June - September 2018 • Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
What I liked
The company was very big on being a self-starter; I learned quickly that I couldn't just wait around for tasks to be handed to me, but had to figure out what needed to be done myself. When I wasn't working on something assigned to me, I was teaching myself how to update and edit the website, learning about market trends in the packaging industry, and learning details of the job that I didn't have previous experience with. Everyone I worked with was very nice, and we held each other accountable for quality work.
What I wish was different
By the nature of the job, we usually either had very little work or way too much. Sometimes I'd get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that had to be done, and then the next week underwhelmed by it. This isn't something they could control, since a lot of the work was preparing quotations that needed to be done on short notice, but it was definitely a little stressful.
Advice
What I thought the company wanted from a candidate and what they actually wanted were very different. I was very surprised to hear back from them, because I felt very under qualified for the job. What they were looking for, however, wasn't necessarily someone who knew about packaging, but someone who could learn how to solve problems on their own. Don't skip an application just because your experience doesn't seem relevant, especially if the job seems interesting to you.
