Professional development as an academic receptionist at JL Institute

1 Professional Development Report My host company was JL Institute, which is an educational organization that aims at helping foreign students using innovative methods and student-centered learning approaches that will help them earn acceptance at high-level universities in Canada, the U.S., and the UK. JL Institute has been operating for almost two decades; 97% of its graduates go on to be accepted at highly regarded colleges. Its competitors include other prep schools that strive to given Asian students the training they need to become serious students with a clear pathway to success. JL Institute’s main advantages are its dedicated teachers who speak Korean and Chinese as well as its unique programs which consist of elementary, high school and test prep curricula. The elementary level curriculum consists of seven comprehensive levels of custom-made educational lessons adapted to fit the needs of each individual student. Elementary students are quickly reading English novels and short stories all on their own thanks to JL Institute’s veteran English teachers and students keep daily journals that help them to develop their writing skills. JL Institute also focuses on developing students’ mathematics skills all the way up the university level. The major issues facing the education industry for ESL institutes is that ELLs need high-quality teachers who are willing and able to provide a supportive environment for students so that they can master their L2 while also building confidence in themselves and their ability to succeed in other disciplines as well. JL Institute not only answers these calls but also provides extensive training in a number of other areas as well. For instance, I participated in a co-op program at JL Institute as part of the Hospitality Management program. The type of course I took was focused developing strategies for student success and on food and beverage management within the Convention Management and Service Office. My job during the co-op was as an academic receptionist and I performed a number of duties during this time that not only helped me to practice skills I had learned in class but also to get a feel for how business management is conducted in the real world. Thus, JL Institute provides students with access to real world issues while giving them the guidance, support and confidence they need to excel at their tasks day in and day out. From my experience with the company as an academic receptionist, I was able to see the organization’s operations from the inside-out and saw many opportunities for growth and improvement in my host company. Just from answering client and student questions via the telephone and during walk-ins, I came to understand what clients and students wanted most from their experience at JL Institute: they wanted consistency and support in scheduling the right classes that would help them to excel in their academic careers and give them a much sought-after advantage in taking their education to the next level. These students were of Korean and Chinese ethnicity and they wanted advice on how to focus on matching their education with the career they desired to pursue. As there is a strong Asian population in the community, JL Institute could find a way to appeal to this demographic even more by advocating for student concerns and having its advisors play a stronger role in helping students to address concerns they have about their schedules, classes and possible careers. At the same time, I assisted managers with scheduling, arranged teacher and student scheduling and performed many other office duties like filing and typing. I provided customer service and applied general marketing skills to promote sales while at JL Institute, and overall I learned the importance of being able to adapt to any situation and to expect the unexpected. What I took away from all of these experiences is that there is a genuine need among the Asian community for the kind of services that JL Institute provides and even just when I was promoting the organization in the community with the marketing team, I discerned genuine interest among many different people. One of the areas for growth I noticed, however, was that the company could stand to develop more advisors so that students could meet one on one with professionals who could help to answer their questions and give them a more individualized sort of guidance in terms of preparing for a career. The workplace was not tremendously different from what I expected prior to starting my co-op work. I envisioned myself being in the office, taking calls, helping the managers in whatever way possible, and getting to know clients and staff. What I did not anticipate was the precise nature of a lot of the work and how quickly the environment could change from calm to hectic with the arrival of a sudden rush of students, calls, and pressing emergencies related to scheduling. In general, the operation was smoothly run but there were occasions when it became somewhat chaotic and a new student or teacher emergency would arise that would need immediate attention. Most days we tried to work hard to make sure that we could respond adequately to all issues, but on some occasions when the staff was short-handed it could become somewhat stressful in the workplace. It was good to always have employees there who could keep things light-hearted and who would take the time to help you out even if you did not ask for it. Three things that I learned in class that I have been able to apply during the co-op experience have been 1) interacting with co-workers in a professional and respectful manner so as to help cultivate a positive, supportive workplace environment and culture; 2) put people first in terms of always looking out for the interests of the client or student and working hard to help them get the service and assistance they need, and 3) being able to stay organized and on task by managing time effectively whether I am in the office doing filing or going out to promote the organization using marketing tools and techniques. What I learned about myself during my co-op experience was 1) that I really enjoy being part of a team and getting able to help leaders in the office develop plans for the other team members, whether that is scheduling of teachers and workers or assisting clients and students with their issues. Providing my skills and customer service talents to a team and being part of the process to help the organization achieve its objectives really gave me a new sense of value and importance and made me want to get up in the morning and get ready to make a difference. The second thing I learned was that 2) developing customer service skills is essential to being successful in this field. I saw that customers and clients look to you when you take their call or meet them at the counter as the face of the organization. I have to be ready and prepared to put on a good and positive face so that I represent the company well. I want to work on this and develop this part of myself so that I can really succeed in this industry. A brief action plan for myself would consist first of all in identifying my career goals. For me, my career goals are to obtain a leadership position in the hospitality industry. To achieve this position, I intend to enter into the industry at the bottom and work my way up to the top. This co-op experience has provided me with a good understanding of how important customer service is for an organization and I want to continue to build on this experience and help myself moving forward.