Landing an internship has always been competitive for students, but the pandemic hit makes it even harder. Considering that, TBC first launched the Virtual Internship Program (VIP) in summer 2020, aiming to provide international students with remote internships to realize their potential. On 17 December, TBC held the Virtual Internship Showcase for students participated in the 2021 Fall VIP. They ended their internship journeys by sharing their experiences in this program.
TBC staff and supervisors from Sophia University had the opportunity to hear from three student interns to recap their working experiences in GlupUp (formerly EventBank), and Camachem.
Laura Anderson, a graduate from California State University, Fullerton, recapped her internship in GlupUp, an international CRM (customer research management) platform. Laura majors in Accounting and Finance and has a great interest in Chinese studies. She is thus preparing to combine Accounting and Chinese in her future work. Laura introduced her work in social media marketing, such as event management and speed networking. She also recommended an application, Worldtime buddy, which helped her to deal with time differences when working in an international environment. At the end of her presentation, Laura ended her slide with a sentence – “I would absolutely love to have the opportunity to work in China or with a Chinese company.”
Nicholas Raditya Putrawisesa is a second-year Master’s student at Sophia University Graduate School of Science and Technology. Combining his focus study at plant molecular biology, and his interest in biotech, and the agricultural & chemical industry, he chose to intern at Camachem. It is a subsidiary of Camal Group, specializing in the procurement of various kinds of chemicals for mining, industry, water treatment, and other special needs. As an intern in the Sales & Marketing Department, Nicholas summarized the skills he learned, including SEO (search engine optimization), market research, and content creation.
Ana María Cruz Chaves from International Relations at Universidad Loyola (Andalucía) also shared her individual experience at Camachem. She reviewed her job responsibilities as a SEO strategist and digital marketing intern, the skills she acquired during the internship, and her time management techniques. This internship was meaningful for Ana as it inspired her to further her studies in East Asia’s foreign policies and economic growth, and helped her learn more about China.
Ended with a Q&A session from the audience, this Virtual Internship Showcase presented a brief recap of the three students’ internships and an accumulation of what they learned from this program. Their experiences persuaded us that the virtual internship can be as meaningful as the face-to-face one. Students who undertake VIP are guaranteed a remote internship with a prestigious organization around the world. It would be a great opportunity for participants to gain invaluable professional experience, get network, and make their resumes shine, wherever they are. Please click here for more information if interested.
The past few weekends have been some of the most exciting of the entire semester, full of trips to the zoo, mountain hikes, ancient parks, and more! Our first trip out of many was a visit to the Beijing Zoo. I had mentioned earlier in the semester that I wanted to see some pandas, since I was in China after all, and our TBC friend Andy made it happen.
Spending a whole semester in Beijing, I knew I had to make the trip down south and check out Shanghai, and the city certainly lived up to the expectations. Everyone describes Shanghai as this super futuristic metropolis, and after spending a weekend there I understand why it has this reputation.