Loving the alliteration these days ^^
With the half way mark sailing past us we have just realized how little time we have left to try and tick everything we want off our list! NFL game, Shooting, Rodeo, Ranch, Steakhouse, drive a Mustang etc etc etc… Going to be a hectic next few weeks!
Last week was my second and final week in business development working on a competitor analysis project. With my new research tactic (see last blog) I managed to secure enough information to compile a report (that will to be sent throughout Wood Group) and present my findings in front of 3 managers. In my presentation I mentioned a fact about the success of one of Wood Groups domestic competitors. I was surprised to realize that the managers did not know the information already. This highlighted to me the importance of communication in large businesses and how powerful, effective communication can be. It can be the difference between spotting a great opportunity and missing one! With this new piece of information, one of the managers may go on to look into acquiring or merging with the competitor… If this happens I am expecting some kind of commission. Valerie and John (my bosses), I Know you are reading this. 25% of future growth I think is fair!
This week we headed to Austin, home of Texas University, the State capital building and 6th Street.
Like in other blogs I will summarize the highlights of the weekend’s events, this time with my Do’s and Don’ts that I learned this weekend.
Don’t
Rely on Sat Nav’s -After typing in ‘Schlitterbahn water park’ into the Sat nav we blindly followed it to end up here
Not exactly the 'world biggest and best water park.' This turned out to be over an hour away from the real Schlitterbahn water park! I am starting to think Mr Garmin has a vendetta against me.
Say it’s YOUR birthday in Austin – You will be made to do things that are not appropriate for this blog…
Jump in the Colorado river – After following Cameron itnl’s Chris for an after night out dip in the river we soon realized it was a mistake. It felt like swimming in spaghetti soup with big floating chunks. Imagine this, while its pitch black with bats flying all around you. TERRIFYING.
Go to Schlitterbahn water park and expect to get on water slides – We join the queue at 5pm, the park closes at 7pm. The queue takes 4 hours. That math doesn’t work.
Do
Say it’s your friends birthday in Austin – You will be able to take photos and laugh at things that are not appropriate for this blog…
Visit the State capital Building -
Patrick, Chris, O'connor, Kraig and I gettin a bit patriotic... Kraig's a little confused about where the American flag is..
Capitalize on being Scottish –For some reason we are loved by all Americans. They love our accents, our words and our history. It’s almost like an automatic ‘one-up’ on any other nationality. Don’t know how or why we get this… probably karma paying us back for Scotland’s lousy weather and River City.
Make the most of your time out here - Though I am absolutely knackered and haven’t had a lie- in in over a month I still feel that this is a unique opportunity that can’t be wasted! So, with reference to the biker’s tattoo in the queue at the water park,
“I’ll rest when I’m dead” (accompanied by a laughing skull on fire)
(Though I would personally re-word it to, ‘ill rest when I’m back at Uni’,)
We all are coming towards the business end of our internships, the initial enthusiasm may be waning, nostalgic memories of family/friends from home creep up on us and the craving for Irn Bru on a hungover morning is, quite literally, painful. BUT, this opportunity is only 8 weeks, make the most of it. I mean you just need to look at last year’s scholars who are sitting in their new offices, in their new FULL TIME PROFESSIONAL jobs, scary stuff.
I know where I would rather right now.
This weekend is VEGAS, stay tuned for next week’s blog!
Jack,