Internship Interview

Thursday seems like so long ago, and yet I had such a good experience at my interview that it still sits pretty freshly in my mind.

I had two classed Thursday morning, my British Experience Seminar and Contemporary British Culture.  In BES we talked about our trip to Liverpool that was to come.  I'll post the details and pictures in my next post.  In CBC we got a breakdown of the course, but ended with group seminar where we talked about things in British News.  I actually enjoyed that because I am a freak who likes news and current events and hearing other peoples perspectives on the subjects.  Apparently the Tiger Woods ordeal was just as big here as it was back in the states.  Right now the big scandal story is about the English Football (soccer) Captain who cheated on his wife with a teammates ex-girlfriend.  Fun stuff right?  The nation is arguing about whether or not he should step down from his captaincy.

Anyway, after class Bailey and I went back to Victoria Station to return our Coach tickets to Dublin.  We solved our Dublin Dilemma and now we are going sometime in March and we are bringing our new Central friend Abbey with us.  They charged us 25% of the ticket price to return it.  The website made it seem like we could get a 100% refund, so I wasn't very happy about that, but I did it anyway.  I want that Greenwich experience on Friday, and then on Saturday we are doing a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath.  I'm soooooo excited about Bath.  I have wanted to visit there since I read my first Jane Austen novel.  Hitting up the Jane Austen Museum will be a must.  Plus it's still a traditional looking town.

But I digress, this post is supposed to be about my Internship interview.  Well, my interview was at 4pm so I had to leave Vandon House around 3pm.  It didn't help that the easiest way to get there by tube had severe delays so I had to head in a different direction.  Once I got there I was sweating from hot tube and slight nerves.  I'm pretty sure that my perfect hair was pretty messy at this point (I'm giving up on it.  It just doesn't want to cooperate at all, but hey, that's life).

The office for The Design group is just a room.  I was shocked at how small the organization was, but I would later find that TDG that I will be working for is just the London branch.  There are only 4 people in the office.  Three girls and the director Patrick.  Patrick was the one who took me to the coffee shop next door for my interview.  In some ways it was an interview.  He asked me about my strengths and weaknesses.  He also asked me about my life goals and where I want to be in 10 years.  But the other part of the interview was asking me what I wanted to get out of the internship and what sorts of jobs I might perform.  He told me about the company and even said that he plans on taking me to some of the other offices in the EU and UK.  I'm all for that!  Some of the other offices include Newcastle (the headquarters) and he mentioned Geneva.  He said he would reimburse me for travel and food that I eat while I work.  That makes the whole thing worth it right there.

There was only one awkward moment in the whole ordeal.  He asked me if I skied but with his accent and I totally misheard him.  I thought he said "Daewski" and I told him that I had no idea what "daewski" was.  Patrick had to use hand motions for me to figure it out.  I was quite embarrassed, and I had to tell him that I have no idea how to ski and haven't tried to yet, but I have tried snowboarding, and that's a bit of a lie because I don't think plastic snow boards down 100 ft hills count.  I would definitely be more than willing to try though.  Conversation came very easily and I'm excited about what I will be able to do for TDG and what they will be able to do for me in experience.  I start tomorrow at 9 am, which means catching the tube at around 8.  The good news is that dress is "creative" when we aren't speaking with clients.  I'll let you know how my first day goes.

Pip Pip Cheerio!