Marketing Strategist - Intern Entry Position Review

The Internship Placement was cool with different elements. It was a combination of Travel, cultural immersion, Chinese Language Study and an Internship Placement with an International Marketing Consultancy. Little travel on holidays also made it perfect as I love sight seeing. This is a combination I will never regret.

The corporate culture of my Host company is solid and awesome. The environment was multicultural with talents gathered from all over the world. There is mutual respect for all irrespective of position or orientation. I enjoyed the love care and support I got from my work mates. I felt very important with my chest out anytime I come to work as there was adequate motivation for my efforts with good recognition

I had 3 supervisors, One from CIP, another from my Host company who was my direct supervisor and then an External Career Expert who lead my Mentoring and Coaching Process. I enjoyed the necessary support from these individuals as my performance was appraised on a monthly basis with appropriate recommendations given. This was helpful in transforming my experience. These recommendations also came in a form of new Job descriptions and tasks as well as joining different teams.

Work Schedule was just like a full-time staff. I start work at 9 am and close at 6 pm. A normal day at work starts with an Early morning team meeting and then finally disperse to accomplish tasks and targets for the day. Every moment was utilized and there was no room for being idle.

The Chinese approach to Marketing has always proved to be different from the west because there is cultural and societal characteristic pervasiveness. Buyer decisions are made on what others recommend and the decision even gets interesting and unpredictable in the cities. I took my internship with an organization that conducts Market Research to formulate Market entry strategies for fresh companies entering into Chinese Market. It was a perfect opportunity for me to answer all the reasons I chose to come to China. My Job description included conducting market research, data collection, focus group engagement and past consumer pattern behavior analysis. We also sometimes do work on taste and preference of Chinese consumers, especially for consumer goods. I played a role in selecting the right social media platforms in the right doses and the kind of combinations that are needed to achieve a good market penetration. For 2 months worked with content team to design the write media and publication materials to fit the brand in question

Working with Senior Executives who understood Marketing inside out, was an opportunity to learn from them. My confidence was boosted as well as my decision-making skills. I now understand the best possible social media combinations based on the brand in question. I also will be able to lead any brand into a market research and Segmentation mission. Into the future, I will be able to work in china confidently because I can speak Chinese over and above elementary level with some business Chinese skills.

I will not think twice about this. It was awesome and always triggering motivation to think. The office arrangement and people remind me that it was an opportunity to build myself that future I always wanted. With friendliness, team spirit and support within a multicultural environment, you can't expect more than to excell

Matching me to the right organization with the right tasks, mentoring, Grooming me throughout the program, I don't know what else could be better. The placement process right from application, guidance support company selection and communication has been fine. CIP's staff is diligent and they know what they are required to do at a point in time. I don't expect them to be 100%, but anytime there is a problem the right explanations and remedies were provided. That's what I call professionalism

I was sponsored to travel to Shanghai, and other cities in China to conduct research and also interact with like-minded individuals. I was trained for 3 weeks to understand social media and digital marketing strategies in China. My grooming and others came at an extra addition from the organization. I also attended a couple of fairs in Macau, Korea and Hongkong which I think networked me to various individuals from around the world

The organization is looking to recruit brilliant young people into a middle management position. I was offered a position, but I had already secured a Job opportunity in the United states so I could not honor it. But for future interns looking to launch their career in China, I think this company will be right for offering job positions.

There was always an opportunity to meet other interns from all over the world. We have cooking competitions, Birthday parties, Kungfu practices, Yoga lessons and poker competitions.

Daily expenses in Beijing has always been cheap especially food and transport. Socializing, CIP was sponsoring us every Friday evening for either networking events or a time out with other interns. So it was very cheap. Hanging around Sanlitun on weekends costs few pounds ( 20 Pounds is enough for the night)

Nightlife in Beijing is huge, the streets never sleep and people in China like to party with their beer. The work areas had hangouts which were awesome to join

There are always opportunities to join off work activities. CIP had several of those like trips to Great Wall, Summer Palace etc. I also had the opportunity to work at few orphanages teaching English. This was fulfilling