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For this week, we are reading three articles dealing with emotions and experiences in the workplace.
“Expressing Emotion in Interpersonal Interaction” by Martin Davidson, deals with the different outcomes of emotions in the workplace. It was an interesting read because it was quite relatable. Did you guys find yourselves thinking back on situations in which you held emotions back and it backfired? Or, did you guys find yourself thinking back on situations in which you expressed your emotions, and it turned out well? The whole time I spent reading it, I was either thinking about situations from the past or creating scenarios in my head where I would need to deal with emotions in some way. It’s interesting to read the psychology behind that.
The second reading, “Learning to Work with Emotions during an Internship” by D. Kathleen Stitts, tells the story of a girl named Sara who faced difficulties with one of her bosses during an internship. This reading honestly made me feel scared of entering the work world one day, but Stitts says, “Internships help students learn to adjust to the psychology of workplace cultures” (446). Therefore, I, and all of you, should not be scared because we have internships. Now, I feel as though mine is a little different than all of yours. In my internship, I get to interact with people whom I have been working with for a year and a half. Everyone is wonderful at the Writing Center, and I am very lucky to be surrounded by such great people. Too bad the rest of the world isn’t exactly like that. Inevitably, in the future, we will all encounter bosses and coworkers of whom we are not very fond, but we’ll get past it. Has anyone ever had a situation like Sara’s? How did you handle it? What are some ways to avoid those situations? I think the best thing to do while at work is put a smile on and address everyone with the utmost respect, even if we aren’t feeling that way. It would serve to prevent awkward or hostile situations.
The last reading, “My Entry-Level Life” by Kendra Potts, was definitely my favorite. She basically writes a personal narrative describing her job, framed by cleaning out her desk. My favorite part of the essay is when she is dealing with her phobia of the phone ringing and having to answer it. We all have that phobia the first time we have to answer the phone for a job! But it’s not just a phobia about answering the phone: it’s a phobia about doing anything for the first time. The fear just becomes more eminent with a phone call because suddenly, you’re put on the spot, whereas with other things you’re doing for the first time (for example, your first professional project), you have time to work on it and seek the counsel of others. Did anyone else really appreciate that part? Has anyone actually felt that phobia in the past couple weeks? How do we get over that phobia? Another part of her essay that got me is how she immediately feels inferior just because she is the new girl. I think this is another thing we can all relate to: being the “new guy,” how can we get over the feelings of inferiority and learn to be assertive? We are there to get stuff done, but how do we get stuff done without talking to people as peers/colleagues?
All of this is a learning process, and I think this week’s readings were really helpful in a sense that they actually got me thinking about this stuff. I’m going to be much more conscious of my actions and attitudes at work this week.
I definitely found myself instantly relating to a lot of what I read in Kendra Pott’s “My Entry-Level Life.” I started my internship over the summer, and it took me a long time to get over feeling like the ‘new guy’ and feeling inferior to the other Technical Writer at my organization. I think it was after I received positive feedback from my supervisor and other high ranking individuals that I started to shake off that feeling of inferiority and the ‘new guy’ feeling.
But something else I related pretty strongly with in Pott’s writing was the experience she had with the programmer’s and trying to have them answer her questions and give her useful information for her to succeed at her job. My internship is pretty similar to the work she did and I have a lot of work with programmers. I was emailing a SME (subject matter expert) trying to get answers from him for a few weeks now and he still had not replied. I met with my supervisor and we had much of the same conversation that Kendra and her boss had. I copied my supervisor into my email and sure enough, I got a reply this time.
The reading by Potts really resonated with me as well. The part about getting nervous when the phone rings was all too familiar to me when I first started working. This was mostly due to the fact that I knew next to nothing about what was involved for an international worker to come to WVU and begin their employment. After a while of training I became more comfortable with it, as well as more comfortable with not having all the answers for people’s questions – I would just do my best to find an answer and get back to them later.
The part where she talks about being new to the job was interesting to me because I think it’s typical when starting a new job. There’s this sense of being the “new guy / girl” and things aren’t quite familiar yet. Potts lists the identities of the people she encountered around the office, but the identity of the new person is still in flux. Perhaps once the person’s niche in the workplace is realized, that transition away from being simply the “new” person begins.
Peter, that’s really funny that you had the same experience as Potts did with the programmer. It’s even funnier that you got a response only when you CC’d your boss in an email. You seem to be blessed with a really nice boss who really cares about how you’re doing, unlike some of the people that Sara, in the other reading, had to deal with. I hope no one has any bosses who act like that.
Chris, I bet having to answer the phone at the OISS was pretty dang intimidating when you first started. There is so much going on in that office all the time with how many international students we have here on campus. Also, I think you’re exactly right: when we find our niche, that’s when our identity changes from the “new guy/girl” to the “[insert niche here] guy/girl.” Very interesting.
I am sad to say I could not relate to the Potts or Stitts readings. What separates my internship experience from the ones in those readings is that I am mostly by myself. When I walk into the office, I go to my cubicle, and attack my pile of work for four hours until I leave. I did somewhat go through the “baby” phase as outlined by Potts, but my first day was probably the only day I will meet 95% of the people in my building. Likewise, in regards to the Stitts reading, I will probably never have such a hostile experience with a supervisor due to the fact that my supervisor is in Charleston and we communicate by email. In this setting, my emotions and body language are much more inwardly directed since there is no one around to receive them anyway.
However, I could agree with several things in “Expressing Emotion in Interpersonal Interaction” by Martin Davidson. Although work relationships are probably something I will not encounter in a large capacity, he is right in saying that managing emotion is important when it comes to handling stress. Maybe it is because I am a high stress individual, but when I receive criticism on my work via email from my boss, it always helps to take a second to take what is happening into context. It is much easier to deal with a stressful situation by looking at the bigger picture and trying to take as much positive as possible from the situation.
It’s cool how all of our internships are so different. And that’s definitely a good attitude to have when handling stress!
After reading the Potts article, I found it astonishingly weird how similar my life is to hers, even after reading just the introduction paragraph. I especially loved the part about her being an English major and everyone asking her if she wants to be a teacher. Anytime I get asked what my major is and I respond with English, I get the, “Oh so you want to be a teacher” response. No, actually I don’t want to be a teacher. One day I might want to be a professor, but as of right now there are a lot of other things I want to do with my major and like Potts, I love to write. The aspect of my PWE concentration that I want to focus on once I graduate is the social media aspect. I love tweeting and I love blogging. I already have two internships where I get to do exactly that with both of them, except they are completely different fields, but that’s what I love about this major. There’s just so much I can do with it.
Like Potts, I’ve never been one for public speaking, but I do when I have to. I’ve always like to express myself with my writing. I get to say what I want the way I intend to say it. When I have to say it out loud I often skip over something important I thought of or end up saying something that didn’t quite go with what I was thinking. But with writing I can type, mess up, then type it again, mess up, and so on. One thing I like about my internship with the Alumni Association is that too many people don’t work there. I’ve been able to meet the people I work with and then get to my cubicle and start typing away. When someone walks by they say hello and move about their day. It’s the perfect amount of interaction I like. Enough for people to know I exist and then leave me alone so I can get some work done. Like Davidson was saying, expressing emotion is important. I think my colleagues know that I don’t like to talk a lot and that I like to be by myself, but the little “hello(s)” and “see ya later” I give provide enough emphasis that my colleagues know I care about them and that I am a nice person to have around. ‘
One of my favorite things about the technology today is that it allows us to keep in contact with people without actually talking. My writing is my talking. The way I keep in touch with my supervisor is 80% by email. The other 20% is when I talk to her when I’m in the office to either A. see what projects she wants me to work on for the day or B. have a friendly conversation. I want to promote as good as an image as I can to my colleagues, especially my supervisor, so that they can trust me. Like Stitts was saying about internships, they are stepping stones towards the professional world, but having a negative image can hender that. Sure, my internship stresses me out, but that’s okay because if I wasn’t stressed then that means I don’t care about it. I want to do a good job. I want my colleagues to like me and hopefully, if everything works out, hire me once I graduate.
I also liked the Potts article the most, and felt that I could relate to is the most. Firstly, I have held several jobs, so I am very familiar with the excitement and dread of being the new person. If you watched Rocket Power back in the day, you know how it feels to be the “squid.” Although I had been used to being a new girl, when I started my internship, it was so much different. I felt important, because I was “an intern,” which I rubbed in a little bit at my real job, where I am basically a glorified lunch lady. However, I was so scared at the same time. I spent a good hour trying on different outfits. I didn’t end up feeling that scared new girl feeling for very long, because the office is pretty laid back and I cliqued with everyone quickly. The only time that I feel very nervous or on edge is when the Director, who is a straight-laced and very conservative fellow, comes in. I feel so much more on edge when he is around. I had felt myself become a lot more comfortable after a few weeks went by, but once school started and this girl who went away for the summer came back, I felt like the new girl again. I view this girl as someone kind of like the Sarah character, except less malicious and territorial.
I also really liked when she mentioned going from her identity as a “student” to a “technical writer.” I have had an interesting time with my identity as a student. In my jobs, I have held on tight to my identity as a student. I thought that since I was a student that I was exempt from certain things. I quickly learned through my current job that not everyone knows that I am a student, so I automatically stuck into the cafeteria/ “lifer” category that I thought that I was exempt from all this time. What if I am still there a little bit after a graduate? I won’t have the student identity anymore to fall back on.
Now as an intern, I am an unpaid student worker, but I feel like I have more to brag about to my coworkers now. I have the glory of working on professional things and wearing fancy clothes, but I don’t have as many obligations, since I am still “the intern.” However, I am a little terrified to enter the real world. I have it easy here with colleagues and bosses, and since at my current job mostly work with the public and I am not expected to do much except to not be late, lose money, or mess up the food. I know that I will eventually have a hard boss and will have to deal with those emotions. Right now, I am holding onto my student identity. I look forward to having a “cubed life,” as she called it. I want to work on my own in my own world away from everyone else, then later on report to someone with the work that I created using my education and skill set. I can’t wait to be a professional, but as I said, I am hanging on to my “student Identity” as long as possible, until I become a professional.
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