Flying above the Dreams
I took my first flight on Delta Airlines, headed to Walt Disney World when I was in the fourth grade. I had an image in my brain of what the experience was going to look like, and my first flight exceeded all of them. That day, I fell in love with the engineering of an aircraft and how it connects you from different parts of the world to another. Moving to Seattle was a choice I made with the dream of working for Boeing. Every time I drove passed Boeing Field headed South on I-5, I would admire the airplanes taking off an landing. Every flight I have taken has been just as wonderful as my first. The summer after my Junior year in college, I got the opportunity to intern at Boeing as a Procurement Agent Intern. Being in this role at a massive company like Boeing, helped me figure out where I wanted to take my career.
Aboard a 747 mock-up
My goal of one day becoming a CEO at a fortune 500 company is very much alive. I decided I wanted to work for Boeing the day I took my first flight and I never looked back. I knew Boeing had a mission, values, and beliefs that I could stand behind and promote. Plus, I love everything about airplanes. Starting as an intern, just as CEO Dennis Muilenburg did, would provide the breadth of knowledge I would need to draft a successful career path to the C-suite at Boeing. I have always been a believer that a leader should understand the basics of their company before making decisions that directly impact them. Learning the basics was exactly what I learned during my internship at Boeing. While I didn’t learn everything, I learned how the different internal organizations work together to deliver an aircraft.
Family Day 2018
My internship was nothing short of interesting. From the people to the work I had to complete to my ability to walk into the factory whenever I pleased. As an intern, I was given many projects to complete for suppliers and for my team. I managed a work transfer process which is when a supplier wants to procure items from one of their current suppliers and get it from another supplier. I got the chance to travel to Spokane and Yakima on work to meet with a supplier and tour their facility. I also analyzed data to determine how many parts one supplier still owed us on their contract. My biggest personal accomplishment was completing over 20+ informational interviews to learn about the different parts of the organization and to determine where I would fit best.
747 Aircraft I flew on from London to Seattle
Productive Relationships
Building relationships in life is important but building productive relationships in my career can help me get to where I want to go. At Boeing, I made it my mission to complete 20 informational interviews with professionals in every part of the company. I interviewed fellow interns to production managers to the President of the Delivery Center. Each one of them providing me advice to make the most of my internship and how to propel my career at Boeing. I have maintained many of these relationships through my final year in college and I plan to continue making them productive by reaching out on a quarterly basis and updating them on my developments while also taking an interest in theirs. Productive relationships are built through networking and I networked my way to those relationships, and it has benefitted my greatly.
Every day we had a call with our supplier to get updates on if their parts were going to be late or on time. Every week, we had an all-team meeting to discuss the happenings and upcoming events. Verbal communication was extremely important in each of these situations because I had to make sure my voice was being heard loud and clear when I had an idea or a suggestion. When my partner who was working on a supplier with me had to leave for a family emergency unexpectedly, I took charge in managing the supplier. I had to learn a lot in a short amount of time and I did this by asking many questions on the phone as well as always calling instead of emailing if I needed something. I found using verbal communication to greatly benefit my success of managing the supplier independently and my team noticed my hard work.
Verbal Communication
Service
Boeing has a reputation for doing good in the community and that was a value that stood out to me when deciding where I should spend my summer. Serving the community has always been a value of mine. From my first “job” as a volunteer at an animal shelter to today as a volunteer soccer coach. A company that prides itself on giving back to other is a company I can stand behind and for me that was Boeing. When I arrived, I discovered an internal club that scheduled times to volunteer in the community. I was in awe of the amount of people at Boeing that also were interested in giving back to the community that gave to them. It was inspiring and a culture I was proud to be a part of.
Not every day of my internship was glamourous or exciting. Some days were very slow and I had to stay motivated to complete my tasks. When I was done with a project, I didn’t wait for someone to give me my next task, I went and found another project to work on that would benefit my team. Because I took initiative, I was constantly given more tasks to complete by my teammates because they saw my ability to stay productive and efficient. I was always the one to volunteer for projects in meetings and I followed-through with all of them. I didn’t wait for direction on these projects, I did the research I needed to get going and then began moving forward. I asked productive questions to help me guide the project’s direction.
Initiative
Follow-Through
Due to my want to stay busy, I had a lot of commitments I made to fellow-interns to help with projects and with committing to new and innovative projects the team would bring. It is important for me to follow-through with the commitments I made because I am a reliable personal and I want that to be how people remember working with me. I worked on a project with a fellow-intern that required extra time commitment from me with meetings and research. I was intrigued by the project which is why I decided to jump on board. Due to the project being outside of my internal organization, I had to follow-through with my commitments as I couldn’t let the team down. They were depending on my knowledge and sources to contribute to the success of the project.
Through this internship at Boeing, I found what I wanted in a company and what I didn’t. Working for Boeing was a challenge at times because of the vast size that encompasses their production. I learned that for my future career, I don’t want to be a just an employee, I want to be known by my name and for the contribution I am making. I also learned that I wanted a company that is proactive instead of being reactive because that aligns with my values of being future oriented. Instead of firefighting, I want to work to prevent the fires from starting. There were some great things about my internship but as of now, Boeing is not the company I want to work for.
Boeing Everett, Last Day
Boeing Mock-up facility, display of every Boeing aircraft made
Boeing Family Day 2018
