Working in a position I’d never thought I would :)

I’m Phuong Do from HBI15S1 program 🙂 I am in my first semester of my final year but when I did my practical training I had just finished my second year. I was working as a bookkeeper in Financial Department at My Ngoc Co.ltd, located in my home town of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It is a confectionary manufacturer and wholesaler and specializes in traditional Vietnamese sweet treats. I was randomly searching for summer jobs and came across this position on an internship searching platform. The job description was simple, simpler than I thought bookkeeping would be so I applied for the job and got accepted. The journey after that was pleasant 🙂

My colleagues were so helpful and friendly to me since my first day at work. They warmly welcomed me and showed me around as well as introduced me to the work process. It was difficult for me the first few days since lots of financial transactions were made in a day and other business-related information needs recording. After that I got used to the process and at any point I had problems, my colleagues would be more than happy to help me out since they said financial department was all connected so I needed to finish my task before they could start theirs.

I also learned a lot during the practical training period, both hard skills and soft skills. My job involves mostly Microsoft Excel for data input and MS Word sometimes when I needed to write reports for the manager. I sometimes recorded transaction in written form as requested. I had resources to look back on what was taught at JAMK in Financial Accounting and Management Accounting during my shift. I was trained to be a more careful, detail-oriented and patient person, as my job requires accuracy in all the things I do. As mention above, my colleagues helped me out with so many things at work so I learned about teamwork where we should work as a team not individuals in a department.

I am so thankful for the opportunity the company gave me as well as the big support from JAMK. Practical training is a must-do, in my opinion, when you are still at university to gain experience and meet new people, even when it’s in your home country. Good luck with your study and go do it if you’re planning to look for a PT position 🙂