Orientation and First Weeks
My orientation at KMS was quite smooth. My supervisor walked me through the process patiently; reviewing all the tasks I would be performing daily, sharing details about the company and introducing me to other staff members at the organization. Being around professionals was a whole new experience for me. I was quite nervous thinking about adjusting to a completely different environment. I am thankful for the warm welcome and the kind of treatment I received on my first day from the entire KMS team. The first week was all about getting to know the company rules and regulations. I received a list of clients I would be interacting with during my work term. My first task was to research the existing clients and write an email introducing myself to everyone. I spent most of the time with my supervisor going over tips to effectively interact with the customers. As my supervisor has over 15 years of business experience to offer, it was a great opportunity for me to learn. I was assigned additional online courses to guide me through the administrative procedures during the following weeks.
Learning and Adaptation
I started performing my daily tasks beginning the third week after finishing the training activities. KMS is a janitorial company that provides labour to hotels throughout BC. My main job duty was to create a schedule for around 80 employees every day while staying in touch with the hotel managers for any complaints or concerns. For about a week, my supervisor helped me in making the schedule and writing professional emails to clients. With continuous support, I started completing the tasks on my own within no time. My supervisor was always there to help whenever needed. Sometimes, I would feel overwhelmed by the complaints from clients but every time I gained guidance on how to handle concerns efficiently. The best part of working with KMS was being around experienced people and getting useful life lessons and success tips from everyone. After a wonderful experience in my first work term, I decided to join the same company for my second work term, eight months later. The start of the term was much easier this time. I was enthusiastic to learn more about the company and help it achieve its goals. While performing the same duties as the first term, I was also given new tasks including finding new customers for the company.
Accomplishments and Challenges
My new tasks included assisting in advertising to develop fresh ideas to let people know what KMS has to offer. With continuous efforts, we found 2 more clients which was a remarkable accomplishment for me. During my second work term, I was introduced to QuickBooks software to keep track of office expenses. By the end of the second work term, I helped reduce office expenses by 20%. For scheduling purposes and other administrative tasks, I used digital platforms instead of paper thereby reducing paper usage by 40%. I believe learning never ends, and even though this is my third term with KMS, I think of every day as another opportunity to learn something new.
The major challenge I encountered during my work terms was time management. During my first term, I was taking one academic class while working full-time. I struggled to keep up a work-study balance. I couldn’t perform as expected in my academic class because of the extensive workload so I believe it is better not to take any academic classes during the first work term for a smooth start. To perform better, I started my second work term by listing the problems I faced during my first work term, time management being the biggest concern. With careful planning, I was able to perform well in my academic class this term while working full-time. Another challenge I faced was my hesitancy to ask for help because of my highly introverted personality. It was hard for me to speak up in front of everyone during our weekly staff meetings. Even if I had a brilliant idea, I would be hesitant to bring it up. My supervisor noticed that and encouraged me to share my thoughts with the other team members. With continuous support from colleagues, I started feeling more confident.
