I worked for Kelly Chacón. They were a great boss, dependable and understanding. The work was satisfying and not as time consuming as I first thought. The work is mostly self directed, and I had the privilege of essentially doing everything at my own pace. The only restriction I had was the deadline, but even then, it was very generous.
What I wish was different
In terms of the actual work, nothing much. The work was always reasonable, the time I put in wasn't too difficult to schedule, and Kelly was always available for any questions I had. My only critique is that I think that the grader meeting could have had a little more guidance from Kelly as to what specifically they wanted us to hit on during grading.
Advice
Go through the key first, make any personal comments about where you see potential common mistakes. When you grade a section, grade one question at a time. Review your comments and see if your standards have held up- make sure that your critique didn't get softer or harsher as you progressed so it's fair to all students. Repeat this process for the whole paper. Also, don't be afraid to reach out to your fellow graders or to Kelly for clarification.
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Senior Help Desk Specialist
September 2019 • Portland, OR
What I liked
The people at CUS are welcoming, inclusive, and happy to help you learn valuable skills while on the job
What I wish was different
The rapid turnover in full-time staff occasionally made it challenging to form working bonds with new community members
Advice
You can get a lot out of this job if you want to. You will naturally pick up some technical skills, but you can really hone your IT skills if you have the motivation by learning new software of your choice on the clock (ex. Photoshop, LaTeX, etc.)
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Intercession access
June - August 2023 • Portland, OR
What I liked
My coworkers were lovely and kind and our boss was a wonderful person to be around. Reed college library is a phenomenal workplace environment
What I wish was different
Advice
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Chemistry Research Intern
June - August 2022 • Portland, OR
What I liked
How much independence I had. Productive work environment. Excellent mentor.
What I wish was different
I wish it had been a little longer.
Advice
Take notes during the demos
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Summer Research Intern
May - August 2021 • Portland, OR
What I liked
The level of self-direction the staff allowed me was incredible.
What I wish was different
Advice
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Maintenance Student Crew
June 2021 • Portland, OR
What I liked
getting paid
What I wish was different
I wish I was paid more
Advice
yee
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Pre-Orientation Programs Coordinator
June - September 2020 • Portland, OR
What I liked
My work was self-directed and I received a lot of support from my supervisors at OID and SEEDS with respect to navigating the challenges of transitioning to remote work. The student staff I supervised was fantastic, and we were a closely-knit community.
What I wish was different
The transition to remote work was difficult for the institution as a whole, and that resulted in some discrepancies around communication of expectations and information. This affected my ability to do my job well, and I had to remain flexible as we adapted to these new challenges.
Advice
Share your feedback about what you need to feel supported w.r.t supervision as early as you can!
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lab assistant
May - August 2019 • Portland, OR
What I liked
The ability to learn more about organic chemistry while working. Making friends.
What I wish was different
The level of stress in the work environment.
Advice
hang tight, it's worth it in the end :).
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Assistant to the Bookbuyer
May 2019 • Portland, OR
What I liked
I really liked the work environment. My boss, Patrick, is very flexible and kind and kept me sane while folding boxes for days on end. The bookstore is a really fun and friendly place to be a student worker. I especially liked working with the TinHouse summer workshop as a bookseller, and got to meet tons of authors during that time.
What I wish was different
The work can be pretty monotonous as times, but theres nothing that the job can do to change that. I am an assistant so I sometimes have to do some grunt work, but that's to be expected.
Advice
Listen to podcasts while you work! It really helped me stay active while doing some of the more laborious tasks and awake while doing desk work.
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Economic Research Assistant
May - August 2019 • Portland, OR
What I liked
The hours were completely flexible and the team was very supportive and helpful. I was able to work when and where I wanted with as little or as much help from my advisor as needed. It was a great priming experience for thesis research!
What I wish was different
Advice
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Sales Associate
June - August 2019 • Portland, OR
What I liked
The fact that I had a lot of free time after work.
What I wish was different
I wish I'd gone for a more active job.
Advice
Look for summer work early into spring semester.
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Groundskeeping Worker
September 2016 • Portland, OR
What I liked
Being able to be outside all summer. Learning about different landscaping techniques and conservation of natural spaces.
What I wish was different
Advice
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Summer Admission Intern
May 2019 • Portland, OR
What I liked
I loved my coworkers and was able to get close with both students and counselors! I learned a lot of soft skills that have been very useful because we had a wide variety of duties: public speaking, crowd management, and independent problem solving as a tour guide; one-on-one interpersonal skills as an interviewer; and the basic skills of working in an office and professional accountability, which I really struggled with at the beginning of the internship (I was late, missed trainings). This internship was definitely my first introduction to learning how to be professional in a workplace, and it was a great learning experience. My supervisors always worked with me on my weak spots and helped me build my natural strengths, and I never dreaded going into work the way I did at my last summer job scooping ice cream.
What I wish was different
I had a really good experience, I don’t think I’d change anything!
Advice
The other student workers are the best support system, and it’s okay to vent or lean on each other after a weird tour or interview. Everyone wants to look for each other. Also, I feel like I was actually listened to as a student worker— our experiences are important for the admission counselors to understand what Reed actually is, so don’t be afraid to go and say hi to the counselors in the back offices!
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Research Assistant
July - August 2019 • Portland, OR
What I liked
Self-directed schedule! As long as your project gets done, the rest of the time is yours.
What I wish was different
It can feel a little lonely if your friends aren't in town when you're doing research.
Advice
Frontload the project, and plan out beforehand what needs to be done at each turn.
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Undergraduate Research Assistant
July - August 2019 • Portland, OR
What I liked
Research?
What I wish was different
Nothing
Advice
Prepare yourself enough in background knowledge
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Psychologist Research Assistant
May 2019 • Portland, OR
What I liked
I enjoyed getting to work with my professor’s research, as well as the projects other members of the lab were working on, especially those following their senior theses. It greatly helped me to get a better picture in my mind of what working in social psychology looks like, and I learned about a lot of different methods of data analysis and research questioning.
