MY SPRING 2014 CO-OP AT CHALLIS REGAN MAJOR: SOCIOLOGY MINOR: JAPANESE

Transcription

1 MY SPRING 2014 CO-OP AT CHALLIS REGAN MAJOR: SOCIOLOGY MINOR: JAPANESE

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3 MATHWORKS ACCELERATING THE PACE OF ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE Founded in 1984, MathWorks is one of the leading developers of mathematical computing software. MATLAB and Simulink are the two main products. MATLAB The language of technical computing, is a programming environment for algorithm development, data analysis, visualization, and numeric computation. Simulink A graphical environment for simulation and Model-Based Design of multidomain dynamic and embedded systems. There are three offices in the US and many more offices worldwide. I worked at the headquarters in Natick, MA. All quotes from

4 BASICS Company title: Social Mission Co-op External title ( signature): Corporate Social Responsibility Department: Corporate Communications January 6 th *July 1 st st co-op *My last official day was June 26 th but I came back on July 1 st to help train the new co-op

5 SOCIAL MISSION MathWorks is committed to acting responsibly as a global corporate citizen. Our core values and conviction to Do the Right Thing guide us in leveraging our unique company strengths for meaningful outcomes. We believe that investing in our Social Mission Program helps us to lead in both our communities and the field of technical computing. First team co-founded by my manager in 2010 New Social Mission team in the UK office. My manager is currently in contact with other MathWorks offices to help initiate more Social Mission teams worldwide. Quote from

6 5 PILLARS OF SOCIAL MISSION - PART 1 Investments in Education We support innovative programs that advance education in the disciplines of engineering, science, and math [STEM]. MathWorks funds things such as student competitions; corporate sponsorships with museums and similar institutions; STEM programs, studentships, and curriculum development. Everything goes through Social Mission except for curriculum development. Staff-Driven Initiatives We empower staff members to volunteer their time and talent in ways that can transform lives. Staff members get 8 hours of paid volunteer time a year and Social Mission encourages staff members to use their time during the annual Volunteer Challenge. If a staff member participates in an a-thon (walk-a-thon, dance-a-thon, ect.) for a charity or non-profit, MathWorks can match the donations. All quotes from

7 5 PILLARS OF SOCIAL MISSION - PART 2 Local Community Support We support the vitality of the communities in which we work by contributing to organizations that help develop and enrich our cities and towns and by participating in local initiatives. Organizations within 25 miles of any MathWorks office can apply to MathWork s grant program. Green Initiatives We promote environmental sustainability through programs focused on awareness, recycling, energy conservation, resource management, and emissions reductions. A group of staff volunteers called the Green Workers collaborates with Social Mission on projects. Global Relief Efforts We provide financial aid through authorized relief organizations in times of crisis. Staff members collect money and send the proof-of-payments to Social Mission to be processed. All quotes from

8 QUESTION 1 I was the second official Social Mission co-op. Before the last co-op, there were two other interns who helped my boss with Social Mission work. This position evolves more with each new co-op. I was responsible for updating the training document for the new intern. The COOL description was accurate but it was hard for me to truly understand what my job would consist of until after I started. I was paid above minimum wage. It made me feel good to rely significantly less on my parents for money. Overall, I feel I was able to budget and save well.

9 QUESTION 2 PART 1 Some examples of my responsibilities: Grant management A-thon matching program Volunteer opportunities Green programs and other local community initiatives. Handling many details involved in the scheduling, development, review, and distribution of Social Mission reports, news and activities.

10 QUESTION 2 PART 2 My workload fluctuated because a lot of tasks depended on action from other people. For example, during our cold, miserable winter, very few staff members submitted any a-thon matching requests. But after spring came, I would sometimes receive 2 or 3 a-thon requests in one day. The Social Mission team for my office team consisted of just me and my manager. Everyone at MathWorks meets with their manager once a week to check-in and discus work performance, projects and any other relevant topics. My manager also communicated daily via and IM. Sometimes, I wish I worked in a larger group, because other people in my department worked in groups, but I m glad that instead I got one person who is great to work with instead of 3 or more people who I may or may not get along with. My responsibilities increased with time. My manager used her best judgment as to how much work I could handle at once and she would check-in with me to make sure that I didn t have too much or too little work. I would also let her know when my workload needed to be adjusted one way or another.

11 QUESTION 3 From this co-op, I was hoping to gain a better idea of a career path, office skills, and skills that would transfer to school work. I did my best to keep an open mind and absorb all I could from this job.

12 QUESTION 5 I was surprised at the amount of people who would enter raffles but would never pick up their prize (even after we sent them multiple reminders). My manager said that there s at least a few people who do that in every big raffle. Her theory is that people get so excited about the raffle that they don t bother to read the details and just like the feeling of winning.

13 QUESTION 7 My manager is very well organized and taught me to keep track of many details while working on a project. We would share folders and documents with important details, so I would need to regularly and accurately update the documents for the both of us. Doing this helped me keep track of my own projects. I liked her managerial style of keeping open communication, giving me praise as well as constructive criticism, evaluating my workload regularly and giving me independence when I felt comfortable enough with a project. If needed, my manager gave me mini performance reviews during our weekly one-on-one meetings. She gave me a mid-term review in March using many of the questions from the COOL employee evaluation. She also went over her formal, final review with me. She was excellent at giving constructive criticism, so I usually left these meetings feeling like I had potential to improve and feeling good about what I have already accomplished. My manager and I both agree that my time management and organization skills have improved over the duration of my co-op, but I need to keep working on them so I can continue improving.

14 QUESTION 8 My major project was to help organize MathWork s 2014 Volunteer Challenge. Every year, MathWorks challenges employees in all offices to use their paid volunteer time during the Volunteer Challenge which was held from May until early June this year. I was in charge of coordinating events for Natick staff (other offices had to plan events on their own). My manager set up specific meetings to go over Volunteer Challenge instructions with me. My responsibilities included: Coordinating events by reaching out to local non-profit organizations Uploading events to the internal staff volunteer registration system Completing event summary sheets Tracking post-event feedback Uploading photos to be used in the annual program review It felt fantastic doing work with visible results. I received thank you s from the organizations, and I saw pictures of the volunteer work staff members did. Also, some of the organization s representatives added me on LinkedIn. This reinforced to me that having a LinkedIn profile is important for interns, especially if you will be contacting people outside of your organization for work.

15 QUESTION 11 I never had any ethical dilemmas or weird social situations occur at MathWorks, but I did encounter an unusual issue. One day, I noticed that the COOL description stated that interns get paid holidays. I asked my boss about this because I had already filled out a holiday as unpaid on my timesheet. She told me to take a screen shot of the COOL page and sent it to HR. It turns out that HR made a mistake promising paid holidays to interns. Now, the job description has been updated on COOL. Not having paid holidays was disappointing, but overall, I was glad that I brought this mistake to attention.

16 QUESTION 14 This co-op helped me figure out that I don t like doing the majority of my work at the computer. But I do realize that very many jobs are like this, so I am open to working a computer-based job again. For my next co-op, I would like something with a little more human interaction, but not too much. I would rather work a job that s too isolating than talk to people all day long. I know from previous customer service jobs that I do not want to interact with the public all day, everyday.

17 VOLUNTEERING AT WGBH Twice a year, MathWorks helps WGBH with their phone pledge drive. I was responsible for recruiting volunteers and keeping them up to date on all of the important information. This was one of my first big projects and was good practice for the Volunteer Challenge. I participated in both the March and June pledge drive.

18 MY OWN OFFICE!

19 MY OWN OFFICE!

20 WGBH

21 MY DEPARTMENT S VOLUNTEER CHALLENGE DAY AT ELM BANK (MASS HORT)