The Internship Experience
The internship is an essential stage in the educational curriculum since it gives students the opportunity to relate some of the lessons learned theoretically and those learned in classrooms. Employers are seeking for highly experienced, skilled, and talented employees. Through an internship at Ezkubang Enterprise, I gained more these experiences. The opportunity enhanced my sales, marketing, and teamwork skills; it made it easier to work with other employees of different personalities.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary. 1
Introduction. 3
Organizational Background. 3
Internship Analysis. 4
Knowledge and Experience Gained. 4
Sales Skills. 4
Teamwork. 5
Independence. 6
Marketing Skills. 7
Reflection. 7
Conclusion. 8
Works Cited. 9
Practicum Report
The market demands are fast changing and employers are keen on finding skilled and experienced employees in the labor pool. Internship opportunities are some of the methods used by graduates to gain experience in their relevant field of study and enhance their employability. I underwent through my internship at Ezkubang Corporation. The business has departments, but I had an interest in learning sales, teamwork, and marketing. The institution considers placement as an essential part of the curriculum since it enables students to translate some of their knowledge acquired theoretically to the actual environments. Therefore, the process aims to instill the needed work attitude and professionalism by interacting with specialized employees within the organization.
Organizational Background
Ezkubang Corporation was incorporated in 2017 as a Domestic Stock company. The company operates in California as its jurisdiction. The agent name of the company is Zhun Zou and among the companies listed as active (CA Business Go 2018). A domestic corporation is any company that conducts its affairs within the national boundaries. Consequently, they are taxed differently from the foreign businesses and might be needed to pay the duties of fees for the importation of various products. The company lacks the adequate experience to compete on international. Efficiency is vital for each business to operate effectively in the market. Ezkubang Corporation requires a website. Thus, its national and international presence is limited. As a small company, the company has different departments including sales, marketing, accounting, and human resource management.
Internship Analysis
The role of internship programs is to provide students with adequate opportunities to apply their practical and technical skills and knowledge achieved while in school. While at Ezkubang Corporation, I gained various skills including managing relationships and understanding the ever-changing needs of the customers. To ensure that I maximized all the opportunities presented in the company, I highlighted the purposes of my internship program;
To get and organize my on the job responsibility,
To gain experience in the actual business world,
To make a comparison of the real-life situation and lessons learned while in college, and
To fulfill the requirement of my business program
Knowledge and Experience Gained
Students participate in various experimental learning opportunities to gain insight into the real world and have a better understanding of how their relevant job markets operate. These hands-on experiences assist students not only to acquire valuable skills but also create opportunities for networking and building professional links, which all contribute to success after completion of studies. During the internship, I had a great interest in sales, marketing, and teamwork. I consider these business elements are vital to meeting the needs of the clients and ensuring that business operations run as required.
Sales Skills
During my interaction with the management of the company, I questioned them about the key to establishing a successful business career. Sales skills were one of the answers given. Business success is impossible in any field without adequate understanding of the needed sales skills. The practicum taught me that most words associated with selling are stereotypical including manipulating, pressuring, and cajoling. Sales skills are all about convincing others that the idea makes sense, revealing to the investors that the project would yield the needed returns, and assisting the employees to understand the benefits of the new organizational processes (Delpechitre and Baker 98). Internship opportunity taught that sales skills are communication skills, which are critical in any business career. Moreover, through gaining the best sales skills, I noticed that is easy to win financing, face customers confidently, and bring in more investors. Within the organization, I learned how to negotiate and persist, gain self-confidence, self-discipline, and understanding ways of closing sales deals. Working in the sales department is an appropriate cure for shyness. For the start-up businesses, I learned that employee-customer interaction is inevitable. Ezkubang Corporation, through its sales team, I learned that sales skills assisted to improve my communication skills, sales methodology, overcoming various objections, and developing universal administrative skills.
Teamwork
The success of any business depends on the ability of the employees and management to work as a team (Cameron 28). Although the company hires interns as individuals, I realized that interaction and collaboration were critical to delivering the needed objectives. Within an organization, people have different personalities, understanding, skills, and experiences. Teamwork ensures that interns learn from other. At Ezkubang Corporation, I was encouraged to work together with other employees and brainstorm the ideas to assist the company gain insight into the needs of its potential customers and establish its brand in the highly competitive. Being able to work together is vital for departmental success. No business organization meets its objectives if the performance of an individual employee is good, but teamwork is poor. Without collaboration, it is difficult to project the future of the market, solve infighting among the employees, and build trust. My internship gave me the opportunity to coordinate with other teams and management before approaching customers and increasing the engagement rate for the business.
Independence
There is always a myth that interns are still spoon-fed everything that they needed without given adequate time to do their things. My internship at Ezkubang Corporation proved otherwise. I learned that sometimes as a business entrepreneur, I need to teach myself and those working around me. When I started working at the company, I noticed specific weaknesses in their sales and marketing teams. With the lessons gained in school, I made specific recommendations which the management implemented. Most organizations do not trust interns with significant business operations owing to their inadequate experiences and skills to make critical decisions. However, I learned that when given an opportunity and they understand organizational activities, interns can be the primary drivers of organizational success since they bring new theoretical ideas that can be evaluated and implemented for institutional success. Being able to work alone at the company with little guidance, I realized my great potential. Through such opportunities, I polished my ability to make critical decisions independently, which I consider key I professional development. Consequently, I understand that there is potential in believing in myself. Confidence as a skill and being independent while making a decision depends on how much one believes in himself.
Marketing Skills
With the changing market dynamics, businesses need to understand the current needs of the customers and ensure that organizational products and services reach each of the market segments. As a student in the business class, it is essential that I understand various marketing skills. At Ezkubang Corporation, I realized that regardless of the size and experience of the management, the field of marketing is all about who you know. In the company, I learned that the success of any marketing practice depends on the communication strategies used within the organization. Customers are changing their sources of information from the traditional printed media to website sources. Digital marketing has become the new platform used to ensure that customers receive information regarding organizational products and services. Employers are keenly looking for highly productive employees in marketing since it is responsible for unlocking the institutional key to success.
Reflection
Overall, the internship experience was great as it gave me the opportunity to relate my theoretical understanding of business processes to the real-life experiences. Across the globe, inadequate job experience is the primary factor hindering most graduates from getting jobs. During me feedback meeting with the top management, I expressed that I needed to improve my marketing and sales skills and the ability to make an informed organizational decision. However, the projects I was awarded were enriching and exciting. I realized that work ethics are not gained through passion, but instead by exhibiting consistency. Attitude is key to delivering the needed objective.
Conclusion
Internship opportunities are essential in the life of each graduate since they assist in understanding actual market operations and making informed decisions based on the changing needs of various market segments. My internship experience at Ezkubang Corporation familiarized me a wide range of sales, marketing, and team development skills. I noticed that the success of the organization greatly depends on the ability of the employees and management to work collaboratively without barriers. While people have different personalities, which if improperly understood within the organization, they could lead to institutional change resistance and conflicts. The internship gave me the opportunity to interact with different people and gaining insight into the various challenges associated with working as a team.
Works Cited
CA Business Go. "Ezkubang Corporation." California Business Directory, CA Business Go, 2018, www.cabusinessgo.com/gg?utm_term=4065219. Accessed 7 Sept. 2018.
Cameron, Kim. "Responsible Leadership as Virtuous Leadership." Responsible Leadership, vol. 5, no. 12, 2011, pp. 25-35.
Delpechitre, Duleep, and David S. Baker. "Cross-Cultural Selling: Examining the Importance of Cultural Intelligence in Sales Education." Journal of Marketing Education, vol. 39, no. 2, 2017, pp. 94-108.
