By Emily Anderson
Working for a large company can be intimidating to those who haven’t yet stepped foot into the business world—bosses, responsibilities, and deadlines. That’s what I thought before I started working at Lakeland Networks. I’ve now completed nearly two full-time summers, and one part-time year working remotely from university, as Lakeland’s marketing intern. I capture and create content for Lakeland Networks social media accounts, design advertisements for the sales team, gather content for the website, organize sponsorship events, and assist in other projects as they come along. Throughout these two summers, I’ve learned that working for a big company is like meeting someone who looks tough on the outside but is a big softy on the inside.
Each team member at Lakeland has unique expertise and experience, whether that be in marketing, construction, customer support, safety, sales, finance, or IT services. Everyone at Lakeland is very willing to help; if you can’t find the answer, someone else is sure to. The bigger the company, the more experts and the more knowledge that can be shared.
Lakeland holds values in growth and acceleration of the individuals that work there. One of the ways in which they show this is by teaching as it is necessary. In my two years working here, I’ve learned about creative dos and don’ts, marketing 101, safety protocols, purchasing processes, expense report procedures, how to use an SLR camera, how to use different software, and much more. After being taught once, I’ve been able to be quite independent the second time with the reassurance of my peers.
While being given assistance or taught, Lakeland employees have been encouraging and understanding. Everyone learns and works at their own pace. Knowing that deadlines are extremely important, it is imperative that you have a good support system who believes in your capabilities. Throughout overwhelming projects my coworkers have always displayed an optimistic attitude. I had the opportunity to play a major role in the rebranding of Lakeland Networks this summer. This meant I oversaw and pursued the change in logo everywhere it was seen – vehicle fleet, internal and external signage, and promotional items. While this, alongside my other tasks, became slightly overwhelming at times, I chose to have an “I want to take on this responsibility” attitude that I learned from my coworkers, rather than a timid “I am not capable of this workload” attitude.
My coworkers at Lakeland have changed my perspective of the reality of working for an established organization. While manager and supervisor expectations, responsibilities, and deadlines absolutely exist, I’ve learned that keeping an optimistic attitude while facing challenges will inspire others and help you to excel. I’ve also learned that assistance is readily available if you ask for it, and it is okay to ask for it. The business world is not scary, it is challenging but with a positive outlook and an encouraging environment, you can decide to be ambitious, grow, and succeed.