It was one of my best experiences of college to spend the last two months in Dublin. Being a Financial Services Intern at Casey Kennedy has been amazing I learned so much working on Financial reports, invoices, going on appointments, and communicating with other co-workers. I honestly did not want to work at a smaller firm when starting this but I now am so glad I did get to work for a smaller firm. The connections you make are so much stronger.
This experience has been amazing for me I adapted to a new lifestyle in 2 months I would go to work at my company everyday and learned how to work a real life work schedule. I got to figure how to balance my work and life at the same time. After a long day of work I would spend time with friends, spend weekends traveling to cities like Belfast, Barcelona, and London. I felt like an adult for the first time in my life and I did not mind the feeling of growing up.
A personal challenge I faced in Ireland I think was being a colored man in a country where only 1 percent of the population is of Black/African descent. I never felt unsafe but there were times I did not get served right away at restaurants. Even in front of my roommates I wouldn’t get served or when my mom visited I was ignored when waiting for seats at restaurants. It was a shock to me because I did not expect this to happen to me when going abroad. I overcame this adversity and had to just adapt to the norm of the country. I didn’t let being stared at sometimes like I wasn’t supposed to be there affect me and I carried on and worked hard at my internship and put myself around the right people when I was there.
Still another hurdle was communication. Even though I speak English in Ireland, sometimes I had a hard time understanding the accent or local slang when I talked to some people, like my Scottish supervisor. At first I felt strange asking for a re-explanation or clarification. Soon I learned how important communication is; I had to overcome that feeling. I learned how to inquire, send follow-up messages, and most importantly, not to be embarrassed if I immediately find anything unclear.
Academically, this experience has provided me with a context for the theories and subjects I’ve been studying in my Economics and Finance classes at Pitt. I was able to visualize how budgeting, tracking of assets, and marketing strategies, along with other business functions, were used in a property management and financial services context. I used Excel spreadsheets, prepared and submitted reports, tracked rental payments, and sent emails prospecting potential leads. Everything I did even something as trivial as going door-to-door notifying tenants about changes to fire safety issues taught me about how business functions from the bottom up. I can see that there is so much more to succeeding beyond what is in the textbook; things like being organized, professional, and adaptable matter just as much as having knowledge.
My role was not initially what I thought it was going to be when I first joined Casey Kennedy. I thought I would be doing a lot more on the sales side and engaging with agents to close deals. However, in Dublin, I learned that a big portion of how real estate makes money is through management of properties and blocks. This experience opened my eyes to the management side of the industry that I never thought of and gave me a significant perspective of real estate. Property management most likely will not be a long-term career, but I gained an appreciation for how much property management actually does for real estate companies and their stability and growth.
I have become a better communicator, more effective team member, and improved time manager in my professional life. As an intern working in a hybrid environment, some days I was in the office and others I was out working attending appointments… this all resulted in a lot of opportunity to prioritize my due responsibilities. I identified the importance of communication by learning how to follow up with clients, perform tasks on my own, and effectively communicate with peers / supervisors without them being present physically. Because I was planning and scheduling the emails to leads, and drafting tenant safety notices, I had to understand and demonstrate a greater sense of accountability and initiative.
Another takeaway I have. Life isn’t all about money I think here in the United States all we think about is work, climbing the corporate ladder, and money. In Ireland they care more about enjoying life not everyone is focused on being in the office for 40 plus hours a week they prioritize the important things in life like travel, family, and just being comfortable in their work environments and that’s something I want to take back to the United States.
I am so grateful for the opportunity that Pitt gave me to come to Ireland and work an Internship this summer I totally recommend this to any underclassmen that wants to get work experience and may be interested in study abroad over the summer. I had the greatest time of my life and this is the highlight of my life I want to thank Stephanie Spirk, EUSA, and Casey Kennedy Estate Agents for everything that they did for me.
