My second week in Dublin flew by even quicker than my first week! I started working at Moop as a strategic communications intern! Though I was not at all interested in communications/marketing as a finance major, I tried to remain grateful and open-minded for this opportunity. To no surprise, I did not enjoy the work I was doing and the structure of the internship. It was a pleasure to work with Modisi, founder of Moop and I appreciate her effort to accommodate my preferences and provide me with professional experience. I tried something new and I learned that it was not for me. I still plan to keep in touch with Modisi as a professional mentor and I am thankful for the short time we worked together! Though I already knew that marketing was not a apart of my professional journey, but I now have experience to draw from as concrete reasoning. I am proud of myself for still persisting with work I was not interested in and pushing myself outside of my comfort zone. The nearly-virtual structure of the placement was a challenge for me as I am naturally social and I struggle to stay focussed alone. I am seeking an in-person placement to work in teams, connect with new people, and work in a structured environment. As a finance major, I prefer analytical work and I am not a fan of writing, content creation, or social media strategy. I am only seeking roles related to finance to directly provide me with hands-on professional experience that will lead to me to career goals within the finance industry.
I am thrilled to announce that next week I am interning at a new placement called AllGo! AllGo is an Ireland-based gift card company that issues MasterCard employee gift cards to companies. My role as a compliance intern will involve using HubSpot to conduct security checks on clients to ensure companies are adhering to laws, regulatory procedures, and internal standards. I will work in a team to conduct compliance checks on over 7,000 AllGo clients. This placement is a perfect fit because it is analytical, in-person, and involves team work. I am so thankful for EUSA staff for understanding my concerns and quickly switching my placement.
I had a super fun weekend! On Friday, my roommate, Mara and I went shopping at Urban Outfitters! This is by far the largest Urban Outfitters I have been to! The building was 4 stories and packed with a large selection to choose from. I resisted to urge to buy everything and only purchased two items: a leather jacket and a top. After walking around and people watching, Mara and I went to a hotel/pub called Wetherspoon for (cheap) drinks. We ended our night at a burger place called Bunsen! The glistening burger buns and perfectly salted and crunchy fries brought me back home. Days later, I am sill thinking about that burger and will have to return (very soon)!
On Saturday, Mara and I walked to Blackrock and did even more shopping! We found a huge outdoor market with lots of small shops and restaurants. There was so much jewellery, clothing, and trinkets to see! I only window shopped (for the sake of my hurting wallet), but Mara got some fun jewellery. My hometown friend Kristin spontaneously came to visit me for the night! She is staying about an hour away from UCD on the coast with family. We went over a year without seeing each other, so it was quite fun to catch up after such a long time! We went into the city for sushi and then out to some pubs with Mara and two of our friends from Colorado State. I am so glad she was able to come visit Dublin and meet my friends!
Internship Reflection: Time Management
I did not struggle to manage my time while working at Moop, as the placement was mostly virtual and I had a reasonable workload. The flexibility I was given with my schedule allowed me to take breaks as I pleased and work from different environments such as cafes and parks. I enjoyed taking the time to walk around Blackrock and the City Centre as I found different remote working spots. I rediscovered my love for long (10+ mile) walks as I started walking everywhere and continuing to reconnect with nature! My tasks in my prior role at Moop as a strategic communications intern were not well defined, so I used my discretion to insert myself into different projects for Moops clients. I helped Modisi write scripts and plan content creation. To create structure for myself, I booked all virtual meetings on my Google Calendar and while working, I devoted specific times to each task I worked on. On my first day, I struggled to keep myself focussed on one task at a time and would often jump back and fourth between multiple projects, leading to disorganization and inefficiency.
My experience helped me further understand my career goals and working preferences. I also learned to create structure for myself and use self-discipline to keep myself on track while working on projects alone. I am so excited to start working at AllGo and I look of forward to entering a new environment and learning about compliance!