Ali Faile: The Best Decision
My whole life I have been the worst at making decisions, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to make the right one, from what shirt to wear each day to what college to go to. I was so indecisive that I ended up transferring schools after one semester, which was definitely the right decision. But when I was offered a yearlong internship with the Human Resources department at Lonza beginning in April of 2022, I knew immediately what the right decision was and that was to take it. Fast forward seven months later: I had no idea that the easiest decision that I had ever made would give me the confidence in myself to finally become a confident decision maker. It is the most significant change that Lonza has had on me thus far.
Thinking back to my interview with Lonza, I was nervous because I did not know if I was good enough to get an opportunity like this. Weeks later when they still had not called, I assumed that I was right, and they found someone better than me. But when they finally called me and offered me the position, I felt really proud because that meant out of everyone they interviewed they thought I would be the best fit. That was when the confidence I have now started to build.
Within just weeks of being at Lonza, I was running orientation for every single new hire each week, which could range from three people to fifteen people. I learned all there is to know about Lonza to be able to tell the people what joining is all about it. I was creating the monthly newsletter for all 700 colleagues to read. I was running reports, analyzing data and doing any other things they needed from me. All of these things required decisions. What colors to make the newsletter, what is the best way for all of the colleagues to see it, when should I let the next person come and talk during orientation, are just some examples of the decisions I felt confident making because of the people I work with.
I first realized the impact that Lonza was beginning to have on me during the summer of 2022. I had just sent out the first edition of our newsletter and I was really nervous that the decisions I made about the layout, the design, and the articles were not the right ones. But it turned out to be really well liked among the colleagues. My boss even set up a Skype meeting with the Senior Communications Manager in England for me to explain a little bit about the newsletter and the QR code technology we were using. This was the turning point in my internship where I realized that my co-workers were confident in me and the decisions I make so I need to be that for myself.
I realized that I was putting that newfound confident decision making into action a few weeks after the first edition of the newsletter. I had been tasked to make a postcard for us to send to every colleague's house with the upcoming events for the holiday season. Before this, I had made a postcard with some upcoming events in which I just used all of the suggestions my boss gave me and went with it. With the second postcard the suggestions she gave did not turn out to look the best, the colors were not coordinating well, and the layout was not working. So, I decided not to take any of the suggestions I was given and presented my boss with something completely different than what she was expecting, and she ended up loving it. Without the other experiences that I had had with Lonza I would not have had the confidence to present something that was completely unexpected. But because I knew they chose me for this position because they thought I was the best fit, and they trusted the decisions I have made in the past, I felt like I could make the decision to change what the postcard was supposed to look like.
This is such a significant change because I can now go into any job interview, I am qualified for, and present myself as the strong candidate that I know I am. I now can trust myself to make confident decisions with what I think is best, for now it might just be a postcard, but who knows what kind of decisions I will have to make for a company later on in my career. Overall, it has enabled me to be able to move past this internship and confidently step into whatever job is next for me. I know what I have to bring to the table and that my opinions and ideas are worthy of expressing because they might be the next best decision a company could make.
Ali Faile is a senior business administration major with an emphasis in financial services. Her breakaway experience is an internship with Lonza Greenwood from April 2022 to April 2023. Ali will graduate from Lander University’s Honors College in May 2023 and plans to attend Lander again in the fall to pursue her MBA.