Internship in Etihad Airways Company Report Sample

As part of the requirements of my course of bachelor’s degree in Information Systems and Technology in Zayed University, internship is mandatory. I am glad that I chose and got a chance to do my internship in Etihad Airways Company. The company has a good trainee program, thereby providing learners with unique experience, skills and competency by ensuring wide application of knowledge learnt in class in their IT sections and systems. It is a place I would like to work if I get the opportunity after graduation because it provides the best foundation for my career development. Etihad Airways has flight database, many employees, websites and other applications; therefore, IT is an integral part in the company. The current paper is my internship report which outlines the company, job description and work plan, internship objectives, accomplishments, and lessons learnt during my internship.

Etihad Airways Company Profile

Etihad Airways is the United Arab Emirates national airline founded in 2003 with a track record of professional performance. Etihad Airways has its headquarters in Abu Dhabi, and it is the second largest airline company after Emirates Airlines. Currently, the company has a fleet of 128 Boeing and Airbus aircrafts which ensures at least 1,000 flights per week to over 120 destinations around the world. The fleet and number of flights are expected to increase to more destinations due to 2020 Expo to be held in Dubai. Apart from offering flight services, it has diversified its operations to ensure maximum returns through having Etihad Holidays and Etihad Cargo projects. Moreover, it is sponsoring teams and events, thereby expanding its marketing avenues. With other reliable partners such as Alitalia, Air Berlin and Jet Airways, Etihad Airways is able to expand its transportation network and ensure efficiency and customer satisfaction through provision of diverse yet effective services. The management and administration personnel are highly experienced people in the industry; thus, they are able to take the company to a higher level. Therefore, Etihad Airways is a profitable organization that supports the economy of Abu Dhabi and UAE at large.

Job Description and Work Plan

Etihad Airways is focused on delivering quality services to its customers. As an intern in the IT department, I was expected to perform my duties, as outlined in the daily tasks and those assigned. I was expected to work in the company’s IT systems, make significant contribution to the development of company projects, work in a team to ensure systems run effectively and IT solutions are created to the many IT challenges faced. Also, I had to work in a team in delivering IT services in order to achieve organizational goals. Finally, daily tasks were assigned from time to time by a supervisor or officer in charge of the department; therefore, it was my duty to ensure they are effectively performed.

I started my internship with a meeting with my internship supervisor and orientation from the head of IT department, as was stated in the work plan. In the orientation, she showed me various sections in the IT department within the company and briefly explained how their IT system works. She also explained the partnership they have with IBM and Butterfly IT companies that helped in obtaining maximum support of its daily tasks and in supporting Etihad Guest systems which is another service the company is providing. Meetings were important because they were a way of communicating and sharing the progress of the projects. For instance, the meeting was held to brief the members on project requirements, project management, system development and launch of the new terminal. I met with many members of the teams so as to understand the operations in the organization. As a result, this enabled me to devise ideas that would contribute to many IT solutions in the company. I was expected to work as a team through participation, especially by contributing ideas that would assist in achieving organizational goals. Finally, I attended many workshops in the company that offered training on project management, especially on the projects the company was undertaking.

Internship Objectives

Being a student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems and Technology, I had many objectives to achieve. Also, getting a chance to work in a big company such as Etihad Airways, I believed that I will achieve my objectives. Talking about the objectives, they were to explore the many career options available in the field of IT so as to identify the area that suits me best with my abilities. By working in different sections under IT department, I was able to identify the ideal section for me to develop my career path. With many IT experts around and with necessary tools, applications and systems, I planned to utilize them to learn new skills, competencies and apply what I learnt in class and, thus, start developing a career from there. Learning and developing all these skills and competency was also to enhance my performance in the company which I wish would employ me as soon as I graduate. When an intern is highly productive, the company may consider absorbing him/her into their employment system as one of their employees, and this is the offer I would not reject, especially with regard to such leading companies as Etihad Airways.

Another internship objective was to gain significant experience that would help me get a chance to work with other leading companies in the region or internationally. It is important to have relevant work experience and skills that are required by other companies. Having IT knowledge and experience is an added advantage while seeking for a job in today’s market. The reason is that employers are sure that the person they are employing has an experience that will help them achieve organizational goals. Apparently, Etihad Airways was able to facilitate the process of gaining such experiences through several contacts with professional experts and encounters with situations in the organization that required application of knowledge.
Being an intern in the leading company, I was determined to utilize fully my skills such as problem-solving, leadership and programming. Etihad Airways provided the perfect ground for putting these skills into practice and, thus, determine which approaches are best suited for a particular situation. The utilization of skills is enhanced by working as a team, learning from others as well as commitment to the assigned duties and responsibilities. To learn new approaches to enhance creativity, innovation and decision-making techniques was necessary to utilize and develop more skills in the working environment.

The aim of internship is to develop skills by expanding and applying the knowledge learnt in class into practice. It also helps students to develop professionalism in the relevant organizations. Therefore, my other internship objective was to grow professionally by expanding knowledge and achieve organization’s expectations, thereby becoming an IT specialist. Internship helps in developing the career of choice; therefore, through working in this company, I wanted to be a professional in the field of IT by developing more skills and competency. I hoped that the achievement of this would be beneficial to the company during my internship period and in other companies in the future.

It is important to work as a team and to network with people in the same field or career. Thereafter, another objective for my internship was to work with specialized IT experts so as to learn from them and develop networks apart from sharing innovative practices and skills which are important in IT industry. The practices and skills will help me to work in a diverse company such as Etihad Airways with well-developed IT, thereby widening my experiences as well as developing more abilities in the IT field. Networking will help in developing professional relationship that is necessary in improving productivity, thereby achieving both organizational and personal goals.

Finally, I aimed to expose myself and learn more about work environment in terms of technologies, strategies and applications. By learning all these things during internship, I was able to work towards achieving organizational as well as personal goals.

Accomplishments

Accomplishments are related to the achievement of objectives stated at the beginning of internship during or by the end of the internship. During week 1, I was able to participate in meetings where revision and sharing of information and updates about the projects took place. The company is planning to have Etihad Sky-Sales payment system and the Etihad Guest information. Therefore, dissemination of information and ideas was necessary to identify the progress and channel way forward. I also had a chance to work with a business analyst in revising the requirements of the undergoing projects. It was a crucial part of the project because it provided a firm foundation to the outcomes of the launch of the projects. The chance of reviewing project requirements helped me understand the inputs necessary for IT department to develop new system or update on the existing one so as to devise a desired project.

During week 3, I participated in capturing the requirements or inputs for the development of these new projects. The main aim of Etihad Guest project is to help the company serve its customers efficiently and ensure customer satisfaction. Therefore, a need to have the required inputs captured in the system was necessary to ensure positive outcomes from the project, thereby achieving the project goals. At this stage, creativity and innovation played a key role in achieving these goals. Every person in the team contributed innovative ideas so that the system developed will be effective and efficient. Therefore, I got an opportunity to share my ideas that were important in this project and IT department in general. Moreover, this is the part I applied what I was taught in class with my day-to-day experience because the knowledge I obtained was useful in situations like these. Also, through problem-solving approaches I have developed over time, I was able to meet challenges confidently and offer my solutions. By doing this, I was able to accelerate the processes such as sharing files with other teams as well as accessing the servers faster to ensure implementation of the project within the stipulated time.

By week 5, I was able to participate fully in various discussions held between different IT departments or sections on lounges in the new airport. Apparently, this was a perfect chance to share opinions which proved to be viable, especially from the knowledge we have been taught in class of integrating roles of different IT sections to achieve one goal in the department, thereby benefiting the whole organization. I also participated in problem-solving and analysis of decisions to arrive at a solution best for the project. Lastly, I was able to review and analyze documents in project management and plan the next steps, thereby ensuring the planning and execution of projects are done effectively. In fact, this was possible because I was able to attend workshops that trained us on project management issues as well as consultations I had with the IT experts within the company.

It was not easy to attain such accomplishments. I got many problems during my internship that hindered me from accomplishing a lot more. By week 1, I was able to be familiar with work environment and participated in many meetings; however, it was difficult to understand how the company’s IT system worked. The reason was that it was my first time at an organization like this; thus, I had no previous experience with IT system and infrastructure, data flow, processing and storage. Also, in the meetings, I found it difficult to understand terms and follow the proceedings of the meeting because many unfamiliar people were mentioned and reference was made to them. Finally, the information shared was something I would not understand by then because it was my first time to attend such agenda-based meeting.

By week 3, I was familiar with many people in the department, but I still had the problem of understanding the system used by the company. It was difficult for me to understand the IT services available to employees in order for them to effectively perform their duties. The reason was in the complex system the company has which, as part of the team, I was supposed to know and understand. The terms and shortcuts mentioned during the meetings were difficult because I never understood what they meant till I asked other experts and employees to explain the meaning and, hence, practice the shortcuts. Sometimes, it made me do research on my own to understand what they meant. As a result, this made me lag somehow behind the team, but I was able to follow it slowly but with determination to succeed. It is important to work and move together as a team towards achieving the goals instead of working individually.

Finally, I have to mention that I still had difficulties with the new terms used, even though they are not as many as at the beginning. Since their IT systems and business processes are unique, I have problem in comprehending such processes as data flows and procedures. I plan to identify “IT experts” from my networks I have created and new ones to make me understand these processes. Thus, this will form my basis of career development because similar processes may be available in other companies for which I may work in the future. Therefore, with these skills, I am able to emerge as an experienced person in the field.

In fact, accomplishments are possible when a person develops positive relationships and cultivates positive attitudes towards work, organization and colleagues. The attitude I had towards the company and realistic internship objectives I outlined at the beginning helped to achieve them. Moreover, accomplishing my tasks, I realized both organizational and personal goals. Good relationships with my supervisor, head of IT department and employees of the company made it possible for the achievement of tasks and work expectations.

Lessons Learnt

I learnt a lot from this internship program. Every company despite of its technology applications or systems is required to outsource its IT services in order to support its business operations. Therefore, IT services are shared among companies in the same industry. While sharing such information with other companies, the company is able to develop crucial partnerships that supports its services and helps to take the company to higher level of performance. I learnt that planning the requirements for developing a new system is a task that needs careful consideration and analysis. Without involving relevant professionals in this important task, the expectations of projects are marred by many problems that could have been solved at the initial stage. Therefore, documents necessary for planning requirements should be available for analysis, consideration and processing. The project manager should ensure documents are availed from the company and other sources so that it is easy for the analysts to perform their duties on time.

I also learnt that project management is a critical stage in system development. The reason is that you need to balance between budget, resources and time in order to effectively and efficiently complete the projects. Through training on project management, I learned many issues relating to project management and the role of IT in project management. The skills I learned are vital, especially when an organization is developing new systems for new projects. I also gained knowledge that technology and innovation framework is dependent on effective planning of projects and business analysis done. Every task is approached in a very creative and innovative manner; therefore, the understanding of the framework gives creativity and innovative ground to effectively execute the ideas.

Identifying the setbacks and receiving critics are important in moving forward towards realizing our goals. I learnt this important lesson and am sure it can help me a lot during my career ventures and development. During my internship, I made mistakes, but I was corrected and sometimes taken to a task explanation because I never knew what it was required. Also, I was able to see what others have done and, thus, learn from them. I learned never to underestimate the ideas shared by a member of the team and instead analyze it and incorporate with others to ensure viability of appropriate solution to the issue.

There are many processes in project management; therefore, I learnt that the company and those people involved in project development should decide on what to focus on for the best outcomes. Also, project manager should keep track of all undertakings of the project by developing plans and identifying strategies for the future and best outcomes of the project. Being a business analyst, it is important to understand all departments and their scope of operation so that it is easy to incorporate their roles in achieving the desired goals.
Finally, I learnt that it is necessary to document every task or plan undertaken or to be undertaken. I learnt that it is part of my duties towards achieving quality work and ensuring high productivity in the organization. I was able to understand how to capture requirements for most of IT projects. All these lessons I learnt provided the basis for the development of my skills, abilities and competency during my internship which will be beneficial in my career endeavors.

Conclusion

Internship is an important part of learning and development of career. Working in the leading company gave an opportunity to experience the working environment in my career choice. I am sure the skills, abilities and competency developed during the internship period will help me secure a job either in the same company or other companies where I will contribute immensely by sharing ideas that will generate IT solutions to challenges experienced in the organization. Internship enabled me to meet with experts who contribute a lot towards development of most of the skills useful in IT. They enabled me to develop a network which is crucial in my career development, especially by connecting me with other potential employers. Also, they can provide me with information through consultations I will make, being a source of inspiration in my career development. Therefore, they are my mentors, source of inspiration and personal consultants on matters related to IT.

Indeed, Etihad Airways gave me an amazing experience, which I will remember throughout my career as an IT profession. The unique IT systems present in the company will always be a source of reference when working in different companies. The reason is that their systems comprise up-to-date applications and technology which form a benchmark for other companies in the industry. Therefore, working in the company offered a chance to develop more skills, abilities and competency many employers would like to have from potential employees. These opportunities are rare to find; therefore, I embrace them with hopes that I will meet a more challenging work environment that will make me more creative and innovative so that many viable IT solutions are achieved. I am looking forward to putting into practice what I have acquired during my internship in driving the companies into success through the contribution I will make towards developing viable IT solutions.