Category: Lindsey

As my internship comes to a close and I reflect back on what I have learned I feel a sense of accomplishment and encouragement to continue to seek out more experiences like this one. One task that my supervisor assigned me was a market analysis for the German market. Our company is expanding its recruitment efforts to Germany and because I speak German and know the country my supervisor wanted me to analyze our possibilities in the market. Something that I struggled with during this assignment was time management because it was such an open-ended task, with little direct instruction. It was hard for me at first to manage my time correctly and find relevant information.

This internship allowed me to work on this weakness and develop a system where I plan out my days and what I want to accomplish in that day. This system is something I am going to apply not only to future jobs but to my life as a student as well. This internship also helped me realize the kind of work environment I want to work in as I begin to look for more long-term positions. My coworkers all work together to help build each other up and be successful in their designated roles, and taught me importance of a positive, healthy work environment. I also learned what it is like to work for a company that supports its employees’ goals and ambitions. My supervisor asked the company if she could start a branch in Ho Chi Minh, she presented them with the facts, and they supported her throughout the whole process. This is a type of company I hope to work for. This internship has given me a whole new perspective in terms of career goals and has motivated me to work harder for a job that I am passionate about instead of just pursuing a degree for the sake of a degree.

Another important part of this internship was the actual culture experience, and when it comes to the Vietnamese culture there is nothing like it. In the past two months, I have been able to travel throughout the whole country and it is fascinating how different the culture is compared in the North, Central and South. Before I came to Vietnam, many people told me about how friendly the Vietnamese people were, and I found this statement to be very true. Often times we would stay in hostels and I would ask a simple question, “what is there to do around here?” and I would be bombarded with a huge list of things, or I would be referred to a friend who knew how to get here or there and so on. I hope everyone gets an opportunity to live and work abroad and I encourage anybody who has to chance to take it because these past few months have changed my whole outlook on the future.

My internship has been very beneficial to me not only in terms of professional experience but also learning how to work in a dynamic work environment. My proudest accomplishment is working on a German Market analysis for my company. I was challenged by this task at first, but through perseverance and guidance I was able to able to find the correct information and research much more efficiently then when I began the initial analysis. It was a great feeling, going from struggling to really understand what I need to do and taking the necessary steps to accomplish the task at hand. This was not only my proudest moment but one of my biggest professional accomplishments as well. This was a very big responsibility, and I did not have a lot of knowledge beforehand on how to efficiently run a market analysis. Therefore, when I finished the analysis, I felt more confident in my ability to tackle tasks I was unfamiliar with before and I know this mindset will help me continue to advance my professional career.

There are many lessons that living and working in Ho Chi Minh has taught me. If I had to narrow it down, it would be to be adaptable in everyday life. There are so many things that we stress about in the United States that as time progresses here in Ho Chi Minh, I realize I don’t need to stress about. It is pointless to worry and stress over things we can’t control, and this is notion is something that has really come to my attention as I reflect on my time in Vietnam. The idea behind this “don’t stress about things you can’t control” is that you handle things as they come to you and you try your best and if it works out, great and if it doesn’t you work to try and find a solution. This concept is not only evident in daily Vietnamese life but also in the workplace. I’d like to work to incorporate this concept of adaptability into the way I live my daily life back home. Vietnam and Saigon have taught me a lot and gave me experiences that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

The term “international mobility” was not a term I was familiar with and when my supervisor first used that phrase to describe our company it was daunting. The last few weeks I have developed a better understanding of the phrase “International mobility”. In a basic sense it is very clear what the term means and what my company does. We focus on recruitment and relocation of candidates. We can either recruit directly for certain companies or we can work directly with candidates to find them compatible companies, either way we are helping skilled people and companies connect with each other. We are bridging the gap for companies that may not have the resources to find candidates abroad and the necessary expatriation associated with bringing in someone from abroad. Cooptalis also gives skilled people the chance to go work abroad. The term “international mobility” when put in a basic definition means the movement and assistance of people to places around the globe.

Strengths: Cooptalis is a global company, with over 15 offices around the world. They are planning on opening 2 new offices every year around the world, including China, Madagascar, USA, Canada, Germany and many more to create an even broader reach for their clients and candidates. This allows us to reach a larger group of people, meaning we are more likely to find a good fit for our clients and candidates.

Weaknesses: Cooptalis has very strong and ambitious expansion plan, opening 2 new branches every year requires a stable business structure and a lot of cooperation around the world. It is achievable but will take a lot of work. One of the biggest obstacles is working around the time zone differences in each country, one particular instance is communication between the headquarter in France and the Vietnam branch takes longer due to the delay in time. This obstacle will only grow as the company continues to expand, but proper time management and communication will help overcome this obstacle.

Opportunities: An opportunity that Cooptalis is Currently pursuing is expanding into Germany and Canada. This is a huge market for recruitment and there is a lot of potential for our company. If executed correctly, we will be able to tap into one of the strongest markets in Europe and branch out to North America.

Threats: Threats exist in any industry and one threat that Cooptalis faces is the sheer number of competitors in the market. This means Cooptalis needs to make sure we stay true to what we offer. We stand out next to our competitors because we offer both recruitment and relocation.

Even though my experience in the company itself has been very memorable, there have been so many other memorable moments here in HCMC. One instance that stood out to me specifically was a networking event. I decided to attend an American Chamber of Commerce networking event here in Ho Chi Minh and was able to meet such a variety of people. Ho Chi Minh City is such a unique place because I was able to meet top executives and CEO’s of companies due to that it is such a growing area. I made connections with people that I would have probably never had the chance to interact with back in the United States. This moment stood out to me because it allowed me to appreciate the opportunity I was given of coming here to Vietnam and getting to experience a whole new business arena and culture. I encourage anybody who is going on this trip to take advantage of the hundreds of networking events Ho Chi Minh City has to offer.

As I settle into my position the biggest challenge for me is not having enough time to fully grasp and emerge in my industry. I wouldn’t say this is a challenge specific to my internship here in Ho Chi Minh City. I feel that this is a general issue with internships, that by the time you fully understand the company and how it runs on a more internal level your time is up within the company. This can be very frustrating because there is so much I would love to learn about the industry that just requires more time.

There is a silver lining to this, which is that this challenge really motivates me to try and learn as much as possible every day. My co-workers and supervisor are more than happy to help me and answer any questions I have pertaining to the industry and my projects. I would say this is one of the best features about my internship, my team is very open and connected with each other, allowing for an comfortable learning environment. This is different than what I was expecting because I thought I was going to come to my internship and be the “new person”, instead I was treated as a member of the team right away and have been given every opportunity to contribute to the company.

One of my favorite memories so far with my team actually has to do with food. They took me out one day on our lunch break to try a Vietnamese delicacy. It is called Balut, more specifically it is developing bird (usually duck) embryo that is boiled and eaten from the shell. The way to eat it is to suck out the juices and then eat the entire embryo, head and everything.  I definitely would say this was not my favorite food taste wise in Vietnam, but it was thrilling to try something new.

One thing I have learned about food here in Vietnam is that every food that you eat here has some interesting backstory and often the recipes have been passed down through generations. It means that everything you try, even if it’s the same food always tastes a little different. It keeps things interesting because every time you bite into something you get a new taste. My goal for these last few weeks is to try a new food or snack every day.

For the past few weeks my projects for the company have stayed pretty consistent with the task of searching and reaching out to prospective clients. I have reached out to a wide variety of clients and set up meetings that I will be able to attend with my supervisor.

The upcoming project I am most excited about is a market analysis. I will be doing a full market analysis of the German market for the company so that we can start targeting that sector in the upcoming months. This is something I am very eager to get started because not only will it be beneficial to me to get a hands-on approach to market analysis, but it will benefit the company to have a full analysis of a new market. 

Another important part of work is the work environment. One of my favorite things about my company is the work environment and the interactions I have with my supervisor and co-workers. They make coming to work an enjoyable experience and being in this internship has given me the opportunity to see what it is like to come to work and be passionate about the work you are doing. It has made me reevaluate my goals for after this internship and to seek work worth doing.

Ho Chi Minh and this internship have taught me to go with the flow, and to just be flexible with whatever may happen. We are so used to having a set system and plan in place back home in the United States but here you come to understand that it is much more unstructured. It actually creates a very exciting work environment because you never know what task you are going to be doing that day and every day is a new day to make an impact on your company. This flexible mindset is something I hope I can bring back with me to the United States, it allows me to be more open-minded and a lot more relaxed about things I cannot control. I look forward to these next four weeks and seeing how my projects and time in Ho Chi Minh will further develop.

Here is a picture of me and my coworkers, they are teaching me the Vietnamese heart. It is a common thing locals do when taking a picture together, I struggled probably more than I should have.

As I start my second week at Cooptalis, it really sets in how many amazing and diverse people I am surrounded by on the day-to-day within my company. They all have extensive background in all kinds of fields from engineering to sales and come from all over the world. A few of my colleagues including my supervisor worked at the company’s headquarters located in France and then decided to come over and start the Ho Chi Minh branch in the last few years. I also have some colleagues who are from Vietnam. Regardless of where my colleagues came from, they all happily call Ho Chi Minh City home. They are all so friendly, giving me on advice on where to eat, what to buy and even giving me a heads up on how to avoid some of the local scams.

My position itself in the company is as a business development intern, but I focus mainly on prospection of potential clients in Vietnam, France, Germany and Canada. Prospection is a new area for me, and in the first week I felt very challenged by the projects I was receiving. As the week progressed, I started to understand more what I needed to do and how to market better to potential clients. It was actually a very rewarding week in the sense that by the end I felt very accomplished when I was able to successfully reach out to local Vietnamese clients and set up a meetings.

Another experience that I found very rewarding this week came from networking event hosted by CRCC Asia. The guest speakers of the event were three people who had come to Vietnam for various reasons and were now very successful here. After the event, I was able to talk with one of the speakers. I told her how I was struggling finding potential clients during my first week, and she told me that she actually had been in a similar situation when she first came to Vietnam. She then gave me pointers, and encouragement on how I could find prospective clients and reach out to them. I was not expecting my night to end on such a positive note and left the networking event feeling much more confident about finding clients and with many new ideas for my company. This week may have had its ups and downs, but it truly was a learning and positive experience for me, and I am looking forward to these upcoming weeks. 

This is a picture of my co-working space

I will be spending the summer working for a company called Cooptalis. Cooptalis is a French company that has 15 offices around the world and over 150 employees. The company has just recently expanded to Ho Chi Minh City. Cooptalis specializes in global recruitment, but unlike many other recruitment companies Cooptalis is there for its customers from start to finish when making the transition to a new country. Their motto “Talent is Borderless” means they look for talent all across the globe. They then use their expertise to move their clients into different countries and properly assimilate the client and the client’s family.

Cooptalis specializes in seven sectors, Job Research, Visa Application, Mobility planification, Relocation as a family, Housing upon arrival, Administrative process management, and Integration training. The Ho Chi Minh branch is a newer branch, therefore, there are only three employees. My role will be more focused on the start of the sales process. I will be in charge of looking for potential companies that could use Cooptalis service. This will not only be limited to Vietnamese companies, I will also be in charge of looking for German and American companies. Along with researching I will be responsible for reaching out to these companies and creating the first contact or impressions of Cooptalis and what our company has to offer.  

These first few days have been exciting, I was able to shadow one of my supervisors and attend a tech expo and watch first-hand how my supervisor networks with other Vietnamese people. I am very excited to learn from my colleagues and supervisors as they are very experienced in their fields and have so much knowledge to offer. I am also looking forward to the opportunity to work for a smaller branch of a large international company because it will allow me to have more impact on the day-to-day activities in the company. This first week in the Vietnamese business world has been exciting as well as demanding and I am confident these next few weeks will show me even more about Vietnam.

This week has been packed full of surprises and exciting experiences. Each activity has been completely different. We explored the Mekong Delta, went through villages, floated down the rivers as well as explored a fascinating floating market. One excursion that stood out to me specifically was when our tour guide loaded us on the boat and took us to a small village along the river. We climbed off the boat and walked through the village, through the trees until we arrived at this little collection of huts. It turned out, to our surprise, that it was a noodle and rice paper factory of the local area. For the rest of the afternoon the locals showed us how they made the rice paper and noodles and even were kind enough to let some of us help them make it. It was such a small but profound experience that can really sum up this past week well.

Vietnam is such a vibrant country and has severely exceeded any expectations I had. One of the things I was most looking forward to was the food in Southeast Asia. I had heard many stories about the street food in Vietnam and had very high expectations, and it is safe to say the street food here exceeded my expectations by a huge margin. I have been enjoying every bite. When you first arrive, it feels so hectic but as you adjust to the city and the country itself you begin to realize that everything is actually organized in a very chaotic way. It seems that this mindset of “organized chaos” applies to many aspects of Vietnamese lifestyles, and I look forward to starting work Monday and learning first-hand how business is done in Vietnam and possibly confirming my theory. As the summer moves on, I want to strive to learn more about Vietnam and the people within it. Questions like “What are the cultural differences between Central, North and South Vietnam?” and “How can I create more meaningful relationships with locals? “are what I hope I can answer by the end of this experience.

This first week of class was really insightful on Vietnamese culture and only made me more excited about the upcoming trip and the countless cultural experiences we will have. There are many differences and similarities in the Vietnamese culture and this week we barely touched the tip of the cultural iceberg. One of the most surprising or illuminating things that we learned in class for me personally was how much of a collectivist and relationship society Vietnam really is. This is vastly different from U.S culture where we focus tremendously on individualism and prioritize our individual needs over the needs of the group. An example of this is that from a young age we encourage each child to be their own person and follow their own path. This continues on into adulthood and is significantly present in our societal values. A specific example of this includes rewarding people for their individual achievements and often decisions are based more on voting versus group consensus.

On the U.S business relationship side of things we are more focused on completing a business deal rather than building long-term relationships with the people we are doing business with. In comparison the Vietnamese culture focuses their activities, decisions and life in general for the benefit of the group. There is emphasis on the “whole”, meaning every decision that is made is for the needs of the group which always trumps an individual need. This is an important factor to incorporate when it comes to the workplace specifically making the effort to invest time in building good relationships with the people I interact with on both professional and personal levels. This kind of collectivist mindset will be exciting and refreshing to work with, as well as even a little nerve racking to experience first-hand.

Something that stood out to me that we talked about during class was that during our first week in Ho Chi Minh we should find one person that we continually want to purchase items from. This would eventually lead to building a relationship to where they consider us a familiar face not just a tourist, hopefully even making the process of bargaining a little easier. I feel that this is personal goal of mine, to build as many meaningful relationships as possible during my stay in Vietnam whether big or small.