My name is Josh Burnside and I am a junior in the computer science and engineering program at The Ohio State University. I am a GET intern working as an applications developer at JPMorgan Chase in Columbus.
One of the greatest challenges I faced walking into this role was the amount of information that I needed to absorb before I could become a fully productive employee. JPMC is a fast paced company full of very intelligent people doing great things every day. I knew I wanted to jump into this environment and start contributing as soon as possible. One of the most valuable skills needed to compete in this environment is the ability to communicate efficiently. This seems like an obviously necessary skill in any environment but working in such a fast paced company, like JPMC, I need to be able to gain insight and understanding in very short periods of time. My colleagues’ time is very limited so I need to make the most of every opportunity.
I am constantly reviewing and revising my process of asking questions and learning how different people respond to different questions. I try to have a good mix of open ended questions and very direct questions based on my knowledge of the topic. I am also learning how to ask better follow up questions when answers don’t make sense. It’s quite common to finish a meeting more confused than when it started, so now I am making sure I ask better questions to get the answers I need. This is a process I am slowly getting better at each day. I plan to continue thinking about how I can extract more and more information out of each meeting so I can make the most of my time here.
So do you ask the right questions or question what you're asking? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section!
Josh Burnside is a student at The Ohio State University studying software development in the computer science department. He enjoys building software that takes previously manual tasks and automates them while providing the end user an enjoyable experience. He plans to graduate in a year and find a job building large scale applications.
Immersion Experience Student Perspectives is a series of blog posts by students who are currently participating or have recently participated in the Global Enterprise Technology (GET) Immersion Experience. These students provide unique insights into what it’s like to get hands on experience through full time employment in a technology-driven global work environment. For more information on the GET Immersion Experience please visit: http://get-immersion.syr.edu/