Hello all, my name is Kyle and I am one of the newest members of the ScrubSquared team. I am an intern from the McIntire School of Commerce at UVA, the undergrad business school, and I’ve been working here since the beginning of June. I was lucky to get this opportunity, because I had a part-time paid internship lined up, and wanted another job or internship where I could gain some experience. This job really worked out great for me since it fit perfectly with my schedule, and I was a good fit as an intern since one was needed at the last second.
This job really has been an eye-opener for me. My only other work experiences in the past have been in restaurants and local stores, typical high school jobs. Coming into this job I thought that things would be very structured like they were at my previous jobs. If you’ve ever worked for a restaurant chain you would know that you have a uniform and a set way of doing things with very little leeway. Working here I’ve come to see how there aren’t simple answers to solving the problems a business faces, especially a start-up business.
In a restaurant if a customer has a complaint, you tell the manager, he apologizes and gives them free food, problem solved. Those were the kind of situations I used to face. But here, when trying to find out what phone forwarding service we should use, there wasn’t a rigid system and protocol to find the answer. Instead I’ve gotten to see how a business goes about finding the best solution, and you don’t always know if you pick the right solution (as we found out with our experience with x-cart). I’ve been given a lot more responsibility with problems and the freedom to figure out the answers.
I always thought experience was overrated, because I didn’t have any. But now that I’m put in the situation where I have to make decisions (albeit small ones, there still big for me) and perform where my actions directly affect the business I realize how important it is. Luckily I’m getting experience working with ScrubSquared, and hopefully it will help me, and the company, in the future.
Kyle
