Skills

Skill 1: Hardware troubleshooting

By getting the chance to work on hands-on tasks during my internship, I was able to develop strong hardware troubleshooting skills. Through working on various issues, such as BIOS errors, driver problems, boot failures, and even full replacements repairs on hardware equipment such as laptop screens, SATA SSD’s (Solid state drives), RAM (Random Access Memory) sticks, and even video cards, I was able to improve in my confidence significantly over time. These experiences have taught me how to think critically, adapt quickly ,and stay calm under pressured situations.

Replacing the RAM sticks in the motherboard

Installing a new video card in the motherboard

Replacing old battery with new one for a UPS battery backup

Skill 2: Cable termination

I had the opportunity to practice and master my cable termination skills, primarily using Cat 6 wires throughout the entire summer over multiple projects. I was successfully able to set up multiple forms of hardware stations, one being for a wireless access point using an RJ45 cable as well as using termination skills for my solo project in which I was tasked to conduct a wire pull in order to create a ethernet cable port for our second IT office in the Chesapeake location. This significantly improved my confidence, allowing me to conduct my own solo projects without any guide or supervision, and also gained the trust and respect of my colleagues as a result.

RJ45 termination plugged into a keystone jack termination
RJ45 Cable termination for wireless access point setup
Successful instillation of ethernet port for office

Skill 3: Technical writing & Documentation

This skill is a crucial one to learn and master in the workplace environment. While the technical field/departments is/are full of knowledgeable individuals of certain technical terminology or procedures, people at the executive level need to be able to understand what’s going on, which requires the ability to be able to give a thorough explanation that anybody can understand and follow along. Through my many essays, especially my final essay about my internship experience, I was able to improve my documentation skills in a major way.

Snippet of my Shred OS USB installment & procedure in my final paper.
Snippet of my wire pull/ethernet port instillation project documentation
Snippet of the Daisy-cabling task my supervisor and I worked on together in preparation for a meeting the next day.

Essay:

Reflective Essay where you can read more about my skills: