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

As I reach the end of my three years with Holmesglen completing the Bachelor of Sports Media, I reflect on what has been one hell of an experience.

Coming into the degree, I was nervous about meeting new people and adjusting to tertiary study, but I came in with the mindset of aspirations to become a journalist.

Over the course of the three years, I have slowly moved away from those aspirations and just about entirely moved away from wanting a career in the sports media industry.

Whilst some would say I’ve wasted my time and money, I would beg to differ; I have created some great memories, met some incredible people and grown as an individual.

The social aspect of the degree has been awesome. I have made some lifelong friends and spent some meaningful time with these guys, wishing them nothing but the best and hope that they reach whatever they want to achieve in life.

I’ll always be thankful for the time we shared in class, the pub lunches, the laughs, and even the nights out which included drinking and dancing as well as going to watch the footy.

We’ve been very fortunate to have had some awesome guest speakers who have provided some really insightful tips and knowledge and we have completed a vast array of units that have been fun, allowing myself and my peers to expand their skillset and learn lots of new content.

Working with Ormond as part of the VAFA program was fun and got us creating some really good quality of work.

Whilst there has been lots of positive experiences, there has also been some extremely challenging times; year two of the degree was basically online the whole year and this was tough.

I and many others found it really difficult to stay motivated and be able to concentrate and learn during online classes. For classes such as Emerging Media Production, it was a nightmare trying to learn how to use programs such as photoshop.

One of my last assignments was a group one, where I was forced to step outside what had been the norm and had to lead the group, ensuring everything was getting completed. Whilst this wasn’t a role I was used to doing or particularly wanted, I think I did a successful job and I’m proud of my effort.

The internships will always be the staple mark of this degree and I as well as just about everyone I’ve spoken to have had a great time with their hosts. It truly is beneficial and can open pathways for anyone seeking to reach what they aspire to do.

Self-esteem is how we value and perceive ourselves (Mind, 2019). Self-esteem is concurrently correlated with career success (Judge & Bono, 2001) and I can say that my self-esteem and self-confidence has grown throughout this amazing journey.

I’ll forever be thankful for my time at Holmesglen and I am extremely grateful for the people I’ve met, especially for the lecturers who do so much for us students, supporting us every step of the way. Without them, none of this happens.

I can say I walk away proud to have obtained my Bachelor of Sports Media and look forward to the next chapter of my life.

Reference:

Judge, T. A., & Bono, J. E. (2001). Relationship of core self-evaluations traits—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability—with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(1), 80-92. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.1.80

Mind. (2019). Self-esteem. https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/self-esteem/about-self-esteem/

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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)

Throughout the internship, I have received some really awesome feedback and I cannot be prouder of my evaluations.

The first evaluation was completed at 100 hours and Isabella completed it, writing some really kind and positive words.

It noted that I had stepped out of my comfort zone over the first 100 hours with Sports Community and I was pleased that this was something brought up because I really did give everything a go, even if it didn’t seem like something that I would usually be comfortable completing.

I had never considered my ability to complete work in an extremely timely manner, but this was discussed and acknowledged and moving forward I think that this may be some kind of a competitive advantage in the workplace.

When discussing my key strengths, my writing was the key aspect here. I would agree with this as since beginning the course and throughout all my years of schooling, my writing ability has been something that I can rely on. It was described as being highly engaging to the reader as well as being at a professional standard which is important to me.

When I write, I try to ensure that whoever is reading whatever I have created, can understand it without any issues and as Isabella mentioned in the evaluation, I know the purpose and end of each piece and generally I am able to achieve this.

Respect is something that I take pride in and it will always be important to me. My evaluation discussed my personable nature being a strength and that I am easy to work with which makes me happy because as I said, it is important to me that this is the case.

The 100-hour evaluation signified that my confidence was growing but it was also important that I keep it up and continue to do so as it’ll only help me grow and achieve even more.

The 200-hour evaluation was similar, delving into all the positive feedback that had been provided over the course of the internship.

I received all ticks in the exceptional box for the table of skills and my confidence was acknowledged as the major skill that had developed and grown since beginning.

Employees who actively solicit feedback tend to perform better (Gong, Wang, Huang, & Cheung, 2016), are seen as more effective by supervisors, peers, and subordinates (Ashford & Tsui, 1991), and are more creative (De Stobbeleir, Ashford, & Buyens, 2011). A feedback-rich culture, where people are comfortable asking for and receiving feedback from their colleagues and managers, can really change how a workplace operates (Marsh, 2018).

It is important that wherever my career goes, that I continue to obtain feedback to ensure I can continue to improve and develop in the workplace. Whilst it is great to obtain the feedback, it is also important that I take it on board and implement it to become a more effective and efficient team member.

Reference:

De Stobbeleir, K. E., Ashford, S. J., & Buyens, D. (2011). Self-regulation of creativity at work: The role of feedback-seeking behavior in creative performance. Academy of Management Journal, 54(4), 811-831. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.64870144

Gong, Y., Wang, M., Huang, J., & Cheung, S. Y. (2016). Toward a goal orientation–based feedback-seeking typology. Journal of Management, 43(4), 1234-1260. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206314551797

Marsh, E. (2018, November 13). Why feedback is important in the workplace. https://www.t-three.com/thinking-space/blog/why-feedback-is-important

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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).

I have officially completed my 228 hours with Sports Community, and it was an incredible experience. I also don’t know how it happened, but I perfectly aligned my interview with the Holmesglen Jobs and Skills Centre the day after my last day with Sports Community.

I completed my interview with Janet over WebEx, and it was a really good session that was extremely valuable. Going for about an hour, Janet and I discussed my internship experience, but we primarily spoke about my resume and moving forward.

We took a look at my current resume, but I wanted to gain some advice for improvements as prior to this year I had never created one. She was really easy to talk to and gave me some great tips and advice and I can say that I walk away having a clearer understanding of what it should look like. Moving forward, I think I have the tools to create a resume that should be able to help me obtain an interview.

What does the future hold for me and what do I want to do in regard to my career aspirations? At this point of time I honestly have no idea. Walking into this year, I had the mindset that I would not end up in the sports media industry. I think my mindset has changed a little and if something popped up, I think I would consider it.

It’s quite difficult and frustrating at the moment because I am someone who likes to have a plan and have a grasp on what is coming next but right now, I honestly do not know what the future holds.

I am considering completing my Cert IV in Celebrancy whether it be next year or sometime in the future. I am debating if I should take a year off study and work to get some money as I have been studying non-stop since high school, going straight into my degree after finishing year 12.

Whilst I am not sure what next year or what my future holds, I do have some goals that I would like to achieve over next year. A goal is an object or aim that an individual strives to attain (Locke & Latham 1984). Setting goals provides a clear purpose and helps create a measurable road map to success (Pettit, 2020).

2022 Goals:

-       Obtain a part- or full-time job

-       Get my P’s and purchase a car

-       Take care of myself and get healthier

-       Most importantly; be happy

Reference:

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1984). Goal setting: A motivational technique that works! Prentice Hall.

Pettit, M. (2020, September 16). 10 Crucial Benefits of Goal Setting. https://lucemiconsulting.co.uk/benefits-of-goal-setting/

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

As I am nearing the end of my internship, I can say that I have had an extremely positive experience and is one that I will be forever thankful for. Since beginning the internship, a couple of months ago, I have achieved so much, which I am really proud of.

Achievement motivation refers more specifically to motivation relevant to performance on tasks in which standards of excellence are operative (Wigfield & Eccles, 2002). Essentially, Achievement motivation is defined as the need for achievement and is an important determinant of aspiration, effort, and persistence when an individual expects that his performance will be evaluated in relation to some standard of excellence (Ornelas, 2021).

What may seem a normal task for others, making and taking phone calls has always been something that has caused me stress and been something that I avoid at all costs. However, I have been confronted with completing this scary task and I took it head on and can honestly say I don’t fear them anymore. I was given the task of ringing swim teachers for Vicswim to see if they would teach in the 2022 Summer Kidz program. It took me some courage to make the first call, but I did it and I am glad I did. Bella and Reyna (Vicswim team member) were made aware of my fear of making phone calls but they were extremely grateful and proud that I did it because it also helped them a lot.

Since beginning, I have completed a lot of written content which has included articles and media releases. My writing has always been my greatest strength in this industry, and I was given some really awesome praise from Steve (CEO) in regard to my writing ability. He said that it’s at a level where it’s as good as, if not better than some people already in industry. This was really awesome and was a moment where a flick switched for me; despite me knowing that I can write, I have had moments where I doubt my own capabilities but Steve’s acknowledgement along with other positive feedback along the way has given me the belief to know that my writing is good enough and I don’t need to doubt myself.

In regard to the media releases, coming in Isabella was really happy that I knew how to complete them because she had never done one before, so not only did I do them, but I created a template for her if she ever has to do one.

Isabella and I also completed two livestreams which were surprisingly fun! We interviewed a man named Nathan who was getting together with a bunch of mates to set the world record the longest indoor cricket match, promoting men’s mental health in the process. We also interviewed a man named Ayden who was a team member of Disability Sports & Recreation and he came on to speak about their upcoming Victorian Disability Sport & Recreation Festival.

One of my final tasks was to create the descriptions for Sports Community’s standout, money making product – their webinar series for 2022. Despite this not being presented as a fun task, I actually really enjoyed doing it.

I have little time left with such an amazing organisation, but I have achieved so much over these last 200 hours, and I have definitely completed tasks I would have never thought I’d be able to do in the past.

Reference:

Ornelas, R. (2021). What Is Achievement Motivation And How To Use It. https://www.lifehack.org/909492/achievement-motivation

Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2002). Development of achievement motivation. Elsevier.

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

So far, the biggest challenge I have faced has been my own anxiety. It has been something that has hindered my everyday life for as long as I can remember.

It has restricted me from doing normal, everyday things such as having a job. Its limitations have stopped me from reaching my full potential

As I have noted the idea of beginning the internship was scary and the day on the bench crying epitomised that.

I guess my fear was sparked from the idea that I had no intention of having a career in the sports media industry, and this organisation was hosting a student who they probably expected would be looking at every opportunity to obtain a job.

Ultimately, I didn’t want to let anyone down, although regardless of the situation I knew I was going to do my best because that’s the attitude I have when it comes to anything related to study and education.

Workplace stress can be defined as the change in one's physical or mental state in response to workplaces that pose an appraised challenge or threat to that employee (Colligan & Higgins 2006). It is important for employers to recognise work-related stress as a significant health and safety issue (Better Health Channel, 2021).

Despite my great fear of obtaining workplace stress, throughout the experience so far I have barely found anything that has caused me concern.

I think the situation has also benefited from me explaining my anxiety and concerns from the get-go, ensuring the people that I would be working with were aware which meant that they understand and can provide any support where needed.

I have probably been afraid of something that generally isn’t something to be scared of and I hope that after the internship, I will be able to seek a part or full time job as it is important for me to jump the hurdle and be able to start earning some money.

Other than my anxiety, the only other thing that would potentially make the experience so far better (not a challenge as such) would be to be able to go into the office.

I have had no issues completing the internship so far online, but I think it would be beneficial to actually meet everyone in person to get to know them more and see how day to day runs in the Sports Community office.

Otherwise, I am having a really good internship experience so far and I am proud of myself for how far I’ve come since the start of the year.

Reference:

Better Health Channel. (2021). Work-related stress. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/work-related-stress

Colligan, T. W., & Higgins, E. M. (2006). Workplace stress. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 21(2), 89-97. https://doi.org/10.1300/j490v21n02_07

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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).

Coming into this internship with Sports Community, I wanted to ensure that I gave any task I was given 100% and wanted to do my best to make a significant contribution to the organisation. Part of my anxiety also stems from this; I was stressed that my internship host would be expecting big things from me and what if I didn’t live up to hoped expectations?

Given this entire year I have also been debating whether or not I should continue the degree, I was also worried I would lack motivation during my 228 hours.

However, despite all these concerns, I can say that I have been really enjoying my time with Sports Community and I am doing my best to be an effective contributor, zoning in on the initial mindset of giving every task 100%.

For every organisation, having a staff of effective team members and contributors is an integral aspect that can lead to overall success. Team task meaningfulness is enhanced when teams perceive their work to be worthwhile, valuable, and important (Stewart, 2006; Strubler & York, 2007). Teams engaged in meaningful tasks should perform better as team members will experience higher levels of intrinsic motivation (Batt & Appelbaum, 1995). Some qualities that can make a team member effective and outstanding in the workplace include showing genuine commitment, being flexible and supporting and respecting others (Frierson, 2015).

This resinates with me, as I have seen first-hand how task meaningfulness can create an effective team environment. All of the Sports Community team take pride in any task they are taking part in, big or small, and this has been awesome to see.

It has become contagious and regardless of what task I am given, I am giving 100% and know that it is important and meaningful. Usually this notion of having an important task would create the fear of ‘what if’ it isn’t good enough, but I am continuing to grow in confidence with the help and support of the team members.

I have been really fortunate to have such kind people around me because I know that there isn’t any pressure or expectations to live up to. In the first team meeting I expressed that concern and they said all they wanted was for me to have a great experience and for me to just do my best and that I always do. I have received a lot of positive feedback which has ultimately given me the self-confidence to believe in my own capabilities, knowing I can do it and my work is good enough.

Reference:

Batt, R., & Appelbaum, E. (1995). Worker participation in diverse settings: Does the form affect the outcome, and if so, who benefits? British Journal of Industrial Relations, 33(3), 353-378. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1995.tb00444.x

Frierson, W. (2015, July 14). Teamwork in the workplace:10 qualities of an excellent team player.https://www.collegerecruiter.com/blog/2015/07/14/10-qualities-of-an-excellent-team-player-at-any-workplace/

Stewart, G. L. (2006). A meta-analytic review of relationships between team design features and team performance. Journal of Management, 32(1), 29-55. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206305277792

Strubler, D. C., & York, K. M. (2007). An exploratory study of the team characteristics model using organizational teams. Small Group Research, 38(6), 670-695. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496407304338

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

I have officially completed 40 hours of the internship with Sports Community and I am having a fantastic experience so far. Everyone has been supportive and been kind to me, offering lots of support.

An internship is a structured experiential learning program offered for a fixed period of time by a company or other organization so that people (often students) can see what it's like to work in a certain field or industry (Bortz, 2021). Many times, the participant of an internship doesn’t realise the benefit of such a partnership until it begins, but the end result is almost always a positive experience for each of the parties (Coco, 2000).

Prior to my experience so far, I have never participated in a team meeting, but I take part in them whenever I am working, and they are actually quite enjoyable. These meetings are used for everyone to catch-up and discuss any challenges anyone is experiencing, to which help, and support is provided.

My induction went well; I introduced myself, met the wonderful team and spoke about what I wanted to gain from my internship experience as well as what I considered as my strengths to help them gain an idea who I would best suit working with.

After our chat, we decided it would be best to work with Isabella. She has been awesome and has complete trust in me to help her. Her and I spoke about some of the tasks that she thinks I could help out with and it all sounded interesting and tailored to my strengths and skills.

She also spoke about their current content that was getting posted to the public and she informed me that she felt that it was bulk information. Information is important but she asked if I could try and humanise the content. This was music to my ears, and I have incorporated that idea into my writing.

So far, I have completed numerous tasks that include a website audit and a various array of articles for their website. I have been given a list of topics that I can write pieces on, but I have also been given the free range to develop my own ideas for articles which is a nice option to have.

My first article was really important, as I wanted to show the team my writing ability and it also happened to be a topic that was important to me – mental health.

I titled the piece, “I’m Proud of You” and I discussed the impact of the lockdowns and essentially why I was proud of the reader. I received great feedback from the team, and this made me feel comfortable knowing the team were happy with me straight out the gate.

I am really looking forward to these next 180 odd hours and I hope to continue to have a great experience with Sports Community. 

Reference:

Bortz, D. (2021). What is an Intership and Why Should You Do One. https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/students-benefits-internships

Coco, M. (2000). Internships: A Try before You Buy Arrangement. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 65, 41-47.

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

I have finally arrived at the centre piece of what has been a challenging year. If I was using sport terminology, I would explain the course work and core units as the ‘regular season’, all to which lead up to the internship which you could describe as the ‘grand final’ or ‘playoffs series’.

I have been really struggling prior to starting this internship. Like everyone, we are dealing with the gruelling lockdown that has plagued us for these last two years. I was meant to begin the internship some time ago, but they had been postponed up until now. Even without the current circumstances, if life was ‘normal’, I know that I still would have been quite anxious to get underway.

A bit over a week ago, I was on a walk to my local lake where I have been using as a track to get out during the day to clear my mind. I happened to be on my walk when I received an email from Ash, who is one of the Sports Community team members to inform me that despite wanting to get me into the office, it would be best that we got underway, given things don’t look like changing anytime soon. To be completely honest, seeing this in writing got me extremely overwhelmed; I sat on a bench near the lake and just cried. It was just a build-up of everything going on.

It has also been tough because at the start of the year, I was contemplating whether or not I defer (essentially leave) the degree as I have been pretty confident my future career won’t be within the sports media industry.

On 10 March, I walked into Holmesglen to speak to Sam about this, and after some thoughts and our chat, I decided I would see the year out and get the degree.

Now that I have finally begun the internship, I can say that it is not as scary as I first thought it would be. Before the first team meeting, I spoke to a few of the team members and explained my own worries and anxiety and they were really supportive and advised me that they would do anything they could to ensure I have the best and most comfortable experience.

Organizational culture is the collection of values, expectations, and practices that guide and inform the actions of all team members (Wong, 2021). Organizational culture is a key factor that contributes to organizational effectiveness and employee work outcomes (Deal & Kennedy, 1982; Schein, 1992). In my short time with Sports Community so far (only a couple of days), the culture of the team is extremely welcoming and honestly feels family-orientated.

Despite my fear surrounding the internship, I am looking forward to what is ahead with Sports Community and I hope that I have an experience that is beneficial for both myself and the organisation.

Reference:

Deal, T. E., & Kennedy, A. A. (1982). Corporate cultures: The rites and rituals of corporate life. Perseus Books.

Schein, E. H. (1992). Organizational culture and leadership: A dynamic view.

Wong, K. (2020). Organizational Culture: Definition, Importance, and Development. https://www.achievers.com/blog/organizational-culture-definition/