Hannah Curtis: Can Organization and Communication Skills Be That Important?
This winter quarter, my internship at the San Jose Office of Economic Development has been in full swing and getting really exciting. Projects that I started in fall quarter are moving forward in the process and I finally feel like I am getting comfortable with my position and responsibilities. So far throughout my internship, it has made me reflect on what business skills I have learned at Santa Clara University and how I am applying them to my work at OED.
The most prominent business skills that I have been using at my internship is excel, communication, and organizational skills. Organization and communication may sound like pretty easy tasks, but they are crucial when it comes to working in team based projects that involve multiple people. One of my main responsibilities at OED is to work on storefront grant agreements. These grant agreements involve communicating with business owners, my supervisor, and the admin team that has to authorize these grants and encumber the funds. With everything being virtual, it’s a lot of emails back and forth and video calls. This has also made me realize that it’s important how you communicate information to people as well. The business owners and admin team who are involved in this process are all very busy, so it’s important to write succinct emails that are easy to understand and direct. Organization and excel skills are also very important for this project as well. When I’m working on multiple grant agreements, I have to keep an organized excel tracking sheet so that I can find information easily for myself and for other people. Without knowing where each grant agreement is in the process, things are going to move a lot slower. I think I underestimated how important these three skills are in the workplace. We learn and use these skills in many of our business classes and now I can fully appreciate why these skills get drilled into our brains.
For LSB students who are interested in using their business skills to support community work, I advise that you apply your business skills, but also remember that your skills need to be flexible as well. When you’re in a position that works with the community, things are continuously changing and you may not know what is going on at times. But it’s important to be flexible and adapt to the situation in the best of your abilities.