image: https://www.businessinsider.my/tag/career-tips/

  • I am the Associate Director for the Digital and Design Department, this is not at all what I was expecting when I met with the founder the Friday following the start of this class. Originally, when I was planning out which internships to apply for, I had started with those offered by the school. I applied and interviewed for the Brooklyn Navy Yard Internship Program back in April and got no response. I then applied to the Young Commodores Program and upon being accepted realized that the program would not start until June 27th. Randomly, about the same week that my internship class began I received a call from the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Professional Development Center asking if I was still interested in participating. Giving it, some thought and needing an internship that started right away I agreed and was told to wait for a call from a studio. Days went by and I received no phone call, I emailed the BNY Development Center contact explaining my situation and was told he would work on it and get back to me. I began to see that this wasn’t going to work out, so I sought help from Professor Nicolaou, seeing that my strong suits were in photography, Photoshop, Lightroom and Illustrator she recommended I call the chairman of a non-profit based in Queens. We spoke the following day and set up a meeting for Friday June 7th at 11am. Instead of going to the main location because of the distance and time we decided to meet at a nearby Starbucks. Preparing for the meeting, I was nervous because I am still getting use to putting myself out there as a designer. When I got to the location, I texted the chairman and he let me know he was running late and would be there soon. I sat charging my tablet to show my recent studio photography and portfolio. When he arrived, we sat down and he spoke to me about the company and reviewed some of my work. He explained that it was a nonprofit organization formed in 2016 to help build economically stable and sustainable communities. The company was in the process of getting a new logo and website and he went on to speak about people affected by the services provided. We spoke about my experience and responsibilities while signing paperwork and getting my company email set up. Toward the end, of our meeting I asked about my title within the department and he said I would be the Associate Director. My responsibilities would include overseeing and approving work from the department, generating ideas and designing the monthly newsletter, contributing to the company social media pages and keeping in contact with my coworkers/team. All assignments were to be submitted remotely meeting the deadline although my supervisor assured me that I could reach out to him at any time if I had questions or any issues. After I left that day, I started working right away studying the previous newsletters and social media pages trying to figure out how to apply my skills after being trusted with such a high position. I understood the responsibility of the tasks put in front of me and did my best to start off strong.