Phung Thien Nguyen

As if finished my second year at SISFU its finally time for internship. My plan of going to Australia for internship has completely changed. Instead of going there just for internship, I am now about to go there to continue my studies. 

So as the plan changed, I thought of doing my internship here in the Philippines instead. At first, I tried to apply online through Jobstreet and other websites, but unfortunately none of them replied, so I asked help from Ms. Yvette and she gave me a list of companies that I can apply for. The list contained the contact info for each company. I applied for a bank, Solaire, and many more. I waited for 2-3 weeks before they replied. Finally Solaire replied and asked me to come for an interview. It didn’t went well and I didn’t get the intern position because I had some problem with my visa. I felt sad after that, I lost hope of finding an internship position because of the problem with my visa.

But then I didn’t give up, I emailed more companies that were on the list. A few days later, an HR manager contact me through text, asking me if I still want the internship position at their company and if I say yes, I can come for an interview on the following day; the company is Pepsi Cola Product Philippines, Inc. At first, I thought this company was Pepsi and Coca Cola combined, since the name was Pepsi Cola, but then my friend told me that it’s not. I looked up on the internet about this company and found out that it’s just Pepsi. Anyway, I replied to them saying that I wanted the position and I will come for the interview the following day.

The next day I went to their office, it’s actually a plant; I got interviewed by the HR and the guy who later became my supervisor. After the interview, they told me that I was accepted and could start on the following week since it was Friday that day. I was so glad that I was accepted for the position and they didn’t ask about my visa. So as Monday approached, I went to work. My supervisor, Mr Brian Junto, Marketing Officer, oriented me about what they’re doing and what kind of work I will be doing. He also discussed about the major project that I will be doing. At first, I was given this big book about shopper trend, I was told to read and understand since it will help me in doing that major project. I read the book the whole morning, and for a person who doesn’t read much like me; it kind of gave me a headache. That afternoon, I was given another task which was to call all the employees in the company and ask for their local telephone number and their designation. I made a few calls to the bosses and later on one of them called to our office asking why I was calling and he got mad since asking for their designation is somewhat disrespectful. I only did what I was asked to do. Not so good for a first day at work.

As weeks pass by I was given more tasks, like filing, encoding, computing sales volume, separating chain outlets from single outlets, making power point presentations and more. Sometimes it got stressful because if I get 1 number wrong, everything else is wrong, so I have to search for that mistake. My supervisor taught me the easy way to look for the mistake, he also thought me vlookup in Excel, which I was taught in school, but I forgot how to use it because I haven’t used it in my daily life.

2 weeks before my internship ended, the whole department went on an outing to celebrate the increase in sales on the first and second quarter of the year; me and other OJTs also got to go. We went to Punta Fuego, Batangas and stayed at Mr Jaybo’s house; he’s the big boss in our department. We stayed over-night and went home the next day. The time I had during the outing will be unforgettable; I had so much fun with the group.

2 weeks after that event, it was finally the time that I finished my internship. Saying goodbye to everyone was sad, but life moves on. Having my internship at Pepsi, I’ve learned a lot- one of it is professionalism. I also learned that I have to be more patient with my work, put more effort into it because the result of the work will define who I am.

I’m glad that I had my internship at Pepsi because I made lots of friends and everyone there is like family. Everyone treated me like a colleague and trusted me. On my last day at work, they treated me dinner at Manongs. We ate, talked and laughed- it was fun and memorable! I will never forget those memories I had at Pepsi.