Young-Woo Park
The Kookmin Review Reporter

For all those who are keen or curious about internships, here are interviews with four Kookmin University students who have just completed their internships through the College of Business Administration. All four interviewees have obtained their internships through overseas programs (K-Valley & K-New York). 

Interviewee: Kyu-Won Suh, Si-Won Oh, Seon-Ah Jeong, Han-Byul Yoon 

1. What was your internship period and where did you work? 

Suh: I worked at Uniquify, located in the Silicon Valley from August 2017 ~ August 2018. Uniquify is a company that designs Systemon- a-Chip (SOC). I was mainly a part of the Finance Department, but I was also responsible to the Human Resource Department and also Operations. 

Oh: I worked at Thom Browne for about 6 months from March 2018 ~ August 2018. Thom Browne is a New York based fashion brand. I was a part of the Production Department in the headquarters office.

Jeong: I worked for a mid-sized company calle d Highlife LLC located in Manhattan, and my internship period was from March 2018 to August 2018. Highlife LLC is a privately held, family owned company that is part of the Americo Group, and they manufacture and market sports equipment and apparel.

Yoon: I worked at the Korean Chamber of Commerce (KOCHAM). KOCHAM helps businesses of KOCHAM registered Korean companies that enter the American business market. For the first five months, I worked in the Accounting Department and for the last two months, I worked in the Commerce Department.

▲ Si-Won Oh with Brody Gann (Thome Brown Production Manager) and Prof. Dae-Hyun Park

▲ High Life LLC Headquarters, New York

2. What type of jobs were you entitled to?

Suh: In the Finance Department, I was responsible for creating invoices and purchase orders. My other jobs in Human Resources were creating interns’ paychecks, creating job available announcements, narrowing job applications from hundreds of job applicants and scheduling job interviews. For Operations, I was responsible for delivering sample products to our customers and making shipments.

Oh: As a production intern, I always had to keep track of the samples that needed many processes for revision and confirmation. Since Thom Browne has most of their factories in Europe and Japan, there is a truck load of delivery coming in and going out every day. The production team checks on the samples and decides whether to proceed with the design, and then checks on the parts that need alterations. Also, my job was to update the lead time, delivery date of products and their prices by order quantity.

Jeong: My job entailed assisting the accounts receivable claims coordinator in helping her retrieve payments that the customers had deducted for various reasons. Some of the instances where the customers would deduct from their payment would be when the quantity of the items shipped was short, or when the delivery time was overdue. I was given tasks such as finding out the reasons why the customers had deducted an amount and if the deduction was unreasonable, I would gather documents such as the payment check, the invoice and the proof of delivery to make a claim against the deduction. Besides that, I would also create monthly spreadsheets to organize the numerous chargebacks and paybacks from various customers.

Yoon: In the Accounting Department, I managed checks in the company’s accounts and organized account balances on an Excel spreadsheet. Also, I was in charge of administrating the company’s affiliated school’s tuition fees. In the Commerce Department, I organized monthly commerce and economics seminars, contacting and managing all conference speakers. Additionally, I translated relevant and important news from the Wall Street Journal or New York Times to be delivered to co-workers.

▲ Uniquify Headquarters, San Jose

▲ Han-Byul Yoon at Korea International Trade Association

3. What did you learn from your internship?

Oh: As I was working through my internship, it made me think more about responsibility. Prior to working for the internship, I believed that simply completing my task was what I had to do. However, my experience in New York taught me that beyond completion of my tasks, the work required me to keep my awareness up even after the work was out of my hands. Also, I realized that my responsibility was to know how my tasks were related to the grand scope of our company’s work. After completion of my jobs, when my coworkers ask me on the progress of the tasks, it was my responsibility to follow up on the work that I had finished.

Jeong: I really did not have any criteria of what kind of a company I want to get into; I just simply thought that I want to get into a ‘good’ company without having any constructive idea of what a ‘good’ company is. My idea of a ‘good’ company was a well-known company or a company that pays well. However after this internship I came to realize that there is so much more in what makes a company ‘good’ and started to make up my own criteria of what to look for in choosing my target company. On top of that, practical things such as how to use an Excel spreadsheet, how to use the SAP program and how to write a formal email are many of the things that I took from my internship.

4. Any words of advice for Kookminians and future interns?

Suh: Don’t be afraid of internship just because it is your first time. If you have any questions about your job, simply ask your co-workers or your manager. Simply because you are an intern does not mean your manager will not like you; they are more than willing to help you out and will not be annoyed by anything you might ask. Once you have started your internship, learn as much as you can and be proactive.

Yoon: Firstly, I want to recommend an internship to students who have strong goals to achieve from the internship. It is often easier to obtain an internship if you have a strong motive. Furthermore, there are many unexpected moments during your internship; it would be less burdensome if you have the motivation that would push you through your hardship. Secondly, it is wise to gain as much advice as possible from other interns like myself. It is difficult to grasp insights into what foreign companies are like. In addition to this, getting an internship from a foreign company is time consuming and is costly. Those who have completed their internship would give you the right experience based advice into obtaining the right internship for you.

ywpark@kookmin.ac.kr