Uncategorized – Page 8 – UF in Vietnam Internship

Just Getting Started

Out of all the moments I have had at Axis so far, my proudest moment was presenting to the CEO and my supervisor alongside my fellow interns. We were assigned to research and create a presentation about additional features and benefits for a client’s app to increase engagement and retention of their app. Having the ability to collaborate with the other interns from different backgrounds was interesting because you can see how their ideas reflected what each culture felt was most important to the consumer. This process allowed me to see that most of the world have very similar values. We are all much more similar than we are different. Another interesting aspect to this project was the amount of responsibility we were given, the project was assigned last minute as they needed it for the client in a rushed deadline of three days. Within those accelerated three days, we brainstormed ideas, researched, and consolidated all the information into a presentation that impressed not only our superiors but the client as well.

This project was one of my first in the office, it really proved to myself that I can rise to the occasion and this is my biggest professional accomplishment. There will be many other opportunities I’m sure as my superiors have seen potential in my work. This could partly be due to my drive along with the radiating “can-do energy” that people have reflected upon me. As I have stated in the previous few journals, I feel that one of my biggest accomplishments will be the satisfaction of completing the data entry and revamping the website. Working on a project so diligently over an extended period of time with a large impact is something that shines out not only to my management staff but to myself as a personal achievement. I’m glad that I stuck it out the entire way with the project and I have something to show for it.

After living and working for two months in Vietnam, I really did fall in love with the culture and the lifestyle of Vietnam as well as South East Asia. This experience has left me breathless and wanting to see more of the world. There is so much to offer in such small locations spread out across the Asian countries and I want to experience all of it one day. HCMC has left a large impact on my life in several months as compared to the rest of my life in the states. It has given me perspective on other cultures and their values compared to American consumerism. It has taught me that there is kindness across the world, even in the most unexpected places. I don’t want to give up searching for it, I’m finally just getting started on this journey.

Work This Out

This summer is a learning experience in its entirety, whether or not it’s in the aspect of travelling to a country across the world on my own venture, discovering foods throughout an unknown language barrier, or taking a step into a well-developed company in a thriving industry. I’ve learned mainly on how large firms are organized and run through their research and reports. Everything in this industry in data-driven; that revelation is not as surprising as I had thought originally due to the fact that consumerism is run off research.

A company is just like anything else: it’s only as strong as its weakest link. In this aspect, the only weakness that could be described for Axis is the fact that it’s not as established of a company due to its age. In Vietnamese culture, it is a relatively old company and has survived the period in which growth is essential for survival, but it is still relatively new on an international scale. However, to combat this, we have signed bigger named clientele to back up the firm. Such companies include power names such as Michelin, Vietnam Airlines, Syngenta, and others. There are many opportunities for growth as we provide excellent research and reports for our current clients, word of mouth is the fastest way to earn business in the industry. As research-based marketing isn’t a common service in surrounding areas, there aren’t many threats that exist. It seems that the market would be vast enough to share across several firms.

It was a day unlike any other in Vietnam, very humid as the heat trickled throughout the ambient atmosphere. Although this wasn’t our typical region of Vietnam in Saigon, we had travelled to the Golden Bridge in Da Nang to experience the sheer structural wonder. Two hands support the bridge with their gentle palms open, overhanging a breathtaking mountainside. I suppose the symbolism in this consists of our lives being held from a drastic fall in the hands of a concrete giant; things such as this are truly beautiful moments to live in and definitely one of the best in my life.

Everyday

As we’ve now finished the fifth week on our journey through the wonderful country called Vietnam, experiences flow through our week like the scooters in the streets. In the Axis office where I spend most of my days, I try to keep myself busy and going. The most challenging aspect is maintaining the focus on a task for each infinitesimal detail as well as finding the balance of moving around to not allow myself to become comfortable on a single aspect of work. There are many benefits, as the saying goes: learn until you become dangerous. Running through the accounts for the website development, I’ve learned a fair amount more outside of the classroom on how companies operate and grow. The company challenges more than my abilities as an employee: they give me levels of responsibility in tasks that challenge my maturity, commitment, and drive. And I’m willing to take on all of it.

The best features of Axis as I’ve stated before are the personal relationships in which I’ve developed for my coworkers. I may have gotten lucky enough to work with some of the kindest individuals possible. At one point two weeks ago, I felt sick with a head cold, my supervisor insisted to take the entire day off for rest and relaxation. With other supervisors, that would be fairly rare, especially in America. The only previous experiences I’ve had was with a family owned Italian restaurant. The owners were caring in the same aspect as they maintained the family feel of a business; although the supervisor was not nearly as kind.

There are many foods that I’ve discovered in Vietnam, mostly on the account that I can’t understand what the menu says, and it’s difficult to single out a favorite. Although I’m on an impossible task throughout Vietnam to find a very common thing in America, which is one of my favorites: a Snickers Bar. It seems as though in Vietnam, the Snickers are at least an inch shorter than in the United States. If I had to single out to Vietnamese culture, I’d go with Com Tam. A delicious dish that contains seared pork chops on top of rice and noodles, complemented by egg, cucumbers, and other traditional vegetables.

Now and ahead

Self-Evalutation

On a traditional grading scale I would assess by performace a B-. During my time as Axis Research I felt as though I did my best to engage myself within the office and become a part of the company instead of a foreigner who will be sitting in for a few months. I did everything I could to learn everyone’s name and have some soft of meaningful contact with everyone in the office. From time to time someone would bring a snack to share with the office like fruit, chocolates or chips. I did my best to take part in this practice and bring watermelon and coffee ever so often to share. As for my work ethic I felt that I did not work my hardest. I feel like there is always room for improvement and growth. In my case, when I came to the major projects Amy and I were assigned, I worked hard and delivered the best product possible. I also was very diligent when I came to showing up to work on time. I do feel like my desire to really make my time in Asia memorable negatively impacted my work output. The weekend trips and late dinners/ after work activities cut into my sleep and recovery time so when it came time to work my energy level and motivation was often low. What I can say is that I developed lasting friendships and I did effectively complete all my assignments on time and to the best of my abilities.

Future Benefit and Growth

Although my Vietnamese network may not stand the test of time and I do feel like life has a funny way to come back around in circles and at some point my time here in Vietnam will greatly impact some aspect of my life whether it be personal or professional. One great take away benefit I will walk away with is the extensive growth of my Gator network as the 40 of us here in Vietnam now share a bond unlike any other. As for my resume this Abroad internship experience I feel in the first step toward an excellent career path. Being abroad in a foreign country like Vietnam show I am able to thrive in uncomfortable situations. It shows I know the business world I much bigger than the red white and blue, as well as many more things.

Key Takeaway

I love HCMC
Language barriers are an excuse, with enough effort friendships and business deals can thrive
A smile is a powerful tool in every culture
The world is filled with kindness
Travel when your young.
Making mistakes and getting lost are just a part of the journey

Be yourself

Internship

When this journey began I had many fears. I have a big personality and can often rub people the wrong way. I have often made the mistake of not filtering myself and unapologetically being myself, I tend to always speak my mind. Although some people like this about me because I am direct, genuine and sincere, there are time where is it just best for me to keep quite.

Being self aware I was very stategic about the way I planned on aproaching my internship and integrating myself in the office. Speak with my advisor and taking into account Asian culture I felt it was best for me to take a back seat approach early on and slowly find my footing one day at a time and ease my way in. The whole goal was to not make to much noise and do my best to fit in with the rest of the office.

Like any plan, it failed. I quickly found myself being myself and not taking a back seat. By the second day I was making jokes and voicing my opinion throughout the office. If anyone I was introduced to on the first day did not know who I was by the time the second week came around we are likely to have become good friends. I was myself. I was unapologetically myself with everyone in the office try to make everyone smile and spreading kindness and laughs.

Around the third or fourth week at the office I had my proudest moment. That was when my co-workers were celebrating birthdays and after the lunch we all share we began to take picture and I was right in the middle of all the action. Everyone wanted to share time with me and take pictures. We laughed a lot and I felt like I was part of the office! That moment made me very happy.

As for my greatest professional accomplishment I would like to say it’s the work I completed on the two major projects Amy and I completed but it was not. The most significant accomplishment is the relationship I established with my surpervirors and co-workers which will prove in-valubale far beyond any task I may have completed that could beef up my resume.

As for my take away I guess that would be the reassurance of something I have always felt and practiced throughout my life. Be yourself! If things are meant to work and you are where you belong the best results will stem from you being yourself.

What works?

Clients: Can’t work with them can’t work without them

Every business has its obsticles and almost every business in every industry has to deal with dificult clients that make the price of doing business steeper than it needs to be. In the case of my company Clients can really make this dificult and tense at the office. Right now two major clients are currently creating obsitcales and mirco-managing my companies activities to such an extent that its actually undermining the quality of our service. Having taken note of this I have learn that at times it may be best for business to say no to clients, at times one needs to bend to accomidate for dificult clients and in a industry where competition is high and client satifaction is extremely important, you often “have to take it in the chin” and make things work.

SWOT

Strengths

Company culture
Government connection
Quality control
Flexibiliy
Enginutiy

Weaknesses

Size/Budget
Long term future
Team work
Room for growth

Opportunities

Technology industry
Expansion
Restruturing

Threats

Change in customer expectation and needs
Larger firms
To diversified
Change of leadership

HCMC Life

WOW !!!! Amazing moments in Saigon. I’ve had a few. Once Kyle and a group of us where out enjoying Ho Chi Minh’s night life. The night was going great and everyone was happy and having a good time. All of a sudden the night errupted (in a good way) when Kyle ran into other Expats. I’m still not sure what the connection was or who they were but together we formed an even larger group than what we were already being that we are 40 UF students. We came together and enjoyed the rest of the night together despite not knowing each other very well. Being abroad brings out the kindness and friendliness in people. This was just a small instance of the kindness Saigon has shares with me and my friends here. Strangers at every corner are ready to help and go above and beyond in order to make one feel at home.

Internship – Week 5

Challenges and Growth

As an intern you expect to be given routine work, in between long periods of time. When registering and coming on board with Axis I knew this would likely be the case. Fortunately, within the first week, I was assigned important relevant assignments. These assignments were exciting and made me feel important, but this sort of work doesn’t often come up for an intern. After I completed these assignments was when the most difficult part of my internship came about. Dealing with a lack of work and finding motivation to complete routine assignments has been my most significant challenge. As an intern it is not your role to demand more important work nor is it your role to shake up the office for personal benefit. As an intern my role is to learn and provide aid in the office when asked to do so. If I were to flip my situation I find that this “downside” to interning is an opportunity to remain prepared for the unexpected as you never know when you will be needed.

The upside – What’s my favorite part about my internship so far?

I love my co-workers, just minutes ago as I was typing up this post I was greeted by one of my co-workers who I have not spoken with often and have a hard time communicating with as English is not forte. Out of the kindness of her heart she brought be a Vietnamese snack that I had tried a few weeks ago but have failed to track down in order to repurchase. This gift was unexpected and greatly appreciated. My other co-workers have also been very inviting, I feel like a part of a giant family and despite only being able to connect with my co-workers at a menial level I am still very grateful for the hospitality they have offered me.

Compared to past experiences I guess I can say it varies. Some places I have felt welcome right away whereas others I felt annexed. So I have a hard time comparing this experience with past ones but what I can say is the love I have felt is unique.

The Food

Oh, Saigon! How good your food has been to me! I cannot choose a single Vietnamese dish and say it has been my absolute favorite. What I can say is that food is one of my passions I love to try cuisine around the world and taste different cultures. Among every style of cooking I have experienced; Vietnamese food is high on that list. As to how high, I am not sure. What I can say is Vietnamese food is delicious, but it does make me miss the taste of home. I try and have Vietnamese food every meal that I can but in order to have a variety I try have different cuisines from time to time. So far my favorite restaurant in Vietnam was an Italian restaurant in District One, Ciao Bella. Because Saigon is a giant city with people from all over the world finding excellent Italian food did not come to a huge surprise. Never the less, the food from this meal I has was absolutely amazing and I am so grateful for the variety of cuisine offered in HCMC.

Back to the Grind

My time at Elefos is just about wrapped up now, and I’ve just finished completing all of my projects. I believe I performed well and didn’t have trouble meeting any of the deadlines. I do believe that in splitting up the work for the Points International equity valuation assignment by year rather than by section, we were unable to give a satisfactory opinion and overall view of the company, making it our weakest combined effort overall. But in all other assignments, I feel I was able to directly provide something of value to the company and help them further determine their pivot. I feel my best effort was my independent undertaking of a new website design; I read through the company’s design documents and tried to better incorporate the company’s message and motifs into the design, while also seeking to make the information flow more nicely. When I presented it to Robert, he called it an “evolution of the previous design,” and a “huge improvement,” which was immensely gratifying. My biggest goal coming into the company was that I wanted to make a significant impact, and that when I left I wanted some of my work to outlast my physical presence. I think I achieved that goal, and I hope the LinkedIn and new site – which are the most apparent outword mementos that I was here – serve the company long into the future.

As for areas of growth – I feel I’m more capable of explaining my reasoning and speaking with vindication now, and the differences between Robert’s reactions in my first and last presentation are worlds apart. In addition, while designing the site, I spoke to the company’s designers and was taught many valuable design standards and styles. I was also given numerous books to read on everything from design to equity valuation, and in my reading and asking questions, I was able to bolster my knowledge greatly. Lastly, I feel my finance and accounting knowledge have been expanded and refreshed, as I got to exercise both very practically in my work – especially in regard to the accounting skills, this may be the first real time.

The trip was life-changing, and I feel like I’m coming back a different person. Or rather, a greatly improved 2.0 version of myself. The difference has already been noticed by others in ACM meetings – I can’t quite describe the change myself, but it’s been noted that I hesitate less when making big decisions and am more confident in general. I feel more organized, more clear-headed, more at-ease in general… I can’t wait to get back to campus and pick up where I left up, a stronger leader and business student in general.

All good things…

There is one particular moment that comes to mind when I look back on my own actions that I’m proud of. There was a point early on where we didn’t quite yet know where to go with some research, or what to do with it, and so I decided to make an Excel spreadsheet for myself that would compile all of the point-of-sale distributor information in one place. That way, if I ever needed to recall one of those companies, I had the website, basic information, pricing, etc. all listed right there before me. What I couldn’t have predicted was that later that same week, shortly after completing this spreadsheet, an investor came to the office and asked for that information. When our supervisor approached us and told us to quickly put something together, I simply popped open that file on my laptop and presented it to the investor directly, directly speaking with him on my own research and answering his questions. Our program director Jason once told me “opportunity is luck meets preparedness,” and this was one of those opportune moments presenting itself.

Many of my accomplishments definitely come in my presentation and networking skills; Robert did a great job of providing feedback and giving us advice to follow when giving presentations in a brief but effective way, and the idea of crystallizing most of the knowledge so that it doesn’t need to be written but can instead be verbalized definitely enhanced my later presentations. Robert was always difficult to impress, but I feel as if I’d managed to do so at least a few times in answering his questions and presenting some of my developments. Recently, I feel that the changes I suggested and mocked up for the company’s website to more clearly define it to investors and attract consumers were also well-received, and I feel my ability to justify each decision was an important factor in this. With this and the pitch deck I will be finishing up, I believe I will have left a significant impact on this company after I’ve departed.

I can’t say I’ve had an earth-shattering shift in my view on life, and I don’t know how many of the smaller changes will translate back to the United States well, but I did definitely make some positive developments in my time here. Fitness and health became a big priority outside of work, and I hope to maintain my consistent 5-day-per-week gym schedule once I return. The diet I’d prepared for my “cutting” period wasn’t really do-able here in Vietnam, so I learned to make do and began intermittent fasting – which, while initially rough, has overall made me feel more energetic and less prone to eating unhealthy foods in the long run. I’ve learned to enjoy the outdoors much more, which was a goal originally, and I’ve come to love the beaches I once dreaded visiting. I’ve had a wonderful person by my side, accompanying me to church each Sunday and keeping my attendance consistent, so even in terms of spirituality I think I’ve been boosted. Lastly, I think I’ve become a much more decisive and leadership-oriented person overall, having been put in a decision-making position daily both in work and among friends. Learning to adapt to the unexpected and quickly make decisions is a common occurrence here, and a motif of this journey as a whole, and when I return to the United States, I imagine there’ll be little I can’t handle.

Blockchain, Barriers, and the Beach

Elefos is a company that is still very much in its infancy: upon joining the team early last month, the company had just pivoted to an entirely new industry and we were first tasked with looking into everything about it. Competitors, market trends… A lot of writing was done on our part to try and either disprove or approve the thesis that people want what our company has to offer. I’m actually not able to talk about what this offering is, as we were given NDAs at the beginning of our second week, but we made many discoveries that support this thesis. Vietnam is actually one of the largest global markets for consumer loyalty programs, with an 84% rate of people who participate in one or more of such programs. The Asia-Pacific region as a whole is a very great market for such products, and in addition, it’s also easily the most high-tech market with most consumers preferring to have digitally-based programs and points stored on apps or under account names/personal information. The market is definitely conducive to our success, and luckily, there are few competitors in the Vietnam region specifically which are trying to accomplish the same goal as Elefos.

A SWOT analysis of the company is telling of this as well: the strengths of our company are that we have the fastest technology in all of Vietnam, developed entirely in-house, a wide range of products which can make use of this flagship innovation, and it’s positioned in one of the world’s strongest markets. The team also carries several very high-profile developers and technology experts, one in particular who is enabling the company to be the first to partner with a university in Vietnam for more research. Weaknesses are the company’s relatively small size, with only 9 full-time employees, and the company doesn’t yet have enough partners to facilitate the spread of this new product. However, both of these issues are a result of the company’s youth, and I definitely believe they will be alleviated with time. The opportunities are numerous, especially with how well the company is positioned in the Asia-Pacific market and how poised it is to easily shift to the global market once their product has penetrated this region. There are very low barriers to entry, very low competition, and the company is able to carry a significant price advantage that other companies are unable to have with their use of slower proprietary software. The biggest threats facing the company are the larger global competitors, which won’t be a concern until the company tackles the rest of the world longer-term. Overall, I feel the company is positioned very strongly, and I am hopeful about its prospects for success.

The most amazing moment in Vietnam occurred this past weekend at Ha Long Bay. Sitting at night on the shore of a Castaway Island, staring up at the rare sight of stars glistening above and the silhouette of the emerald rocks looming beneath… It was a magical sight, and one I was unfortunately unable to capture on my phone due to the lighting. The island was rather loud on one end, with many visitors crowding the area where we were all staying, but I managed to find a quiet spot with a couple people I really enjoyed being with, and we had a wonderful time. Kayaking between the aforementioned rocks was another incredible event. It’s still hard to believe I was actually in that view, especially since I now only have the memories to prove it.