My name is Mary Elebijo. I am the first intern on the Cleantech team at Alacrity Canada and I like to say it proudly as it is an honour to be one.
Mary Elebijo, Alacrity Canada Cleantech’s first intern.
As a major component of my Master’s education at the University of Victoria, Peter B. Gustavson School of Business, I sought internship positions with the intent of developing and finetuning professional skills relevant to my future career pursuit. During my quest for an internship position, I was seeking an opportunity in a business-related field and I came across a job posting at Alacrity Canada for the Cleantech team. Having gone through the job description and requirements for the role of a Market Research Analyst, I couldn’t but conclude I was the person for the position. Although I had no prior experience in the Technology or Cleantech industries, I grew interested in gaining knowledge about these sectors and what better way to learn if not through a research position. I wasted no time in sending my job application package, working my way to becoming the first intern at Alacrity Canada.
Joining the Alacrity Canada Cleantech Team
At Alacrity, I first noticed how all staff members were cordial and accommodating. Despite the Covid-19 Pandemic, the team worked in unison and communicated across the board on the updates of their various activities. I soon learned to have a list of my updates to share with the team.
Aside from the cordial and good interpersonal relations demonstrated, the overall culture at Alacrity Canada was an open door policy which illustrated a genuine interest in the personal lives of the employees and a parallel flow of information, as well as good rapport across all levels. As time went by, I realized the team was like one big family, which made me feel honoured to be part of the family. I liked how my colleagues could switch from talking about their personal lives to discussing important and relevant discussions professionally, as well as other interesting topics. I gradually began to come out of my introverted nature.
On my job, my supervisors got me exposed to what Cleantech operations entailed. I got acquainted with attending meetings and taking notes which widened my knowledge of the opportunities in Cleantech, the diverse innovative solutions of start-up companies, and the process of securing financial aid from the government. I also participated in developing marketing strategies that help enable these start-ups to commercialize and position their clean technology innovations in places of identified need around the world. All of these activities further enhanced my global business knowledge.
My Role as Cleantech Market Research Intern
As a Market Research Intern, I was responsible for researching the global Cleantech industry, particularly focusing on carbon markets, credits, and trading. I looked into the international market, pricing, jurisdictions, regulations, and disclosure and transparency, incorporating how Canada can strategically position itself in the world as a leader in this area.
To effectively deliver a good quality report, I got to interact with a Cleantech CEO, professors and others who have some degree of expertise in this field. I was aided by my supervisor to meet with a Cleantech start-up CEO where I got to understand the pain points of the industry, alongside recommended ideas on improving the current position of the Canadian Cleantech and carbon markets globally. By reaching out to some professors, I gathered ideas and their inputs on carbon markets based on their ongoing research on it as well. Whilst conducting my research, I improved upon my information management and analytical skills to ensure my research report attained its objectives.
Building on My Experience
Overall, my experience at Alacrity was an exciting and interesting one. I got the opportunity to learn and develop an understanding of the Cleantech industry, as well as experience working in the tech world using a few technical terminologies. Considering that I am from the business field, my work term has made me learn how to incorporate business strategies and models in an unrelated field. I learned the importance and outcome of developing a team of reliable people who create a means to attain goals, despite having to meet virtually and at different time zones, to meet the overarching mission. I am elated to have experienced a top-class professional Canadian work experience at Alacrity Canada. This experience has shaped me with the necessary skill sets and work ethics crucial for excelling in the Canadian workplace.
Having been influenced by my work experience on the Alacrity Cleantech team, noting my areas of improvement and areas to further develop, my advice to forthcoming interns will be to focus on growing on the job, both professionally and personally. To learn, a possible strategy will be getting involved and taking responsibilities or tasks seriously, propelling the process of the learning curve and resulting in actual improvement of skills.
Although my internship at Alacrity has just concluded, I have been enriched with wonderful moments and building lasting relationships with colleagues. Alacrity Canada has given me moments to cherish looking back at the events that occurred throughout my internship.
