Isabelle Lewkowicz

October 23, 2015

I Am More Than a Voice on the Other End of a 12 Minute Skype Call

Here’s the problem: 8 out of 10 Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs. Unhappy employees means lower productivity rates, which means unhappy bosses. The cost of employee disengagement to the US economy is $500 billion per year. Core Complexity Assessments (CCA), a Boston-based consulting startup founded by Dr. Michael Commons of Harvard University, has the solution. CCA recognizes that individuals differ in their interests and skills, and that the chance of high productivity is greater when an individual is matched with a job which they enjoy and are good at. The Core Complexity Assessments are a suite of tests based on statistical testing and developmental psychology that help employers better understand an employee’s individual interests and skills. They serve as useful applications in recruiting, training, and maintaining workforces.

This past summer I was the marketing intern for CCA, and discovered right away that it was not at all what I had expected it to be. Having just gotten started in January, CCA was and still is in its very early stages. So early, in fact, that it could not yet provide an office for its interns, thus making my position a remote one. This taught me the importance of thorough communication, how to adjust to an informal work environment, and, perhaps the most important of all, that things do not always go as planned.