Brent Strahla ’21 — I would like to preface this blog by thanking the donors of the Small Business Internship Fund. Without it, I might have spent another melancholic summer in Indiana working my high school job(s).
To get to the meat of my experience, have you ever ridden on public transportation
? For the first time this summer, I was a consistent rider of the Washington Metro.
I think the blog can end there.
If you have ever been a consistent rider of public transit, we could most likely classify you as someone who has “Seen It All.” There seemed to be confusion as to whether the Metrobus was a bedroom, bathroom, or bus. Residents of the DMV area might mistake it as any of those. By the end of my Internship, I started to understand why they understood the Metro in this way. It’s a gruesome commute in one of the most humid places in the USA. It’s economical to use the bus as a bed, bath, and transportation option…
After about 90 minutes of commuting one-way, I came to the place where I spent more hours than most can probably say, the “Office.” The calm before the storm was between the time of 7AM-9AM. Our office had a 9:30 AM start time. This meant if I got to work early enough, I could squeeze out a cup of tea before the storm came.
Most workdays were the same, non-stop preparation, analysis, research, and business development until noon. At noon, you had about 5-10 minutes of lunch preparation followed by eating your lunch and hopping back into the warm impression in your chair. I took every opportunity I could to call someone on the phone. This meant that I could stand up and stretch while also getting work done.
After the workday ended around 5:30 PM (some days until 7:00 PM), I was able to go to our office gym and get a quick workout in until I need to catch the bus for another 60-90 minute commute home at 7:18 PM. This left just enough time to cook dinner and go to bed—just enough excitement in one day to make me want to wake up for the next.
I’ve learned an unsurmountable amount about the Recruiting & Staffing industry. Careers seem to be more about connections than anything. I also can format and write a mean-looking resume now.
In reflection, I think a large part of the learning and growing process is discovering what you don’t like and don’t want to do. That being said, I think that executive search is not necessarily where I want to start my career. Nevertheless, I would like to thank Stanton Chase for an incredible summer of growth and discovery.
