First, I would like to express my gratitude to the people of Global Students, especially Bridget, the Host Supervisor, and Denisa, the Academic Supervisor for granting me the opportunity to intern with them, which has turned out to be a valuable experience for me. This is the first time that I engaged in a real work environment in New Zealand. I, however, wish that this would have happened earlier to enable me understand concepts much better and contribute to better grades. The overall experience has helped me to improve my experience, attitude, and knowledge in various areas. It’s different when a person reads about customer service in a book compared to the real life experience. I will explain my reflection about the IBL experience in detail in the following paper:
Critical Reflections on Work Experiences
I will explain about my experiences and work with the Global Students as part of the IBL training in the sections below. The explanation is divided into three sections: the first segment talks about my general experience, the second part reflects my personal learning experience, and the final part reflects upon the workplace culture, values, and practices at Global Students.
General Learning Experience
The internship at Global Students was a life changing experience for me. It has shaped me into an entirely different person. Before I joined the organization, I was raw and inexperienced, but now even my family and friends have noticed some changes in me. I used to think like a student before joining the organization but have now become more responsible in the situations in my life. This difference has been inspired by my improved insights of the real world and the organization of the working place. I now have a different perception of the world and have come to realize that the world does not revolve around my narrow and egoistic perspective. My world has expanded, and I am now able to show concern for other people. I am sure that in some few years to come, I will obtain a strategic vision that will enable me to make better decisions from a long-term point of view. Generally, I have overcome several challenges and somehow feel closer to my family. From their perspective, I have become more approachable and caring. This was different at an earlier point in time where I felt my family was only there to serve me because I was the head of the household. However, when I saw men and women work together at Global Students, I immediately understood the importance of teamwork. I never used to appreciate my talented and capable wife who was always there to help me with work. Compared to Kiwis that work collectively and have a lot of labor dignity, I used to discriminate against low-level jobs and often felt that they were below my status. I have since changed for the better and believe that this change will make me a better business person, employee, and positive person. The IBL training was indeed very helpful, and I encourage everyone to take up that opportunity.
Personal Learning Experience
My search for an internship opportunity began right from the start of the semester. I attended several interviews at Global Students and filled my personal goals that I wanted to fulfill. I employed my experience of planning in Organization and Management and systematically executed a plan with adequate focus and drive. I also started writing a diary about my personal life and found that my personal productivity improved a lot. My training at IBL gave me different skills including professional communication skills. My knowledge and performance also improved, facilitated by my experience of meeting different people with diverse backgrounds and culture from all over the world. After reflecting on this experience, I feel that flexibility is an essential skill for building lasting relationships. Earlier on, I would either dominate or avoid people due to my inexperience in working in a foreign nation.
Workplace Culture, Values, And Practices
Global Students is a great organization to work in because everyone there is friendly and ready to help. It felt nice working with selfless and committed people. In game theory, one can choose to play a winning or losing strategy, or a win-win outcome. Even with my understanding of the winner and loser strategy, I had doubts about a situation entailing two winning players. Thus, I thought it was not practical or possible working at Global Students. However, it is feasible to have a strategy where the company, employees, and clients are winners. This helped me improve my customer service perspective and realize that winning a client is not about forcing them to buy good but rather giving them value such that they are happy.
I also realized the importance of communication. Minor gestures, moves, or words can be misunderstood in various cultures. However, when working with a great team, communication is better because they understand your intentions and accept your mistakes. This culture is characteristic of Global Students, and they have a great team coupled with the drive to improve the quality of work. I became thoroughly involved and motivated and gathered some seeds of leadership that will be helpful when I start my own business or work in future. I have learned the importance of good work culture, for example being punctual and completing one’s duties in time. I came to appreciate the importance of learning ethics while working with Global Students to avoid losing reputation and goodwill which can be very painful. I have mature more, and I can confidently state that I will become a great professional manager one day.
Therefore, I sincerely appreciate the work culture, values, and practices at Global Students. I hope that the company maintains better changes because it is one of the few companies that are open to admitting students for training. This portrays a great picture about the positive culture of Global Students.
Many Thanks.
