Four weeks ago my Shad adventure had come to an end yet the second part of my Shad experience was just beginning. Now, four weeks later, I have completed my internship at McElhanney and emerged with a glimpse into the working force. McElhanney is a surveying and mapping company focusing primarily with the oil and gas and forestry industries. In addition to surveying, McElhanney makes and prints maps. Once created, the maps need to be printed, folded, sorted, filed, laminated, and bound just to name a few of the many tasks the company does.
As an intern to the company, my day had a wide variety of tasks to complete. One of my main jobs was to laminate, cut and bind McElhanney map books which they sell to the public for use recreationally such as hunting, fishing, snowmobiling etc. but also for commercial use. It was amazing to see how even though much of earth today has been met by human contact there are constant changes to these maps as more is discovered about sections of land.
In addition to this, I helped with organizing the hundreds of maps that come through McElhanney’s offices. Sorting, scanning, filing and placing the maps in an organized manner could sometimes cause chaos but it gave me an in depth view of how different companies within the same industries work together to efficiently create a system.
Having never really entered an office job before, this also gave me the chance to learn about the large variety of machines the McElhanney print room holds and how to run them each. From 4 feet wide printers to the giant paper cutter and everything in-between, the print room at McElhanney had a lot to learn from. These are just some tasks among many that I completed throughout the month.
I would like to thank McElhanney and Shad Valley for the opportunity to complete my internship and gain valuable work experience through these last few weeks!
Jacquie Gulevich
McElhanney Land Surveys Ltd.
Fort St. John, BC