Something significant I have recognised through securing an internship, is the complexities that come from the undefined nature of areas of innovation. Having approached our companies CEO with a broad idea of what to achieve, and he responded with a general direction of an equally undefined task. It will take place with my employers sister company, CareerSeekers who I have had minimal exposure to previously. I will be working with my manager, Fred, who I initially met in my first class of the International Development Masters. This will add to the ambiguity of the process, as working on our project will have different power dynamics to a manager/ employee relationship. For the project we will create a research project, strategic document and presentation around employment opportunities for asylum seekers and refugees within South Australia, and the ways in which CareerSeekers as an NGO is able to drive social change through this.  

This new understanding of the undefined nature of tasks in development is likely to challenge the way that I approach my day to day job, as well as think of other roles within development. Throughout the last two years, I feel that the way I process things and interact with the world has changed dramatically through the ambiguity of theory and stories I have heard about, however experiencing this for the first time has helped me to understand it better. 

I am hoping that through this is experience I will gain new skills in bringing actionable work from undefined elements. I see this as an extremely important task of development, as when dealing with people, it’s impossible to have absolutes. I feel that although it is impossible to escape ambiguity, it’s important for me to learn ways to work systematically through it, without loosing the vulnerability of humanity. 

Overall, I feel somewhat concerned about the work ahead, as although I have had experience in assignments, the addition of a host company makes me feel as though there is more pressure. In saying this, I feel that the challenge will be a really important step in my journey as a development practitioner, and that I will grow significantly from it.