Things I Learned During our OJT Orientation

I still remember those days, back in October, when I used to be anxious if I will be able to do everything at the same time, where I have to accomplish the tasks given by our OJT coordinator, attend and join online seminars and short courses, write articles here on read.cash, make random posts on noise.cash, and do other crypto-related things just to make money. I was worried about how I will manage my time just to finish everything. And here I am now, writing my reflection about those days because my virtual on-the-job training is about to end already.

Actually, our last day in our chosen company was last November 29 but we still have a lot of things to do, requirements to finish, and presentations to report on before I can say that this semester is over. However, I'm just happy that I am already so close to saying goodbye to 1st semester in my fourth year in college, and 1 more semester to go and I'm done with it.

And in every journey we experience, we learn valuable lessons from them. And just like in my on-the-job training orientation that was held last October 07, 2021, it surely gave me lessons that will be beneficial to me when I'm already off to the real world and have a job.

Being on Time

I'm a time-conscious person because I don't like my time being wasted. However, there was a moment where I was 15 minutes late in attending our OJT orientation because I still had to travel more than two hours from our place just to get to the venue. At that time, I failed to catch the 1st bus trip and the bus I rode on was so slow. I was already aware that I will be late for the orientation.

It's a good thing that the coordinator was understanding when I was late. I said "sorry for being late" and he just simply said, "it's okay." But I wouldn't have been late if only I woke up earlier so I got to catch the 1st bus trip and be at the venue on time.

Being on time says a lot about how a person values the event and other people's time. And although I had a reason why I was late for the event, it is still not acceptable enough to not be on time. So if there is an important event that I have to attend, this lesson taught me that it's always better to be the one waiting than to be the person being waited on. It's better to be early than late.

Knowing the company and the people you will be working with

During our OJT Orientation, we were asked how much and what are the things we already know about the company we will be working on. The coordinator asked all of us but we failed to answer at least close enough to his expectations. At that moment, most of the employees working in the company who were there with us were somehow disappointed.

It was a lesson for us to do basic research first about the history of the company and the people we will be working with before attending the OJT orientation because it will give a huge impression about how interested we are to work in the company. If we know nothing about it, that means we are not eager to give a contribution to the company.

Just like in applying for a job, it's not just enough to hand in your job application and resume, and expect that you will be hired on the spot if you know nothing about the company you are applying to. It's like going in a battle without any bullet or an unloaded gun to defend and protect yourself and it will end up like a suicide mission.

Teamwork and Cooperation

After the introductory part of our on-the-job training Orientation, our OJT Coordinator gave us a task that we need to work on in just 25 minutes and present our work after the time is up. There were 6 of us who are OJT interns of the company and we needed to work together to come up with the best marketing strategies that will be used to promote the new product of the company.

There was no problem with the activity given to us because all of us were very cooperative and we were able to share all of our ideas that will help the product to achieve brand awareness in the province.

In group activities like this, it's really important to cooperate with the group and voice out your ideas that you think are good so that the task will be easier to finish. Just like the saying goes, "Two heads are better than one."

The OJT Orientation was done almost 2 months ago and the lessons I've learned are still fresh in my mind because it was an experience that gave me a glimpse of how it is like when we are already looking for a job outside the academe.

I will make sure to carry these valuable lessons with me and apply them whenever the same situation arises.