Monday, June 4, 2007

MY FIRST DAY AT WORK PLACE

If I say i was not nervous, I will be dishonest. The night before my first day at work, I was so worried of what was to happen on this important day. I couldn’t stop imagining what was going to happen when I arrived the first day. I thought of my supervisor, are we going to get along with each other, suppose he/she won’t be in a position to help me achieve my goals or targets. I reflect on choosing my mentor but this I thought will happen after knowing some people around. I anticipate finding someone who will be gracious to me and assist me to be acquainted with the people around and choose the right mentor. My most fear was the assignment I will be asked to execute. Suppose they ask me to do something I know nothing about. Being a master’s student I knew that my supervisor would expect me to be competent in my work. Suppose I won’t perform according to his/her expected standards. Anyway these were some of my nightmares before the due day.

But the reality is that, I arrived at Ochre Media at 08:00. There was no one at that time except the cleaner. She opened the door for me and asked me to sit at the reception. After some good 10 to 15 minutes, the receptionist entered, I explained to her who I was and what I was there for. She gave me a warm welcome and asked me to come with her to the coffee bar and have some coffee. While we were having some coffee she alerted me that she starts work at 08:00 and everyone else starts at 08:30 so I had to wait. After 08:30 almost everyone was around. She called the HR manager and told her about me. She immediately came to me and gave me a warm welcome and asked me to come to her office. We had a brief meeting; she introduced me to some documents to read about the company such as the office services and IT induction pack and the list of names, positions, departments, contact numbers and extension numbers of all employees in the organization. After that, she took me around the building, which has five floors and introduce me to all the staff members. After the introduction she showed me my office and asked the people from the IT department to connect my computer and create my email address. After a while my supervisor and his assistant came. We again had a small meeting where they introduced me to two projects, which we will be working on. The one they are currently working on in Rustenburg is called the “Rustenburg Tourism Meander/Route,” which has a deadline on the 25th of June. And the second project is on “Cape Town City Hall Redevelopment,” which we will start working on from next week, and its deadline is on 31st of June. He alerted me that we will be travelling to Rustenburg on Thursday and we have a workshop with people working on the Cape Town project on Friday this week. So I spent the whole day looking at the briefs for the two projects to understand what is going on. I’m looking forward to what the future holds for me. However, I do remember that we are a resource to each other; I might need your assistance one-way or the other.
This was my first day at Ochre Media and I hope that i will benefit from this journey.

8 comments:

Susan Arthur said...

thanks for sharing this Beauty, especially for sharing what you were anxious about before as I'm sure we'll all feel the same!
Wow, your first week at work and you're already going on business trips! Glad you found people were mostly friendly to you.. I think it's important in a new place also to focus on being friendly to everyone ourselves (like Celeste did- saying hello to everyone). Good luck, and look forward to hearing about your business trips!

Valentin said...

Dear Beauty, it is really nice that you share your experince of the first day at work with us.
It is normal that you experienced moments of anxiety, confusion etc. Do not look at the past, however.
It is important now that you give your full effort to prove yourself there.
Keep the energy going!

Susan Mwangi said...

Chanda, from your post I can tell that there is a lot of potential at Ochre. It sounds like the kind of place where you can learn a lot and grow career-wise.

Shine Beauty, shine!

Thomas Michael Blaser said...

The projects your company deals with sound really interesting and I think you will gain some excellent insights for your next career move. Keep your eyes open for contacts that may land you a permanent job.

Ijeoma Uche-Okeke said...

Beauty,
I am so excited! I feel as if I went through the experience with you. You have shared a valuable experience with us. Like Susan M. and Thomas have said, it looks like you got an internship that has good career growth prospects and falls into your area of expertise. I heard about your first day during the workshop when your blog was shown. Well done!! I wish you every success, keep your eyes peeled for opportunities. You can count on my support and I'm sure the entire team's support. I look forward to hearing more about your experience at Ochre. A business trip already!! Wow!! Have a safe trip to and fro'.

Temitope Adewunmi said...

Hi beauty,

i am very happy that you have already delved into the world of work with the right attitude. I wish you all the best as you continue your journey to greater things heights in life. See you at the top.

Cheers!
Temi

BEAUTY KATONGO said...

Hi Guys, thanks a lot for your support. i really appreciate it and i'm looking forward to work hard and prove to be one of the best intern. i'm positive that this will happen with your backing and using the skills i gained from the WOW internship programme. so far all is well and if i get stuck on the way, i will inform you for help.

Adam N. Mukendi said...

Hi Beauty,
I really know that you will make it. Ochre media for me is a good environment because I could feel the mood of some staff. It's better to get a small bread with smile than a huge portion with rudeness. This is a starting point, you will get better.
God bless You
Adam