I think I have reached my threshold for tedious busy work. As an intern at an Indie record label in Austin, most of the tasks I'm given are monotonous. I've been working here for about seven weeks now and am starting to get tired of many of my usual chores. Still, I'm plowing through my assignments with the same efficiency and enthusiasm in hopes of continuing to impress my bosses.
On Monday, I ended up starting my day with inventory rotation instead of counting like I usually do. Nobody was more excited than me to learn that the server was down in the office, preventing me from updating the inventory count. Instead, I moved some heavy boxes for a couple of hours to make room for the new product. This might not sound exciting, and really it isn't, but it's a little more mindless and relaxed. However, the computer error was eventually fixed, so I spent the second half of the day counting inventory.
Tuesday I finally had to deal with the shipment of returned product from Australia. Tommy, my boss, sent a large order of product to Australia to be distributed to stores all over the country. This distributor sent twenty-five boxes back to us. Then, annoyingly, the distributor placed two rush orders less than two weeks later for much of the product that was just returned to us. To simplify, this distributor wasted obscene amounts of our time and money.
It was my job to open every box, sort out all of the products inside, and then count how much of each item was returned. Of course, each box isn't separated by product or anything convenient. Everything is mixed together, so this became an all-day project.
I almost died Wednesday. Tommy asked me to reorganize the promotional DVD section of the warehouse. I grabbed the step ladder to start moving boxes on the top shelf. Just then the entire shelf began to fall apart and break in half. Barely able to hold it up with both hands and fearing I was about to be crushed by easily over two thousand DVDs plus the metal shelf, I yelled for Tommy to come help me.
We ended up letting the shelf crash to the floor because it couldn't be saved. It was so old and wobbly that it needed to be replaced anyway. I spent much of the day pulling bits of metal and particleboard from the aftermath and rescuing DVDs from the pile. It too was tedious, but my adrenaline was certainly running after escaping the accident.
I didn't have much to do on Thursday, which was sort of relieving. I put some more stickers on CD cases, and that was about it. Tommy let me off work a little early because he ran out of things for me to do. Also, I think he knew that I wanted to go to the in-store at Waterloo Records that afternoon and would need to arrive early to ensure a good spot in line.
After leaving early from work, I headed over to Waterloo Records to see the band Spoon. The band was promoting their new album that came out last week. I waited in line for about two hours to see the thirty minute set, but being in the very front only a few feet away from the band made standing outside in the hot sun totally worth it.
Friday was definitely the "sprint" of the workweek. I began with a large mailing of CDs and press releases to radio stations. Then, I sent out promotional posters for several artists as tour support for the new shows added to the months of August and September. Finally, I helped Tommy box up thousands of DVDs that have been sitting in the middle of the office all week waiting to be shipped out.
Something I haven't quite gotten the swing of yet in this job is taking initiative. There aren't a lot of obvious projects lying around waiting to be tackled. The few times I do see something sitting out, I hesitate to touch it because there are usually a couple different reasons it could be sitting there. If I'm wrong in my assumptions, I could waste several hours being counterproductive.
More often than not I end up asking Tommy or Clare if they need me to do anything, but I'd like to be able to jump in and get things done without having to be asked. I guess I'll just keep an eye out for any opportunity.
Although I'm sure I'll be doing many of the same activities at work next week, I hope to continue learning more about the industry while I'm there. There's always an opportunity to learn more or to gain something extra out of an experience. Next week is certainly no exception.
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