Going into this program, I hoped to gain job-related experience in statistics or computer science. The industry I ended up getting placed in works perfectly for what I hoped. I was assigned to be an IT intern at University College Dublin. I do not know exactly what I will be doing, but I know the job is about exporting data to a new server. This is my first time working in a job related to my major, so there will be many learning curves. However, these learning curves will allow me to improve not only my hard skills but also my soft skills. I am glad to get this opportunity because it will be helpful for my future success.
There are going to be many skills and strengths necessary to complete the tasks I am asked to do. One of the most overlooked skills is communication. You could be one of the smartest people out there, but if you can’t communicate, it will be hard to do well in the workplace. Great communication is what can make a decent company into an extremely successful one. It allows for everything to run smoothly and allows everyone at the company to be on the same page. This skill is especially important in IT because my job is to help people and work with people. Another skill necessary for this job is more of a hard skill, and that is being able to work with computers. This is the main skill required to be part of an IT department because that is what our job is to fix. Luckily, throughout my life, I have always worked with computers, so I have developed many skills. I am also a major in data science, so I have taken a decent number of computer science courses. These reasons lead me to believe I have the strengths in computers to do this job. However, even if I do have a problem, this job will allow me to improve on the skills that I previously lacked. Another strength that is needed to be successful as an IT, is the skill to project manage. It is a job that handles many different problems, and an employee must keep track of all their tasks. It’s a skill that may take a bit for me to get a handle on, but once I do, I know it will help lead me to a successful internship. The last skill, which is key to being successful, is the ability to problem solve. As I previously mentioned, IT has all sorts of tasks from a wide variety of subjects to work on, so adapting and adjusting to problems is extremely important.
There are many skills and strengths required to be successful in IT, but these apply worldwide. Some competencies are needed to be successful that are unique to Dublin. One competency would be being able to communicate between cultures. I mentioned earlier that communication is one of the most important skills, and this is a sub-section of it. Ireland’s workplace culture is quite different from the American workplace. In Ireland, they like to joke, so I have to learn how to play into these jokes and know where the lines are drawn. There are also many different phrases that I have never heard before, so learning these will be a fun process. These are competencies I will need to learn to be able to fit in and be successful in the workplace. Another competency would be having the ability to adapt. Ireland is not the U.S., so adapting to the different work-life is important. There may be things I do that are allowed in America, that are not allowed in Ireland work life. Having the ability to adapt will allow a person to have success in something they were previously struggling with. The last competency required to be successful is to be aware of the services they use at UCD. They most likely use similar websites and programs as the colleges in America do, but it will not be the same. Learning what they use will be necessary for me to triumph in the tasks I am assigned.
To succeed in my new internship as an IT at UCD, it will require me to have many skills and strengths, unique to the industry, and some unique to Ireland. Of course, the usual stuff matters: being able to solve problems, and fix tech issues. But beyond that, it’s also about being a good communicator and keeping my work organized. Since I’m in Dublin, I also have to be mindful of things like the work culture, the way Irish people communicate, and the different programs used here. It’s a mix of tech skills and people skills, and I’m excited to grow in both areas while making the most of this experience abroad.
Here are some pictures from week 1:
