Beyond The Scenes: An Internship Story Trough The Eyes of Truc
What to Know About Me (Truc Nguyen)
Adaptation happens in life with people of each cohort, where changes are often significant. However, the most notable adjustments occur when one gets into the adulthood stage leaving her university life. Hailing from Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), the transition to working in an Indonesian digital agency has become vital because it decides my career.
From being a flower child and a Business student from Troy University in Vietnam to the agency, I began to see the world as a complete paradigm shift. The necessities within the working environment are entirely different from life back in university. To me, my decision to work as a strategic intern started after maintaining a “long-term relationship” with Marketing since high school.
Most of my time in university is dedicated to the search for opportunities. Besides trying to perfect my GPA at school, I spent much time doing tasks from my church & work.
Whenever I have some free time, I read books or join courses to give myself more input, eventually generating valuable outputs for my work.
Despite my hectic schedule, I still manage to create “teenage memories” with my close friends, especially those in my church community, as we worship God at church every Sunday and have a good time hanging out with each other.
When an Opportunity Arises
Covid-19 is a big hit that affects everyone’s life, and mine too! All plans for my career crashed as the lockdown happened. Yet, I believe there’s always some way to give myself a chance to grow professionally.
I am now a senior student at university, which means I’ll have to join an internship to get a closer look at how my industry is operating in real life.
Right then, I decided to find an internship. I thought: “In this Covid time, we all have to work remotely. So why limit myself and not give myself a chance to work somewhere which is not my country?” And that’s how everything starts.
As AIESEC is well-known for its Virtual Professional Program, I went to their Facebook page to search whether there was an internship opportunity in the Marketing field in some other countries, and I found Krona!
As I visited Krona’s website, I was impressed by its professionalism and how perfectly it demonstrates the culture here: professionally fun. And I loved it!
When applying through AIESEC, everything was very smooth. After just a few days of submitting my application, Krona offered me an interview meeting. And when I started talking with Krona’s people in that first interview, my desire to work for Krona became more intense than ever. And luckily, just after 4 days, I was announced I was hired! I feel blessed.
At first, I applied for the Business Development department, but when it was announced that I got the job, I was hired as a Digital Strategist, which sent shivers down my spine. I have long wanted to be a Strategic Planner, but I didn’t know that I could receive this opportunity so soon like that!
Until now, I still couldn’t figure out how Krona’s management team could see in me the desire to be involved in Strategic Planning. Nevertheless, as I would assume that Krona’s team truly understood me after a single interview, I became excited and curious more than ever to engage in this company’s environment.
An Unforgettable First Impression
My first day in Krona was also the first day of my department’s head. And that created a connection between me and my head as we were all new here in Krona.
On the first day, the Business Development team invited my head and me to explain briefs from 2 clients to proceed right away on the next day. I didn’t expect that the hands-on experience would come that fast, and it was fascinating!
As a new person, I was worried. But all of that just faded when I was invited to the group chat of Krona. Other interns and I were welcomed warmly by all colleagues, and that was a heart-warming experience for me. Everybody here is beyond friendly; they are so supportive and caring.
Although the CEO was busy with many things, he made it to the point where he spent his time reading through my ideas for the work and giving feedback and delicate support to help me complete my job better. I was impressed!
The management team and other co-workers in different departments were always there to listen and support me whenever I needed to. And that moves me a lot up till now! I wish I had more time to learn and have fun with Krona’s team.
Cultural Differences? No Problem!
As Vietnam and Indonesia are in the same regions, we shared many similarities. I think the most significant difference is in our language, and I enjoy it very much! Krona’s employees were very open to sharing the essential words as we had daily casual talks with the other interns.
I would frequently ask questions, especially when the requirements became more explicit. From there, I knew what to do—working while observing was also my way to adapt. When I first joined, I looked for Krona’s work to understand more how to craft a proposal according to Krona’s standards.
Yet, I must note that the adaptation process was smooth because Krona’s team is always there to support me. From the CEO to executives, everyone was willing to help with their big heart whenever we needed it.
As most of my work focuses on doing numerous research, I conducted quite a lot, focusing on many industries in Indonesia to find the right insights that can help generate strategies for the proposals.
Thanks to the high frequency of receiving clients’ briefs here in Krona, my research skill was sharpened, and now researching comes naturally to me.
One of my funny experiences when researching the Indonesian market is that as I faced some difficulties finding local information written in Bahasa Indonesia, I had to use Google Translate to look for the Indonesian words and search further. It was troublesome at first, but then I just got used to it.
My work routine has also changed my mindset, allowing me to propose strategies and ideas for our client’s campaigns. In addition, I got the chance to pitch our proposals and work with many clients from other countries such as Singapore, India, Indonesia, and many more.
The Joy & Sorrow It Brings
I love it when I can generate ideas for strategies based on my research on the Indonesian market. That feeling when you can find insights and use those insights to come up with solutions is an enjoyment that is so pure and delightful for me.
I’m not saying that it’s always sunshine and rainbows here. There were definitely some challenges—one of them being the hectic unpredictable deadlines.
All agencies have this challenge, but I think this helps create fun memories working together as members from many departments come together as team players to help the company finish those deadlines as expected. I believe this challenge pulls us together.
A Little Tip
If you were to face difficulties meeting your deadlines, I have a tip for you. I coped with this challenge by categorizing my tasks into two categories: the predictable and unpredictable. Therefore, I kept myself disciplined to finish the predictable functions as soon as possible to leave space to catch up with the unpredictably assigned deadlines.
A Memory to Fondly Look Back to
As the internship gave me a chance to explore more about the outside world, I explored more about myself too. After working through many projects, I started to learn more about the styles of working I like and don’t.
I also knew my limitations and areas that I’d love to dig in more in the future. Finally, and most importantly, I have explored Krona! This is one of the most supportive environments in which I have ever worked!
Having a chance to encounter Krona through this internship is a great blessing. The people here will be the thing that is unforgettable to me. They continue to inspire me to be a supportive and loving team player, just as they are! I would want to keep in touch with Krona’s team long after my internship ends and would indeed join Krona’s team again when there’s a chance soon!
*As written by Truc, edited by Linh, Cynthia and Annisa
