Skills, Strengths, Successes, and Weaknesses
Skills
One of my greatest skills is active listening. This skill has been of great benefit in my internship especially when most conversations are over zoom, text, or email. Hearing and understanding my co-workers is key when collaborating on a research study. My internship has made me better at being flexible. Sometimes we have had participants postpone their interview time and we have learned to work together to make sure one of us can be available for their rescheduled appointment. A research study has many working parts and it is important to not get discouraged when something doesn't go as planned. For instance, we have had issues recruiting participants so we have had to come up with innovative ways to recruit such as advertising through facebooks and sharing messages over Facebook groups. I have become more adaptable and comfortable when plans don't go as we thought.
Strengths
My biggest strength is self-motivation. I consider myself to be an organized, hard-worker who makes sure I get the job done properly and in a timely manner. I work efficiently so I also have time to do other activities I enjoy such as working out, hammocking, or hanging out with friends. A strength I am working on is taking initiative. I want to ask if there is anything else I can contribute to the lab and get feedback on my work. I am becoming more comfortable at asking my supervisor when I have a question or concern.
Successes
Throughout this internship, there has been plenty of ups and downs. But reflecting back on my time so far there have been many triumphs. I'm capable of interviewing research participants, find credible articles to review, and have become a better listener by being empathetic in participant interviews. I have also been able to work as a team in the lab through weekly meetings, collaborating on posters, and presenting our findings in conferences. I feel like I grew the most as an employee in terms of communication and comfortability. I have no problems asking my supervisor for follow-up when I have a question or concern. I feel comfortable with the lab too since we have done virtual game nights and have been able to get to know them outisde the work we are doing.
Weaknesses
Even through successes, there was challenges along the way. Back in September during the recruitment phase work became draining. Most times I called I would be put on hold multiple times and transferred to another person and finally when I got to the right person to talk to most times they said they were not interested. I came to terms with hospitals not being interested due to the circumstances of COVID-19. We then began to use Facebook to advertise the study which has given us our first few participants for the study.
