Wk1-Wk7Discussion-InternshipCourseINT501MN.docx

Week 1

Question:

· Provide a short biography to the class as an introduction helping to create a community environment. Also, you can respond to the questions shown in the Introduction as an example. The introduction is found in the Internship Course Resources in Supplementary Material in this GAP course. 
· Be sure to add what country you are from along with your educational background and previous work experience. 
· Explain your internship job description.
· Identify the College of Business course that you are currently enrolled in, or if there is no business course that you are taking this session. 

Answer:

I am from Osaka, Japan. My mom is Chinese, and my dad is Japanese, so I grew up in the multi-cultural family. I am participating in the MBA program at Westcliff University with a concentration in Business Statistics and Data Analysis. This is my second from the last semester at Westcliff University, and I am currently enrolled in BUS 606 Advanced Statistical Concepts and Business Analytics.
        I came to the United States from my junior year of high school. I studied in a boarding school in Massachusetts call Wilbraham and Monson Academy. After I graduated from high school in 2014, I spent my Freshman year of college in Northeastern University in Boston. I transferred to the Pepperdine University from Sophomore year since I wanted to change the environment and move to a place with better weather. I graduated from Pepperdine University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in international business.
          I have been worked in the e-commerce field since I graduated. My first job after graduation was as an Account Manager for Marketplace Department at a biggest Asian E-commerce company call “Yamibuy”. After one and a half years, I saw better opportunities and chances for career growth, so I switched my job to my current company “Sunway Nuts USA, Inc. with the position of Director of E-commerce. Our company is the startup food distribution company. We are the importer and distributor of the food from Asia. We have various selling channels includes e-commerce platforms and traditional retail/grocery stores. The department that I am working for is mainly responsible for online retail and the whole business. We are managing our product sales on various online platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and Yamibuy as third-party sellers and vendors. My main job responsibility is team management, business development, and sales performance. Our biggest goal this year is to expand our business to a mainstream supermarkets such as Costco and Walmart.

Week 3

Question:

· Outline and describe in the discussion those components that you will be working on in this session to build or improve your professional portfolio and post to the discussion board.  

For Weeks 3 through 7, keep notes during your internship in your professional journal which each student is creating and reporting on in the CLA 1 in Week 8. 

Answer:

  A professional portfolio is a good way to keep a record of the career experiences, accomplishments, projects that had been done, and feedback and advice from co-workers and supervisors. 
          The benefit of keeping a professional portfolio is not limited to showing a career background and learn from the experience for better growth and improvement.
Here are some points that I would like to include in my professional portfolio:
1. Educational Background including degree type, major, and some class experience.
2. Work experience including the company and position that I worked for, and some major projects that I involved in.
3. Some accomplishments and highlights for my career experience.
4. My skills and certification list.
5. Letter of recommendation from my supervisor or connections.
6. Things that I learned through my career experiences.
7. Performance review 

Week 5

Question:

· You will upload the total interview in the Week 5 assignment file in GAP for the professor.
· In the Week 5 discussion forum you will describe the main points of the interview content and experience.

· Conduct the interview. Share with the class a description about the interview content in the Week 5 discussion (you can upload a file attachment for the professor and place a description in the discussion and converse with your classmates about the interview). 
· What are some of the major observations you made in regard to your interview; were you satisfied with the information gained during the interview? 
· What are some of your own personal strengths and weaknesses related to the interview process? 

Be sure to make entries in your journal about the Interview. 

Answer:

I conducted an interview with the CEO of our company, Frank Li. The interview was done in person, and I used different types of question such as open-ended and Likert scale to conduct the interview.
          The whole interview process and flow were very smooth. The major observation I made in regards to my interview was to learn the history and development plan of the company, management for the startup company, and major job duties as the position of CEO. I am very satisfied with the information that I gathered from Frank because I learned a lot of business knowledge and our company’s future development plan. The interview also helped me to learn how to manage a startup company.
          My personal strength related to the interview is that I am good at expanding the points and topics. On the other hand, my personal weakness is time management for the interview.

Week 6

Question:

Discussion Information:
  View the video “The Difference between Creativity and Innovation” by Lynda.com (3:20 mins).

Discussion Question – CLO 1, CLO 2, CLO 3 

· How are creativity and innovation defined?
· How are people defined in those roles?
· What part of a company should have what type employee, creative or innovative?
· From the video give a tip for each, the creative and the innovative type of employee?

Be sure to make entries in your journal each week about your experiences.

Answer:

How are creativity and innovation defined?

Creativity – Produce new and unique ideas
Innovation – Try to change ideas to implementations

How are people defined in those roles?

          Creative people have the strengths in pitching ideas, upset the status quo, challenge the new thing, and willing to take the risks. On the other hand, Innovative people have the strengths in implement ideas, understand the risks, avoid problems, and showing respect to their customers.  

What part of a company should have what type employee, creative or innovative?

          Both creative and innovative employees are needed for every department of the company because each department needs employees who think about ideas, as well as employees who could implement the ideas. Harmonious collaboration between these two types of people could most effectively lead to new innovations. 

From the video give a tip for each, the creative and the innovative type of employee?

          The video explained how both types of people are complementary to each other, but it is common to see the communication gaps between these two.

Tips for creative people:

· Should learn the best timing to share the ideas. Do not share the ideas with everyone without detailed research and supports.
· Need to learn the best way to share the ideas, and find the correct person to share the initial ideas for further support.
· Have to measure if the new idea is suitable for the company/project goals or not.

Tips for Innovative People: 

· Do not deny the ideas from creative people before trying, and try to give some advice if anything needs to be changed or fixed. 
· Welcome and appreciate the new ideas. 
Reference 
LinkedIn Learning. (2014, December 19). The difference between creativity and innovation I leadership I lynda.com [Video File]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7kKiL4I0DQ 

Week 7

Question:

Discussion information: View the video “How to be an awesome intern” by Cass Thompson (7:58 min) at

Discussion Question – CLO 1, CLO 2, CLO 3, CLO 5 

· Describe what you think of one of the messages contained in the video?
· Give two recommendations that you will use to make your internship successful based on the video advice?
· Provide one change you will make to improve your work?

Be sure to make entries in your journal each week about your experiences.

Answer:

· Describe what you think of one of the messages contained in the video?
          I think the most important message that I got from the video is “ask for extra work”. Being an intern, it is important to show an attitude and passion to the work. Asking for the extra work cannot only show a positive attitude but also can show that you are an effective person who could finish the tasks earlier than the expectation. At the same time, we are able to get to know more people in the company and leave a great impression by asking for extra work.
· Give two recommendations that you will use to make your internship successful based on the video advice?
          The first recommendation that I will use to make my internship successful is definitely the advice that I already mentioned in question 1 “ask for extra work”.  I totally agree that asking for extra work could help to show a positive working attitude to the co-workers, and that could also make a good chance to get to know more people and different tasks for each department. 
          Second, I will follow the advice, “asking questions”. The action of asking the questions could show others that you are actually thinking, and willing to find the solutions or learn more by asking the questions, which could also show that you are a motivated and responsible person. 
·  Provide one change you will make to improve your work?
           One change that I will make to improve my work is to dress well. I think my working outfits are too casual now, and I think dressing up professionally could help me to increase my confidence, and provide a great impression to my supervisor and my client as well. 

Reference
Cass Thompson Career Advice (2018, April 6). How to be an awesome intern [Video file]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFA_3nXhfm8