On October 27, 2022, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) held a Professional Development event. As an intern for INL, I was able to take on planning the event. The event was open to the public, focusing on a target audience of college-age (18-30) people. It was to allow current students and graduates to learn from professionals at INL in teaching essential skills that will be required when entering the job force.
Each professional volunteered their time to teach resume tips, interviewing skills and professional introductions. During the event’s allotted time, participants split into two groups for workshop time. For each workshop was a prepared presentation and time for questions and answers. After the time for workshops, we had a free hour to continue receiving one-on-one help from the mentors and have time to network with each other or professionals. On the day of the event, we had 40 people attend the event from the community and INL.
The 50 hours to complete this project resulted in creating/revising an event flyer, finding volunteers to teach and help with the event, creating a budget, finding a venue, advertising the event, and completing the event.
I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to study communication and for being pushed out of my comfort zones on a regular. With the completion of my professional development event, I learned the importance of written communication, working under pressure, and paying attention to small details. We continued to assess and adjust the project regularly as we continued to get closer to the day of the event.
If I were to do anything differently, I would update the flyer to include a QR code for people to RSVP for the event. This would allow us to have a better head count of those that would be attending and how much we should bring refreshment-wise. I would also contact BYU-Idaho on the policy or procedures for advertising on campus. This would create a better outreach to invite more people to the event.
