Internship Week 12

This week I started in the Exports area of the company. Dixon needs a whole department for exports since they have branches and distributors all over the world. Since items need to cross borders, it requires a lot of knowledge and paperwork. You need to know the different tariff codes for specific merchandise you are sending to companies whether it is going by land, by air, or by sea. Customs paperwork also needs to be filled out and sent to the appropriate parties before the merchandise can cross borders. Knowledge of exchange rates and how to convert them is also important since we are dealing with many different countries with different currencies. The neatest part of this week was being able to sit in on a video conference call with the three branches in Canada. General problems were discusses as well as possible resolutions. I have never been a part of a video conference call before and I found the technology absolutely amazing. While I did end up doing some filing this week, I was overall pleased with what I was able to experience and learn.

Internship Blog Week 11

I never thought I would enjoy working in the IT department as much as I did. I was really able to gain some experience and knowledge in the field. I’m glad that this internship allows me to explore different sectors of Dixon because I found something that I never thought I would find interesting. For most of the week I explored the new 2007 Microsoft Office. It is very different from the 2003 Microsoft Office. It may be hard for previous users of Office to adjust to the big changes in all of the programs, but for new users it seems to be quite user friendly. For old users, it will take a bit of practice to get accustomed to the new ways the program works and how files are saved, but overall the programs and all of their features are much easier to find and utilize. I also found this week that one member of the IT department I worked with, Grace, teaches computer classes to other Dixon employees so they become familiar with the programs they will use on a regular basis. This seems like a wonderful thing for the company to offer. My last day in the IT department, J.C., the head of the department took me on a tour of the company, mainly in the warehouse. I saw how IT is involved in every single aspect of the company, which showed me how important being computer savvy really is.

Internship Blog Week 10

I’ve really never been exposed to anything having to do with the inner workings of computers. This week that changed for me, as I began my two weeks in the IT department. The first day I came in the employees of the IT department took me in what they call the “meet locker” which is the very cold room where all of the servers and other computer related items are housed. They explained how each piece of equipment in there functioned. It has to stay very cold in there; otherwise the equipment will become damaged. My second and third day in the department I was able to “dress down” since I was going to be working in the factory with computers. In the factory I was replacing old green screen computers with new screens and a small box which connected to the servers upstairs. I also installed new wireless systems. I had to wear safety goggles in the factory due to all of the part creation going on. I’m excited to see what I get to do next week.

Internship Blog Week 9

This week I finished up in the Sales Department. I only worked two days because of being off on Halloween. I really enjoyed all of the interaction I was able to have with both customers and employees of Dixon. In accounting you do not take 90 phone calls a day like in sales. This week I was able to enter more orders, make phone calls to customers, and check delivery dates of parts to be completed/come into stock on an excel spreadsheet. When you work in the sales department you have to be knowledgeable of every part Dixon sells, how it works and what it does. It must be hard to memorize all of those different parts, but over time the information comes to you easily. The sales department kept me interested and active the whole time I was there, and I feel that I learned a lot and really saw how much Dixon cares about its customers.