Reianthong Vongsangkam from Thailand, currently studying at GHRM MBA,shares his exciting internship experience with us. Apart from his academic commitments, Reianthong has been engaged in the community, including founding the Hult Prize at NSYSU as a former campus director and currently serving as the IBMBA & GHRM MBA Student Association President.

Could you tell me why you decided to apply for an internship?

An internship can educate us on how to work and how to apply what we've learned at school to the real world. Furthermore, having international working experience enhances my resume.
Even though our program does not require us to do an internship, I received a lot of support from the College career consultation program, job postings on our department's Facebook page, and internship insurance, apart from the university's reputation. These are the key reasons I received this internship.

What is the Summer Internship Program for Rising Stars?

CTBC Bank, one of Taiwan's largest private banks, hosts the Rising Star Summer Internship Program. CTBC Bank created this two-month program to expand its services to Southeast Asia. As a result, it’s an international internship program that primarily recruits international students from Southeast Asia.

How was the recruitment process of this internship?

I first discovered this program through the Contact Taiwan Line group, an international recruitment platform run by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China. At CTBC, there are three rounds to the recruitment process. I have to create an application and record a video for the first round. I made a video by pretending to be a news reporter. However, through the news report, I had to convince CTBC to hire me by letting them know the advantages of hiring me . During the second round, I was interviewed by the HR team. They primarily inquired about my past accomplishments. Furthermore, because CTBC Bank is LH Bank's major shareholder in Thailand, they asked how Thais perceive LH Bank as an employer. The final round included an interview with the HR manager with whom I was going to work with. She asked further questions about the HR projects I had previously worked on.

How was your internship? , what did you take away from it?

The project that they assigned to me was the best part of this internship. They wanted me to create a report and give a presentation about manpower in Thailand's financial sector. I can combine the research method I learned in GHRM MBA class with my HR knowledge. My boss had given me a freedom by allowing me to work from home and develop the report in detail. However, every week, I had to update my work progress.

This program taught me how to work in a Taiwanese commercial bank. There are three keywords that come to mind for me:

1. Process-oriented:

Working in this role requires the preparation and submission of several documents. Every week, I need to update my work progress and keep track of what I did each day in an Excel file. In addition, when training is provided, interns must describe what they have learned and how they will apply it to their work.

2. Learning & Development

I'm impressed that interns receive training every week. The training mainly focused on how to strengthen our work skills. Even during the graduation ceremony, the LinkedIn Business Lead was invited to share useful tips for interns developing our professional branding.

3. Work-life balance

For full-time employees, there is a fixed work schedule. Their hours of operation are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They must tap their name card to notify when they enter and leave the office. As a result, individuals can better manage their lives and allocate more time to their personal lives.

Who would be a good fit for this program?

It’s important for applicants to be fluent in Chinese because they communicate mainly in that language. Level A2 in TOCFL is the minimum requirement for this position. Also, if your Chinese level is greater, you will have a better chance of standing out and landing a job here after graduation.

Another thing to consider is that you must demonstrate your skills. Perhaps you can showcase your success through your work or an assignment at the university. The most essential factor is identifying how you can add value to them.

About 2021 Rising Star Summer Internship Program:

https://careers.ctbcholding.com/en/recruit-job/Summer_Internship