How to Tame Summer Job ApplicationsPart 9

Towards the end of the summer, I told the students that at the next company-wide meeting, I wanted them to make a presentation during the meeting which would show everyone what they had worked on during the summer. They come from design schools where making a presentation is the norm. However, getting up in front of and entire firm to talk about themselves was something I doubt any of them had considered. I gave them very few restrictions. They had already been to these meetings so they knew the format and who usually attends. I thought they would present alone, be nervous, speak softly, and sort of squeak by. Boy, was I wrong. They worked together as a group, took photos of each other in their various "work" environments, narrated it, brought their sense of humor, and made a terrific impression on everyone who attended.

Their photos projected onto to the wall and the music "I've had the time of my life..." resonated throughout the room. There's Andrew, who had worked so hard with accounting moving boxes, sitting in a tight little ball on one of the shelves and our narrator saying, "Andrew thinks out of the box." There's Katy, sitting at the computer, the same image one after another with our narrator saying, "There's Katy working on the bank project (next slide, same image), the office project (next slide, same image), the medical clinic (next slide, same image). There's Christine, who reorganized our library, trapped under mounds of binders and books. There's Jim, head stuck under a kitchen cabinet, fixing the garbage disposal, the dishwasher, the sink, and anything else that needed repair.

My favorite photo is the one they gave to me. It's a picture of the six of them standing outside the office. I have kept it next to me as I work, even to this day.


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