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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