on my very first shift that stuck with me.

I have since, passed the 100-hour mark and the growth I’ve found within myself as a team member has been incredible. I have just completed my first event as the lead. The last few games I have been working with Marissa completing and running the game day events for Collingwood’s AFLW home games. But for round 7 against the Greater Western Sydney Giants, Marissa was unavailable as she was interstate for the Bathurst 1000. Everyone at Max Events had enough trust in me to be able to run the event and even began to coach one of the new interns on her first Sport Presentation Event. Completing this event with no major hiccups was a great boost to not only my confidence as a worker but has also helped me continue to become an effective teammate and contributor.

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

The first event that I completed was the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers in Melbourne. The first game was the Australian Boomers taking on China on the 30th of June. I was initially introduced to everyone during the production meeting where I was made to feel extremely welcomed and everyone was excited to have me on board. The production meeting was one of my roles for the day. Everyone from Audio, visual, court announcers, MC’s and event staff were all in attendance to talk about the plans for the nights game. There is a run sheet that is given to all staff at the production meeting to everyone can follow how the event will be conducted. 

This was a bit of a shock to the system for me as normally being a spectator I never realised how many different aspects are working together to create these spectacular sporting events we take for granted week in week out. 

One of my first roles was to find Aboriginal Elder Aunty Joy and assist her to the court for her initial Welcome to Country. I was sent to go get Aunty Joy 30 minutes before her allotted time on the run sheet but unfortunately, she was running late. I remember feeling the initial dread and stress thinking that the first task I had been given I wouldn’t complete successfully and would be off to a bad start. Luckily Aunty Joy made it just in time and the rest of the event ran extremely smoothly. 

The next 3 days consisted in making and receiving phone calls for Erin as well as selecting participants from the crowd to come onto the court and participate in some exciting competitions. By the last day of the qualifiers, I was running the floor by myself and was even invited up to the show callers table and was starting to learn how show calling works. These first few events were crucial to me finding my feet and understanding how Max Events works as a business. As researched by Hartolo, et. al (2021) the effectiveness of the learning and teaching skills is a fine balance with students easily feel overwhelmed, this was never the case during approximately my first 40 hours.

My next event was extremely exciting for me as I was assisting in running the next Melbourne Storm home game. Being a member and fan the opportunity to get down into the inner sanctum of the storm was an incredible experience. Once again everyone that was working with the Melbourne Storm were incredibly welcoming and were more than willing to go out of their way to help me get the most out of the event. Some of the tasks that were completed for Melbourne Storm were completing “pre-records”. This consisted of player and coach interviews as well as the coin toss that would later be played closer to the start of the match for fans. I also had to cue in the MC’s, Chelsea, and Brodie when they had to talk into the microphone and assist them in telling them when they were on camera and when their conversations were off camera. 

This was when I started to really enjoy what I was doing and beginning to open my eyes to the world of Event Coordination and management. The preparation that has gone into my studies over the past three years at Holmesglen and my three years before that studying elsewhere helped decrease the anxiety of it all and as related to by Kim, Oh, J. & Rajaguru, V. (2022) the preparation from the degree being completed helps relieve and minimise the anxiety within finding and starting new work. 

Tuasikal, Hartoto, S., Prakoso, B. B., Kartiko, D. C., & Hariyanto, A. (2021). The analysis on teaching skills and learning effectiveness of internship students. Cakrawala Pendidikan : CP, 40(3), 650–658. https://doi.org/10.21831/cp.v40i3.40466 

Kim, Oh, J., & Rajaguru, V. (2022). Job-Seeking Anxiety and Job Preparation Behavior of Undergraduate Students. Healthcare (Basel), 10(2), 288. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10020288

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

Starting an internship is like starting a brand-new job. It’s big, intense, nerve-wracking, and more. But using prior experience, confidence, and research. Being prepared to begin a new internship shouldn’t be difficult at all. For myself I have volunteered and worked for multiple different companies and sporting organisations, so the experience was there, it was mostly about recalling those moments and benefitting from them. 

The first initial hurdle was the interview, knowing that the internship with Max Events was not through Holmesglen there was extra motivation for me to create a successful interview opportunity and preparing for the perfect interview as described by Christiansen. (2019). Before the interview started, I had read online from Muse (n.d) about the necessary research pre interview and so I conducted research on Max events to learn more about the company and what the goals and motivations are. website and reading about the previous events that they had accomplished not only recently but from multiple years ago. This was done to show the interviewers that I am invested and interested in helping their business. 

When going into the interviews using the feedback I had received from fellow peers and using the comments given to me in my results for the Mock interview assessment as well as research through the Holmesglen Jobs and Skills Centre (Holmesglen, n.d) I was able to practice and improve my interview skills and continue to build confidence when the moment came. 

When the interview started it was all about not only putting my professional self out there but also showing who I am as a person and how I would fit into the position of the internship as well as the culture of the team. The entire interview process with Erin and Mitch was extremely calm and inviting. Recalling back to practicing my interview skills the inevitable question of “Tell me about yourself?” was asked, after practicing the spiel I was able to confidently talk about myself in a positive manner and provide the information about the skills and experiences I can bring to the team. Other common questions were asked to help build a rapport between myself and the others. I also used the STAR method to answer questions which showed clear evidence of the work I had completed and the experiences I have already had. (Zhang, D.C., et. al, 2019)

Finally near the end of the interview the opportunity arose to ask questions back to the interviewers. The preparation before the interview was crucial to asking questions back as I was able to call upon previous events and was able to ask about some of their favourite experiences and more. When starting the internship with max events, finding myself within the culture and team was paramount to starting off strong. The very first event I took time to speak to both my floor managers that day to get an understanding of their exact role is and how long they’ve been doing it for. Also taking time to speak to others that I would be working with beginning to network and learn more about potential future co-workers. With the initial interview successful I now begin to turn my head to future events and more. 

Zhang, Zhu, X., Ritter, K., & Thiele, A. (2019). Telling stories to communicate the value of the pre‐employment structured job interview. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 27(4), 299–314. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.12264

Christiansen. (2019). Preparing for Your Perfect Interview. The Armed Forces Comptroller, 64(2), 36–37. 

Holmeslgen. (2022). https://holmesglen.edu.au/Industry/Holmesglen-Skills-and-Jobs-Centre/For-job-seekers/Get-Job-Ready/ https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-ultimate-interview-guide-30-prep-tips-for-job-interview-success