I graduated from the Department of Applied Economics and Administration with a major in Finance & a minor in International Business. Business degree can lead to so many opportunities but are oftentimes considered a major with low career certainty. Hence, I engaged in so many internships to explore what I was really interested in.
iKala Is the Sweetest Accident In My Career Path Dramatically Changed By the Pandemic
Initially, I was interested in the startup industry. Since I have worked at a corporation, I believe that an internship in a startup would help me learn more and faster. Nevertheless, with a finance major, I still wanted to give it a try in the financial industry. In fact, I got an internship offer from a bank in April last year. With the new coronavirus outbreak in May, the offer was canceled unexpectedly. It was like a warning telling me that the financial industry is easily affected by the macro environment. So, I thought "it might be better to change to another industry."
Through serendipity, I received information about iKala's internship program. And I was impressed by its culture of horizontal communication and flat organization. After applying for an internship position, I went through the interview process and attained valuable feedback from the interviewer, who gave me a positive experience. After I started my internship, iKala has provided many learning resources for me. For instance, I didn't know what "Cloud" is very well in the beginning, then my mentor found a series of online courses for me to learn.
When I Look For An Internship And A Full-time Job, What Matters To Me Is Different
The criteria of looking for an internship and a full-time job is different for me. Because there isn't a specific career path for a student who majors in business, I will explore what I want to do in the future during an internship. Therefore, the prospect of a job and whether I could learn practical skills that can be applied to the workplace are important for me.
When looking for a full-time job, I will evaluate stress and culture in the workplace. I hope it won't be stressful at work, and there will be a lively atmosphere in my team. Although my last job tended to be personal and performance-based, I prefer to work as a team in iKala, where there are members leading me and sharing experience with me.
In A Highly Disciplined And Goal-oriented Culture, You Should Take Responsibility For Your Own Learning
My last job was regular with fixed working hours, while it is flexible and self-disciplined in iKala. There is no one limiting you how to do your job, but just tell you the goals you have to achieve – It embodies one of iKala's core values "Freedom & Responsibility." Like what my mentor said, "You can make your job easy or difficult when doing an internship here. It all depends on yourself," it is more self-disciplined and different than I thought.
So far, I have made many cold calls, which are challenging but make me enjoy my job. Just like the following says, managers will only tell you goals you have to achieve. If you don't inquire about details, no one will tell you how to do it. Still, if you need any resources , just let the company know and it will provide what you need. It is just like you have to solve all problems on your own. You will learn a lot and push yourself during the process, proposing new and fresh advice and thoughts to the company, and this embodies another iKala's core value "Growth Mindset."
Mastering Two Sales Mindsets – Recognizing Your Own Products And Assisting Clients To Solve Their Problems
Many students who study in business would exclude sales from their career plans because they think what sales do is pleasing others. Nonetheless, I remembered when I just entered the university, the chair of our department said, "Sales is the base of the whole business. No matter what you want to do later, you must have a good sales performance first." Consequently, I think it is essential to have the right mindsets for sales. First, you must be confident in your own products, since you have to recognize your products and company, then you can persuade others. Second, the job of sales is not requesting others to buy your products. Instead, what you do is solve pain points for your clients, or assist them to be better.
Embark On A Fulfilling Journey – iKala's Three Appeals To Students
In addition to free snacks, the awesome work environment and atmosphere are also attractive to students. What's more, colleagues in iKala are pretty friendly. I remembered the first day I went to the office, and my mentor led me to meet coworkers. When they saw me, they said, "Nice to meet you. Hope we will have a chance to work together!" to me warmly. After that, I met other coworkers who I was unfamiliar with, and they asked me to enjoy cookies with them, which made me really appreciate it.
The third point I recommend iKala is that you can truly learn something here. Though the culture of iKala is goal orientation, if you don't know how to execute your mission, your mentor would still lead you to approach goals with patience. For example, I have made so many cold calls recently, and it is a big challenge for me. Thanks to my mentors Billy and Kyle, they always hint me how to reach goals in time, like what information I could ask clients furtherly, or what information about products and the industry I could learn more.
To Anyone Who Wants To Join iKala…
If my friend is looking for an internship, I will tell him/her, "If you want to do routine jobs, then you are not suitable to come here. iKala befits those who set their own goals." First, you must recognize the job of sales from the bottom of your heart. Second, you must be very ambitious. Then you can gain something valuable from here.
We are hiring: https://ikala.ai/recruit/