Chavez

Aaron Chavez

Business Internship BUSN 460-01

Professor Harman

August 17, 2016

Critical Reflective Paper

A. Background:

Clune Construction Company is the corporation that I had the privilege of

interning this summer. This organization specializes as a national general contractor in

the renovation of buildings, commercial establishments, as well as college facilities. They

have been in business since 1997. Clune Construction has offices located across the U.S.

including regions such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, South

Florida, Washington D.C., and McLean, VA. Their initial goal is to consistently meet

deadlines and stay under budget when it comes to assisting their client’s projects with

sincerity and gratification from their initial clients. Therefore, I chose this company for

my internship because this organization will allow me to obtain skills that will benefit me

in achieving a career of owning apartment units, commercial buildings and condos.

B. Evidence of Learning:

As a direct result of this internship, I have learned numerous business skills that

will enhance my abilities at being a better entrepreneur and employee. First, is how

essential it is to be organized when preparing a close out book for Clune Construction. A

close out book consist of warranties, operation/maintenance manuals, As-Built drawings,

and CAD files from each subcontractor working on a project. A subcontractor is another

company contracted to work on the same project. The average for each project is around

twenty subcontractors. For each As-Built drawing, a CAD file is needed because this will

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allow the Architect and Engineer to observe/approve the completion of the As-Built

Drawings through the Computer Aided Design (CAD) program. Organization is critical

when assembling a close out book because

if one warranty is missing it could cost the

general contractor thousands of dollars and

no subcontractor will get paid. An

employee name Mario Martinez told me a

story of how critical having physical

copies of warranties is when preparing a

close out book. He told me that an

employee in the office forgot to obtain a

physical copy of a warranty for Global

Construction and since they didn’t have the physical copy Clune Construction ended up

loosing $50,000 dollars as a result of that mistake. This is why deadlines and having

physical and electronic copies are crucial when it comes to acquiring everything that is

needed to complete a close out book. As a result, of working on six close out books for

Clune Construction Company my organization skills improved dramatically and became

an important skill to have.

Second, business skill that I obtained as a result of this internship is how to

communicate and discuss dilemmas with project managers, assistant project managers,

superintendents, subcontractors, Architects, Engineers, office managers etc. Being

straightforward and direct when interacting with these employees is one of the pieces of

information I have learned during my internship. Even if it is good or bad information, I

learned it is better to disclose details pertaining to projects than to keep it to myself.

Figure 1 The importance of organization.

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Trusting one another is essential and everyone working on projects depends on one

another. Not informing another employee of information means a lack of trust and that is

not how Clune Construction operates. They are a family and what do family’s do? They

trust one another and inform each other of

good and bad details relating to projects.

This is one of the insights I learned from this

company. Each person has a specific role

that plays a key role in maintaining and

operating this company, which is why

informing each other with information and

understanding their vocabulary is important.

Another skill that correlated with

communicating with employees I worked with and from other companies is to understand

business terms such as “lean, retention, and scope.” Being informed by these business

terms made it easier for me to understand and communicate with these employees when I

had to inform them of information from subcontractors, Architects, and Engineers that I

made contact with. Therefore, this internship has enriched my business vocabulary and

how to communicate with employees within and from other companies properly and

effectively.

Third, business skill that I acquired from working at Clune Construction

Company is the ability to work the excel program more efficiently. Project Manager,

Freddie Elenes helped educate me through the process of inputting submittals through

excel. I helped Freddie insert several submittals into excel through my time interning at

Clune Construction Company. A submittal is a piece of object such as glass, stones,

Figure 2 Communicating with a subcontractor through email.

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carpet etc. that the client is requesting for the project. The subcontractor sends a sample

of what the client wants and they send it to the project manager who is in charge of that

project. He or she approves whether or

not that it is the correct sample to use.

Once it is approved the project manager

inputs the information of that submittal

into excel for future reference. The

project manager than sends the submittal

back to the subcontractor. Inserting

submittals they received from subcontractors is essential because it informs everyone that

they have received that sample from that subcontractor, instituting a list of who and who

has not submitted a submittal to the project manager. Learning the process of inserting

these submittals into excel has made me more familiar with the excel program. Being

able to input trade codes, descriptions, dates of when the company received, delivers, and

expected return are skills that I learned. Moreover, familiarizing myself with excel

through this internship is a trait that I will be able to apply to the next job I receive in the

near future.

Fourth, business skill is the ability to send projects to the archives. Once a project

is complete, the office manager sends them to the archives. It involves data entry through

a website called, “Williams Data Management.” The term “archives” is a location where

all Clune projects are placed and stored. Being able to familiarized myself with business

vocabulary helped when it came to inputting project name description within the

Williams Data Management. Words such as “plan sack, submittals, Job site files etc. This

is important because this tool is used to track clients, projects, used for proposals, and

Figure 3 Submittal recorded in excel for future reference.

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retrieve boxes from the archives. Keeping record of all projects is a critical task when

inputting through the Williams

Data Management program. The

process of submitting projects to

the archives is long and tedious, so

patience and persistence is major

when one starts the process of

sending projects to the archives. Educating myself with project names, understanding

business vocabulary, being patient, organized, persistent, being aware of how to use

Williams Data Management program, and scheduling pick up were important skills that I

obtained with my time at Clune Construction Company.

The fifth business skill that I received from working at this company is filing

numerous projects before they are ready to be sent to the archives. This is the second to

last step of the completion of a project. It is a record of everything that has taken place

when it comes to finishing a project. General Files, Trade Files, and General Condition

Files. Filing projects was a major skill that I did while working at Clune Construction

because it allowed me to be familiar with

everything related to the project. From

understanding the importance of building

permits to being able to understand the

significant of payment applications and accident

reports. Filing increased my comprehension and

learning skills and allowed me to understand the

project as a whole compared to not being aware

Figure 4 Projects that were sent to the archives.

Figure 5 Filing a project.

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of what was going on in a project. This will benefit me in the future by allowing me to

quickly comprehend my learning in the career that I choose or jobs that I pursue.

Therefore, filing increased my comprehensive and learning skills, thus displaying

business skills that are essential in a workplace.

C. What did you learn about yourself?:

There are several lessons that I have learned about myself as a direct result of

doing this internship. I have become more confident in my own abilities to adapt to an

environment that evolves around pressure. Since everyone in the office was constantly

busy, I had no choice but to learn on the first try, as employees would instruct me on how

to do a certain tasks. I had to adapt and learn the assignments quick and doing so has

made me become a detailed and efficient employee. I also learned how organized I am

when it comes to handling my desk and projects. I am very thorough when it comes to

making lists of what subcontractors sent me change orders logs or final contract letters.

This makes the jobs I do a lot easier.

Lastly, I became aware that I could manage tasks at a job site for a variety of

reasons. I had the privilege of being able to shadow a superintendent at a job site at one

of the projects Clune Construction Company was working on. I went to the “Edwards

Lifesciences Café” job site where Clune Construction is working on several buildings

there located in Irvine. As I shadowed an assistant superintendent, Jeff McWhorter he

showed me what a day is like working as an assistant superintendent. It is a chaotic

environment from managing a whole building to being able to making quick decisions

when unexpected events occur. His job is difficult, but I realized with the proper training

I can perform that job. Based on my own skills and being able to adapt quickly I became

confident in myself that I can perform such task as being a superintendent. Consequently,

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this internship experience has allowed me to view the skills I possess and the one’s I need

to improve on. Most importantly it has given me self-assurance that I can take on any

task as long as I have the right mentality and proper training.

D. What would you have done differently?:

There is only one implication that I would have done differently after looking

back at my experience at working at Clune Construction Company. For one, I wished I

were more vocal in the beginning of the internship when it came to asking for work. I

was shy and intimidated by the employees. I overcame that struggle and became

confident in myself and I started asking the employees for work. I prevailed over that

weakness of mine because I wanted to learn as much as possible while I was interning

there and I didn’t want anything to get in my way of learning. Changing my mindset

helped and as a result I learned tremendously.

E. How prepared for internship?:

I recommend that the Crowell School of Business provide an alternative class that

brings in employees from businesses that informs students on what it takes to work at that

company and essential skills needed to obtain any jobs elsewhere. I know that some of

my business classes brought in entrepreneurs who talked about how they started, but

having a class that does exactly that seems to be beneficial in my opinion. Having a class

such as this presented at Biola will prepare students who will have internships in the

future.

F. Connection other Biola Classes?:

The class that stood out the most as I interned at Clune Construction Company

would be the class, “Leadership and Change” taught by professor McHugh. In this class I

was able to correlate within my internship through professor McHugh’s book “5

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Dysfunctions of a Team.” As I worked at Clune Construction Company I was able to

observe and realized that this company was a functional, productive, and effective team

that trusted one another, weren’t afraid of conflict amongst another, kept each other

accountable, were committed to their jobs, and did not have any ego’s from any of the

employees. They all worked as a team and I am glad that I was part of that team.

G. Impact on Spiritual Growth?:

There wasn’t a whole lot that impacted my spiritual growth while interning at this

company other than treating everyone with respect and loving one another as a family.

The reason why I say this is because one of employees that I became good friends with

was gay. I didn’t treat him any different. I respected him and he helped me become

familiar with excel. We had fun small talk during work, from talking about movies,

music; to what fun events we were going to attend on weekends. I displayed Christ like

behavior amongst everyone that I worked with and hopefully through my actions he was

able to see Jesus Christ working through my life.

H. Your Score:

I would give myself a 40 on this critical reflection paper because I applied all the

requirements with specific details amongst this paper. I took the time and precisions into

making this paper impact my life when it comes to preparing myself with my future

career. This paper is professional, well organized, and provided evidence of my learning.

With that being said, this gives reason as to why I give myself a 40 on this critical

reflection paper.

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