Sadly I ended my RBC internship a week early due to university complications; in fact yesterday was my last day of my internship at RBC.
During this month, I have met so many amazing co-workers as well learned new technology which could help me build up my resume. I have done tasks that I never imagined a high school student would be trusted with.
I do wish to be able to work for RBC again. The experience and diverse culture it offers is something that no other banks in the world could possibly offer. Special thanks to my manager and senior manager for giving me this opportunity to enrich my experience.
Jessica Wong
RBC Financial Group
Mississauga, ON
This blog captures the Shad August internship experience. Each day different interns describe their endeavours, and the Shad community gets an inside look at what Shad students do in their summer roles.
Tuesday, August 30
August 30
I have had the amazing opportunity to work online with Social Journal, a Canadian-based start-up which aims to create an online site that will become the foremost online destination for social entrepreneurs. My job is to analyze visitor traffic and behaviour to Social Journal's blog and beta site using Google Analytics and other analytic tools. Overall, each day of my online internship has been a unique and extraordinary learning experience, and today was no exception.
I started my internship today in a hotel room in Los Angeles, California, after lunch. Taking out my laptop, I discussed with my boss over Skype and we determined the assignments I would complete over the next few days. The call was casual, with no need for formalities or any sort of defined structure. Throughout the call, we shared knowledge and discussed ideas equally, and I could always interrupt my boss to raise a point of issue. Thus, my boss treated me not as an employee, but as an equal partner in business, which is representative of my entire internship experience.
After the call ended, I proceeded to start completing one of my assignments, which was to research tools to analyze social media traffic to our website. By reading through several sites, I learned a lot about tools such as KISSmetrics, Twendz, Twittersheep, and Huitesuite Analytics. The next step was to identify which tool Social Journal would use and to sign up for the tool, but first my family had planned to attend an admissions tour at CalTech. I returned to the hotel room at around 10:00 in the evening and finished setting up an account for KISSmetrics, the analytic tool which I felt was best for Social Journal.
Each day of my internship has been the same as this one in terms of how flexible my work schedule is and how much control I have over my work. Thus, I have truly enjoyed working with Social Journal as they have given me an endless amount of opportunities to learn and develop my skills as much as I want. Though my internship is ending in a few days, I hope to continue working with Social Journal as a team member in the following months. Thank you so much, Shad, for giving me the opportunity to work with such an amazing company as well as giving me the opportunity to experience an amazing month of July! Thanks, too, to Social Journal, for giving me an incredible internship experience. I'll certainly look forward to continuing my work with Social Journal.
Victor Shang
SoJo
Victoria, BC
I started my internship today in a hotel room in Los Angeles, California, after lunch. Taking out my laptop, I discussed with my boss over Skype and we determined the assignments I would complete over the next few days. The call was casual, with no need for formalities or any sort of defined structure. Throughout the call, we shared knowledge and discussed ideas equally, and I could always interrupt my boss to raise a point of issue. Thus, my boss treated me not as an employee, but as an equal partner in business, which is representative of my entire internship experience.
After the call ended, I proceeded to start completing one of my assignments, which was to research tools to analyze social media traffic to our website. By reading through several sites, I learned a lot about tools such as KISSmetrics, Twendz, Twittersheep, and Huitesuite Analytics. The next step was to identify which tool Social Journal would use and to sign up for the tool, but first my family had planned to attend an admissions tour at CalTech. I returned to the hotel room at around 10:00 in the evening and finished setting up an account for KISSmetrics, the analytic tool which I felt was best for Social Journal.
Each day of my internship has been the same as this one in terms of how flexible my work schedule is and how much control I have over my work. Thus, I have truly enjoyed working with Social Journal as they have given me an endless amount of opportunities to learn and develop my skills as much as I want. Though my internship is ending in a few days, I hope to continue working with Social Journal as a team member in the following months. Thank you so much, Shad, for giving me the opportunity to work with such an amazing company as well as giving me the opportunity to experience an amazing month of July! Thanks, too, to Social Journal, for giving me an incredible internship experience. I'll certainly look forward to continuing my work with Social Journal.
Victor Shang
SoJo
Victoria, BC
Monday, August 29
August 29
“If you are interning for a Real Estate Agent, you get the flexibility of an agent’s lifestyle”. Those words were running through my mind as I was sitting on a Thursday morning, completing one of the tasks assigned to me during this internship from home instead of the office.
Karen, my boss and the co-owner of Go West Realty, explained on the first day how the life of a real estate agent worked; self-motivation, drive and hard work were required. Yet it was to be a mix of these traits and just enjoying life. On an average morning I could be found talking and laughing with the co-owners for an hour drinking coffee, but suddenly it’d be hyper-drive work time because a new lead opened up.
I learned tons on property management, residential sales and investing. Partially through sitting down and having Karen explain things to me, and partially from completing the tasks she usually does day-to-day.
Karen showed me how a career in real estate can fit an adventurous lifestyle like mine. Benefits include having the ability to go for mid-day work outs, travel whenever, and direct your company as you wish. I can now use this intern experience to pursue my own real estate career!
In closing, thank you Karen and the Go West Team for having me as an intern over the last month, I learned skills that I will take with me for the rest of my life!
Karen, my boss and the co-owner of Go West Realty, explained on the first day how the life of a real estate agent worked; self-motivation, drive and hard work were required. Yet it was to be a mix of these traits and just enjoying life. On an average morning I could be found talking and laughing with the co-owners for an hour drinking coffee, but suddenly it’d be hyper-drive work time because a new lead opened up.
I learned tons on property management, residential sales and investing. Partially through sitting down and having Karen explain things to me, and partially from completing the tasks she usually does day-to-day.
Karen showed me how a career in real estate can fit an adventurous lifestyle like mine. Benefits include having the ability to go for mid-day work outs, travel whenever, and direct your company as you wish. I can now use this intern experience to pursue my own real estate career!
In closing, thank you Karen and the Go West Team for having me as an intern over the last month, I learned skills that I will take with me for the rest of my life!
August 29
Every time I enter, the nutty smell of the café wafts up to embrace me, even on the topmost floor of the building. Walking through the open layout of the offices, observing the brightly painted walls and water bowls for the occasional canine companion on the floor, I am once again struck by how modern this company is. But then, that’s what Desire2Learn is: a modern, innovative company making a big impact in the world around it.
Desire2Learn creates the online platforms supporting online learning for universities, secondary schools, corporations, and governments all over the world. This is the first year they have taken on a Shad alumnus as an intern. I was assigned two projects to complete for the duration of my stay: completing the initial research for a new vertical Desire2Learn wishes to explore, and watching and categorizing raw video footage from D2L’s recent users’ conference called Fusion.
On my first day, I was extremely nervous. I didn’t know what to expect or what I would be expected to do. Luckily, my mom sent me off with these kind words of encouragement: “They’re not going to give you something that will jeopardize the future of their company!” That made me feel a lot better. However, I needn’t have worried; everyone at Desir2Learn was very kind and obliging. I was given the use of a desk and laptop and I set to work on my projects.
The time flew by. I am an intern with Desire2Learn for five weeks, and here I am among the final days. I will miss the routine and the sense of accomplishment that this internship has given me. I will miss the aroma of coffee and cookies from the café downstairs. I will miss the thrill of excitement I get every time I see a dog run past my desk (a common occurrence at Desire2Learn!) But most of all, I will miss the people who introduced themselves in the elevator, or walking past my desk. And to those who kept talking, who brought me into their worlds outside of work. Thank you.
Charlotte Wallace
Desire2Learn
Waterloo, Ontario
Desire2Learn creates the online platforms supporting online learning for universities, secondary schools, corporations, and governments all over the world. This is the first year they have taken on a Shad alumnus as an intern. I was assigned two projects to complete for the duration of my stay: completing the initial research for a new vertical Desire2Learn wishes to explore, and watching and categorizing raw video footage from D2L’s recent users’ conference called Fusion.
On my first day, I was extremely nervous. I didn’t know what to expect or what I would be expected to do. Luckily, my mom sent me off with these kind words of encouragement: “They’re not going to give you something that will jeopardize the future of their company!” That made me feel a lot better. However, I needn’t have worried; everyone at Desir2Learn was very kind and obliging. I was given the use of a desk and laptop and I set to work on my projects.
The time flew by. I am an intern with Desire2Learn for five weeks, and here I am among the final days. I will miss the routine and the sense of accomplishment that this internship has given me. I will miss the aroma of coffee and cookies from the café downstairs. I will miss the thrill of excitement I get every time I see a dog run past my desk (a common occurrence at Desire2Learn!) But most of all, I will miss the people who introduced themselves in the elevator, or walking past my desk. And to those who kept talking, who brought me into their worlds outside of work. Thank you.
Charlotte Wallace
Desire2Learn
Waterloo, Ontario
August 29
Just as four weeks of Shad went by in a flash, so did my four weeks of internship. As I'm finally used to waking up at the crack of dawn, suffering through the morning commute, and learning the countless three letter acronyms in the field of engineering, it's time to say goodbye.
My placement is at Cronos Consulting Group, a small research firm that specializes in the fields of science and engineering. The office is a very open environment, in fact, I remember being told on the first day to ask lots of questions, provide feedback, and especially to eavesdrop on the senior consultant's conversations.
Everyone is very outgoing and chatting with them over lunch is always a highlight of my day. However, my favourite part is the little wrap-up meeting we do before we all depart for home. Someone, usually my supervisor Afifa, reads an interesting piece of news article and we, as a team, discuss how it affects us as a business. It's like a leveled-up, way more awesome version of all those critical reading exercises that we do in school. Through these discussions, I learned about the field of engineering and how it interplays with politics and the economy.
My role at Cronos is to assist the senior consultants by scavenging the internet and finding appropriate talents with experiences relevant to each of our client's requirements. It's a lot harder than it sounds. This is my first "real" exposure to the engineering industry, and as I've mentioned, the jargons and technical terms sound like a foreign language! I&C, PLC, DCS, LCA, CFD, FEA, P&ID, PFD, LNG, that's just a sample of the more frequently used ones. I also had to be clever with my search terms and methods, luckily my supervisor provided me with sheets upon sheets of reference material. The task is also as rewarding as it is challenging, I've developed many transferable skills that will inevitably carry onto other areas of my life, such as knowing how to write a killer resume. In addition, having read through countless other successful engineer's experiences, I've developed a better idea of how to achieve my own career goals.
Aside from my routine work, I was also assigned a special research project to do on next generation biofuels. It was tons of fun and the perfect chance to apply the research skills that I've accumulated over the month.
As I finish my second last day, I'd like to again thank everyone at Cronos, especially Afifa, Aliya, and Adam, for all the patient help and feedback they provided. Also thank you Shad Valley for connecting me to Cronos and making my 2011 summer one that I will never forget.
Weijie Liu
Cronos Consulting Group
Toronto, Ontario
My placement is at Cronos Consulting Group, a small research firm that specializes in the fields of science and engineering. The office is a very open environment, in fact, I remember being told on the first day to ask lots of questions, provide feedback, and especially to eavesdrop on the senior consultant's conversations.
Everyone is very outgoing and chatting with them over lunch is always a highlight of my day. However, my favourite part is the little wrap-up meeting we do before we all depart for home. Someone, usually my supervisor Afifa, reads an interesting piece of news article and we, as a team, discuss how it affects us as a business. It's like a leveled-up, way more awesome version of all those critical reading exercises that we do in school. Through these discussions, I learned about the field of engineering and how it interplays with politics and the economy.
My role at Cronos is to assist the senior consultants by scavenging the internet and finding appropriate talents with experiences relevant to each of our client's requirements. It's a lot harder than it sounds. This is my first "real" exposure to the engineering industry, and as I've mentioned, the jargons and technical terms sound like a foreign language! I&C, PLC, DCS, LCA, CFD, FEA, P&ID, PFD, LNG, that's just a sample of the more frequently used ones. I also had to be clever with my search terms and methods, luckily my supervisor provided me with sheets upon sheets of reference material. The task is also as rewarding as it is challenging, I've developed many transferable skills that will inevitably carry onto other areas of my life, such as knowing how to write a killer resume. In addition, having read through countless other successful engineer's experiences, I've developed a better idea of how to achieve my own career goals.
Aside from my routine work, I was also assigned a special research project to do on next generation biofuels. It was tons of fun and the perfect chance to apply the research skills that I've accumulated over the month.
As I finish my second last day, I'd like to again thank everyone at Cronos, especially Afifa, Aliya, and Adam, for all the patient help and feedback they provided. Also thank you Shad Valley for connecting me to Cronos and making my 2011 summer one that I will never forget.
Weijie Liu
Cronos Consulting Group
Toronto, Ontario
Friday, August 26
August 26
Today was actually my last day at work, but that didn't stop me from working just as hard as I usually would have.
I spent an amazing month with Nature Crops International, a child company of Technology Crops International. Nature Crops, or NCI for short, is a Prince Edward Island based company that produces speciality oils that are customized to fit the client companies needs. I worked in the company's chemistry department, where I would do chemical analysis and quality control on the oil samples.
I was privileged to experience something that others cannot get unless they go through years of studies first, and I will remember this experience for the rest of my life. My day would go from 8 in the morning to about 4:30 pm. During this time all the staff members of the company would try to provide the best experience for me, and to give me as many opportunities to learn as possible. This resulted in me being extremely comfortable in the laboratory environment, something that I will take with me to all other labs that I ever visit.
The staff invested an extraordinary amount of trust in me, something that I am deeply thankful for. It was because of this that I learned so much over that short month. This included how to operate a Gas Chromatography machine, something that I enjoyed considerably, and how to perform Iodine Tests, Colour Tests, Phosphorus Tests, Moisture Tests, Stability Tests--the list goes on and on. The most important aspect of all this chemistry was, in my opinion, the ability to relate those results and procedures back to the original question; whether the oil was good or not. This experience allowed me to take my classroom theory into the real world, something that I have always desired.
Being part of a professional laboratory environment didn't only teach me about chemistry, but also about the dynamics of a lab, as well as the dynamics of modern business and the relationships between a company, its clients, its suppliers and its producers. The amount of care, thought, and work that is invested in a simple oil for a cosmetic company is amazing. Every worker in the company would share the same feelings about the quality of an oil, and this created a tight social network that is very rare in today’s professional industries.
Yet again, I thank the staff and workers at Nature Crops International. They have given me an exceptional experience that I would not have traded against anything else. I could not have been more pleased.
Jason Wuertz
Technology Crops International
Charlottetown, PEI
I spent an amazing month with Nature Crops International, a child company of Technology Crops International. Nature Crops, or NCI for short, is a Prince Edward Island based company that produces speciality oils that are customized to fit the client companies needs. I worked in the company's chemistry department, where I would do chemical analysis and quality control on the oil samples.
I was privileged to experience something that others cannot get unless they go through years of studies first, and I will remember this experience for the rest of my life. My day would go from 8 in the morning to about 4:30 pm. During this time all the staff members of the company would try to provide the best experience for me, and to give me as many opportunities to learn as possible. This resulted in me being extremely comfortable in the laboratory environment, something that I will take with me to all other labs that I ever visit.
The staff invested an extraordinary amount of trust in me, something that I am deeply thankful for. It was because of this that I learned so much over that short month. This included how to operate a Gas Chromatography machine, something that I enjoyed considerably, and how to perform Iodine Tests, Colour Tests, Phosphorus Tests, Moisture Tests, Stability Tests--the list goes on and on. The most important aspect of all this chemistry was, in my opinion, the ability to relate those results and procedures back to the original question; whether the oil was good or not. This experience allowed me to take my classroom theory into the real world, something that I have always desired.
Being part of a professional laboratory environment didn't only teach me about chemistry, but also about the dynamics of a lab, as well as the dynamics of modern business and the relationships between a company, its clients, its suppliers and its producers. The amount of care, thought, and work that is invested in a simple oil for a cosmetic company is amazing. Every worker in the company would share the same feelings about the quality of an oil, and this created a tight social network that is very rare in today’s professional industries.
Yet again, I thank the staff and workers at Nature Crops International. They have given me an exceptional experience that I would not have traded against anything else. I could not have been more pleased.
Jason Wuertz
Technology Crops International
Charlottetown, PEI
August 26
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
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
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