Zeleigh Baughman: Milliken Global Headquarters
During the last few weeks of the semester when I wasn’t studying for finals, I was searching for a summer internship – preferably at another law firm. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any firms looking to hire someone just for the summer. Time was running out and I knew I needed to find something soon. I came across a position with a very vague summary and no mention of a company name or location. The only details in the description came from the list of responsibilities and roles which included well over twenty bullet points – the majority of which I had no experience in. I was about to click off and move on with my search until I noticed “temporary assignment from May until August”. Even though I had no idea what company this was or experience in more than half of the required responsibilities, I filled out the application and submitted my resume.
The next day I got a call from a woman who said she received my application and wanted to discuss the position further and schedule a time for me to come to their “campus” for an interview. This is when I found out the name of the company was Milliken and the position was for a services coordinator at the global headquarters in Spartanburg, SC. The phone call was brief, and I still wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into as I had never heard the name Milliken before.
As soon as she scheduled my interview and hung up I googled “Milliken” and clicked on the first link – “Milliken & Company, A Global Manufacturing Leader.” I started browsing their page and realized just how predominant the company was. Despite being founded in the 1800s and moving their headquarter from Maine to a small town in SC, they now have over 70 locations across 15 counties and 5 continents.
I noticed there was a whole section on their site dedicated to showing off various awards and recognitions.
“World’s Most Ethical Companies for the 16th Consecutive Year”
“FORBES BEST EMPLOYERS FOR DIVERSITY”
The more I read about the company’s history and different involvements, the more fascinated I became.
On the day of my interview, I was nervous but excited. I finally found the building I was instructed to sign in at. I remember thinking how nice the campus was with all the fountains and cool architecture, but this was nothing compared to what I would see when I got inside. I had never been in a workplace with this type of modern yet creative design before. It reminded me of Google’s workplace environment, or at least how the movie “The Interview” portrayed the environment at Google. The furniture was vibrantly colored and abstract. The spaces were very open and full of natural light from the all the glass doors and skylight windows. There was a massive waterfall wall which came up from a mini pool in the floor and continuously poured water creating a natural white noise throughout the lobby.
I thought surely, I am in the wrong place. I was about to check my email to make sure but then the security guard confirmed my name was on their list and handed me a visitor badge.
After a few minutes someone came to escort me to the conference room where I would be interviewed.
I was so nervous that I don’t even remember half of the questions they asked just that they were extremely detailed and far from the basic. When answering I focused on my law firm internship as this experience was my most recent and professionally relevant. Really this was the only experience on my resume, and if it wasn’t there, my lack of sufficient qualifications would be clear.
However, I was fully transparent when asked about the different responsibilities whether I had any experience or none whatsoever. I figured this would hinder my chances of getting a call back or even cause me to be turned away at the interview, but I was prepared either way.
It wasn’t until a few days later when they called to offer me the job that I realized I had only really prepared to be rejected.
The binder I received on my first day was designed to train a person in my position over the course of six weeks… they told me my training would have to be fit into two.
After my first week I thought there was no way that I would be able to learn everything I was expected to know. By the second week I felt like I was getting the hang of some things but still completely lost on others. The thought of working independently when I was still just getting the hang of things terrified me, but I had no choice once my training period was over.
Once I was on my own, I realized that being forced to find the answer to my own questions combined with lots of trial and error helped me understand far more than training ever did.
By the end of my first month everything that seemed impossible at first became routine. When people came to me asking questions, I was now able to answer them. Instead of being assigned a couple emails a day to work on, I was managing the inbox and streamlining communication with most industry leading and senior professionals.
This experience allowed me to grow my skills and more importantly confidence in a professional environment. If I had not taken the leap of faith and applied to this position, then I never would have got the chance to see and test my abilities when it comes to developing new skills and taking on different roles in a completely different field than what I am use to.
Zeleigh Baughman is a senior criminology and psychology major at Lander University and is a member of the Honors College. Over the summer of 2023, she worked at Milliken Global Headquarters in Spartanburg, SC. Zeleigh will graduate from Lander University as of May 2024, and plans to attend law school.