my coworkers have put into this, and their dedication to their craft. It has made me realise how much I aspire to do that, and feel that way about the work I do. I feel pretty confident in the way my schooling is going. I will need to do more research to figure out what qualifications are needed, but from what I know my college plan, and my career plan doesn't have to bend much. Granted life gets in the way, and I have no way of telling how I will feel 3 years from now. As of now though, real estate looks like a really valid option for me, Only time will tell.
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Photo EssayMy Internship Project; ExpandedWhen coming into my internship I had previously decided to help boost their social media presence. I had the stupid assumption that boosting their social media would be a relatively quick and easy process, oh how wrong I was. See there is a lot more to social media than just followers. You have so many different analytics to take into account. I will go into that, to hopefully explain how I boosted a social media presence for a company that doesn't really need it. Importance to the company: Armstrong Gordon is a family owned, family run business. Also the are they operate in is a rather small area as well. This means the vast majority of people find out about us using either "Property Pal" or similar sights, or more frequently, by word of mouth. This means that even if we had millions of people following us on our social media it wouldn't be that huge of a help. I had to figure out a way to make it important and meaningful. Using the mindset of "free advertising" (essentially social media can be free advertising) I was able to find the motivation to really focus on our social media platforms. How did I get it done?I started by just posting multiple times a day. Seeing as before I came on as an intern there was little to no posts on twitter that was the way to start. You can see in the photo below that when I'm posting, more people begin to see my posts. And on the weekends less people even notice our tweets. This means I have to constantly post, or else we will never be seen. Again, looking at the picture below, this time using our facebook anylitics, you can see very clearing the amount of views, likes, comments dips to almost nothing when I stop posting daily. Another thing I started to do, which seemed to work, is by posting by a schedule. For instance on "trivia Tuesday" I would post fun facts about Ireland. The posts that really gained traction were the positive posts, for instance the photo below. I made a positive post about the view from outside our office, and it really gained traction. That post alone did better than 60% of all of our previous posts combined. Final ConclusionsSo far I haven't really given any real numbers. In this section I will break down the successes I have achieved.
Facebook: 44,853 views on just the month alone, in comparison the month before I came and began to post frequently had 16,432 views. In term of likes the month before I came in we were laying around 124 like for that month after the month of me being here our likes essentially doubled, at 296. Twitter: The month before I came in we had about one thousand views a month with only 1 like the entire month. Coming in at the end of my month here we have about 9 thousand views and about 50 likes. We have also gained 17 followers throughout the month. All in all much more impressive. Seeing as I started from almost nothing, I am really happy with these results. BIGGEST SUCCESS!!! We have had a few different calls from people interested in property after seeing my posts on twitter or Facebook. That felt really good, like I'm actually getting somewhere. How did you make a meaningful contribution to your workplace?While I have been here I have been doing my upmost to lend a helping hand in everything. Answering calls has been a massive part of my job. On the surface this could seem boring, however it has really kept me on my toes. I have loved almost every call, because you really start to get to know the people. One of the ladies that is normally in the office is actually out on maternity leave, so I have been lending a hand while they are down a person. I'm hoping I've been somewhat helpful to the office.
How was your work significant or meaningful to the world beyond school and your specific internship site?I mean I guess I didn't change the world, but the effects of this internship will last long after the plane wheels touch down in California. I have learned how to take something that I love and make it a reality. I knew I loved business and money, and now I have had experience dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars. To a certain extent it feels really good to go out and get something done. It has given me a sense of confidence. Also I have really learned how to talk to people, especially people that I don't know.
in. I really want to find the drive that they have. 98% of the time me coworkers come across as dedicated. Like this is the job they love. That is one of my aspirations in life, to find a job I love. I know it's difficult but maybe this is that job? I enjoy what I do here! How might internship influence the direction of your life?To be honest I have given this one a lot of thought. I had the idea coming into this that I would enjoy my time here, but not find it mind blowing. But the more I work here, in this profession, the more I realise how much I love it. I love almost every aspect of this job. The numbers game, the unknown aspect of the housing market, dealing with people, all of it. It is so fun to do, and I would really love to work here as a real job given the chance.
Photos from around the workplace, and in a bathroom.
I love getting along with my co-workers. Every morning one of us goes and gets coffee from a itty-bitty shop down the way a little bit. Normally coffee is 3£ but because we are regulars we get them for only one quid. After the first couple days it was my turn for coffee and I walked in and started to order and the guy running the counter went "Oy! You're the American, we knew you'd be coming eventually!" and it's little things like that, it makes it's all so much fun. I have been invited to my mentors house for dinner, one of my young co-workers wants to take me a to a club, and the other one insists on making sure I am okay, and enjoying myself. I hope that translates over and they'll remember when I leave in a halfway decent light.
The Facebook was strong and well developed. The Instagram, wasn't there. And the twitter was severely lacking so I decided to focus on their twitter, boost their following and make a handbook dedicated to helping them continue to boost their following when I'm gone. It will require me to learn the ins and outs of Twitter rather quickly. I am very unsure on how to boost a following. I get the idea it's going to be slow going, but who knows maybe we'll make a break through and gain a bunch of followers. It'll require me to be active on the account even outside of work so as to saturate the "market" as much as I can. I will hopefully sit down with my mentors and see what they want out of the followers. I could use their insight and knowledge of the trade and the community to boost the following exponentially.
As for work I have really been enjoying it here. The people are nice and the work is fun! Blog Reflection
questions about a company I know very little about without some sort of social skills. Some of that comes from work experience but some of that comes from exhibitions at High Tech High. Exhibitions have taught me to a certain extent how to deal with awkward social interactions. Also I got desperately lost on my way home the first day. I walk about 2 minutes to a bus stop, and then take the bus to right outside my work. On the way home I just do the same in reverse, however I went the wrong way from the bus stop and I ended up lost. I asked an older lady who after offering me advice, a ride when her husband got home and told me to come have dinner because I looked hungry. said I should go into the shop. When I asked in the shop I got about 8 different answers from different locals. I then began the walk in the direction I thought I should go. On the way I asked a few other older folks on the way, and got 3 offers for dinner because apparently I looked famished. A young kid came up on his bike and walked with me for a while, then hopped back on his bike and rode home. Eventually I decided enough was enough and I used some data to look up google maps. I was about a mile or so off of my target. I eventually made it back home, but it was still an interesting experience. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Mentor InterviewWhat is your job title?
-My title is Real Estate Agent How did you acquire the skills you have today? -Mostly work experience. Someone can only teach you so much, after that it comes from all experience. What is a typical work day? -Honestly every day is difference by a huge margin. Most days we do evaluations of houses, house shows, take photos and measurements of houses. When we are in the office we are answering calls and catching up on other work. Why did you choose to work here? -Through more of connections than anything. I was helping out an uncle and after a while I just stayed. We have a great work environment, and lots of opportunities. What advice do you have for someone working here? -Have a good sense of humour! You deal with a lot of people so being able to have a good personality and the ability to tell a joke will take you a long way. What skills are necessary to work here? -Starting off you mostly need to have the ability to learn. Most of the work we do cannot be taught in a class, but more boots and the ground sort of thing. If you know how to learn from experience you're golden. I think I already know the answer but how important is it to get along with people in your line of work? -It is one of the most important things. People won't ever want to buy or sell through you if they don't like you. Because of the rather small community it makes it very important to be likeable, and get to know people. When it comes to your co-workers, of course you want to be nice to them. It makes all of our lives easier if we get along well enough. Most of us are friends here and it makes it very easy to get along. What does it take to be successful here? -Like anywhere you have to work really hard. Get to know people, grow your connections, put the hours in. Eventually you'll start to reap the benefits from your work. What is the purpose of this business? -To sell houses and make people happy. That's about it. Any other questions you think I should have asked? -Nope. You seemed to nail all the important ones. Cheers. |
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