Following are some pictures of StudyLink International and the staff.

There are thousands of graduates from hundreds of universities and colleges every year

Supervisor’s Remark

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There are thousands of graduates from hundreds of universities and colleges every year Therefore, the amount of students who are ready to apply for a job is so much The raised question is how we can compete with others for a good job in this severe life Besides the professional knowledge from books and lectures, students should have practical skills and get more experience from real life Hence, the internship is

a wonderful pattern for us students to get chance from life and to train ourselves With a short internship period, students are able to:

 Apply the knowledge obtained from school to specific cases at the company

 Get experience and new knowledge through practical assignments

 Self-train and practice the working style and communication manner in a professional and real working environment

 Get perfect for our skills, knowledge gained from school

From the first days I studied at HoaSen University, I have been looking forward to the first internship period I have studied theories so much, and the internship is a chance for me to practice them Actually, the working environment is not as easy as

I think I have faced many difficulties at StudyLink International Co Ltd for the first time I was a trainee there However, that is also my luck; I have learnt much from what I have experienced at the company Especially, StudyLink is a wonderful place for me to train my communication skill, time management skill, etc

In conclusion, through this internship, I have achieved a lot that helps me to well equip for my future career

The internship has gone by fast, but I have achieved much I have worked in a professional environment, with friendly colleagues, and excellent leaders

I would like to express my most sincere and deepest gratitude to:

StudyLink International Co Ltd – the company has given me a chance to work in such a professional environment and train myself

Ms Nguyen Hong Ha – Managing Director – who accepted me to be a company’s trainee and taught me many useful things

Ms Le Thi Hong Trang – Finance and Human Resources Manager – my supervisor who gave me a chance to work at a wonderful position and always supported me with new things

Ms Dong Thuy Cam – Finance and Human Resources Officer – my supervisor who directly instructed me during the internship and gave me valuable experience to be worked with

All staff who have supported me to complete my tasks and taught me with team-working

Particularly, I would like to give my warmest thanks to Mr Huynh who has instructed me during the internship; and to HoaSen Universtity’s professors who have taught me solid knowledge and useful skills so that I can apply to my internship

TABLE OF CONTENT

Supervisor’s Remark i

ABSTRACT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

TABLE OF CONTENT iv

I INTRODUCTION 1

II ORGANIZATION 2

1 Company Profile 2

2 Introduction 3

3 Knowledge And Experience In Referring Students 4

4 Organization Structure 5

III ASSIGNMENTS 6

1 Call center handling 7

2 Customers welcoming 9

3 Suppliers dealing 9

4 Documents translating 10

5 Recruitment supporting 10

6 Office skills using 10

IV EVALUATION 11

V RECOMMENDATION 12

VI CONCLUSION 13

REFERENCES v

APPENDIX v

I INTRODUCTION

I have worked at StudyLink for eight weeks and this was a wonderful time period for me The internship is long enough for me to recognize differences between theories I have learnt and practical assignments at the company, and how to apply these theories

At the company, I was positioned at the Front Office Management, working as a receptionist I would support the receptionist with handling phone calls and welcoming guests

This report describes all of tasks I have done during my internship It is a record of

my achievements – what I got as well as recognitions about difficulties and problems

Through the internship, I completed the common purposes that HoaSen University set up I have used my knowledge of language in communicating; and I have also applied office skills to deal with the company’s equipment The company is a service one that demanded all the staffs cooperate together The environment trained me for teamwork Besides, I have experienced and trained impersonal skills that will able to give me a chance to find the right way to my future career

However, I have had some difficulties that I could not improve This is the first time

I worked in such a professional environment, so I was not flexible enough in some specific situations In addition, my face expression was quite stern that should be improved for the position of a receptionist

II ORGANIZATION

1 Company Profile

Company Name: StudyLink International Co Ltd

Registration No: 410202 6499 at Department of Planning & Investment, Ho Chi Minh City

Head Office: 219 bis Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Telephone: +84 8 3925 6731/ 3925 6732

Representative Office Tran Dai Nghia Gifted School

20 Ly Tu Trong St, District 1

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Telephone: +84 8 66731810

Representative Office: 74 Pasteur St, Da Nang, Vietnam

Telephone: +84 5113 825704

Melbourne Office: Suite 18,7-9 Leeds St, Footscray VIC 3011, Australia

Telephone: (61 3) 9687 5358

Director: Ms Nguyen Hong Ha

Email: ha.nguyen@studylink.org

Important Note: All correspondence and student applications are handled by

Ho Chi Minh City Office only.

2 Introduction

StudyLink International is a proprietary operating in Ho Chi Minh City, specializing

in international education consultancy and education project management.

Partnering with a fast growing number of top local high schools and language centers in Ho Chi Minh City, StudyLink opts to service good academic students whose families are serious about furthering education in US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Swissland

StudyLink International maintains its network of associated student services representatives in Los Angeles, Texas, Montreal, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Auckland and Singapore, who assist students with arrival orientation and ongoing welfare support

In addition to the Study Abroad business, the company offers Training Solutions to corporate and public clients who require international standard training programs to upgrade their soft and hard skills for working and studying

Courses currently run by StudyLink include: Health Safety and Environment (HSE), Project and Process Mapping, Stock Market Analysis and Investment, Problem Solving and Leadership, Presentation Skills, Customer Services, English for Specific Purposes…

3 Knowledge and Experience in Referring Students

The Chairperson and Director of the company is an Australian alumnus who is an expert in international education recruitment since 1997 She held important positions with large recruitment companies and has built the promotion and sales session of those companies to very successful and well-known operations Her track record encompasses Student Manager, Bourne Griffiths (1997-1998); Student Recruitment and Promotion Manager, IDP Education Australia (1998-2001); Deputy Director, Business Development, Australian Education International - the government education export agency of Australia (2001-2003); and Director, ETSC Education (Vietnam USA Society English Training Service Center) (2003-2005) She is currently the Chairwoman of the Vietnamese Graduates from Australia Club – Ho Chi Minh Chapter, the largest English speaking alumni club in Vietnam

The Manager - Student Services, is a Russian alumnus who had 6 years’ experience

in service sector and 5 years’ experience in international education consultancy She has been involved in senior executive positions in large recruitment organizations including IDP Education Australia (1998-2002), ILA Vietnam (2002-2003) and ETSC Education (2003-2005) She has won the honorary Australian Education Specialist Award for the best Australian Education Counselor in 2004, the only prize awarded to Australian education consultants by Australian Education International in the South of Vietnam

(The complete profile is supported by the Marketing Department.)

4 Organization

Structure

III ASSIGNMENTS

I was positioned in the Finance and HR Management of StudyLink International Company Limited I have played in role as a Receptionist

My tasks:

Call center handling Receiving and making phone calls, noting down customers’

information

Customers welcoming Welcoming customers, asking for information, giving

assistance

Suppliers dealing Dealing with suppliers for service

Documents Translating Translating some documents relating to abroad study

Recruitment supporting Supporting HR Department to test applicants, arrange the

interview’s time

Office skills using Typing documents

Using the fax machine Using the scan machine Using the photocopy machine Using the printer

1 Call center handling

This is the main assignment I was in charge of at the first time I began my internship

Call center plays a significant role at StudyLink Because of the characteristics of a consultancy company, besides consulting directly at the company, StudyLink’s counselors usually give advices through phone calls

Customers of the company come from everywhere around Vietnam, not solely in

Ho Chi Minh City Customers in the city come to the company and have a direct talk with the counselors However, a lot of customers live in faraway provinces and cities such as Da Nang, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Tra Vinh, Binh Phuoc, Vung Tau, Ha Noi, etc Therefore, they usually call to the office and demand to talk with their counselors or C.O (case officers)

The company’s call center has fifteen extensions A receptionist has to remember these extensions and the counselors’ name to quickly support the customers

Call center is also used to connect to the company’s suppliers

Playing the role as a receptionist, my main tasks are receiving and making phone calls I listen to the customers’ demands and answer their questions if I can, or I will transfer to the right counselors and C.O Sometimes the people in demand are unavailable; I need to ask for information, what the customers need, how important the cases are Then, I note down and send to the right people who may work with the cases or give a memo to the responsible counselors

Besides receiving phone calls, I make some dialing as well My daily task is making

a phone to ask for foreign currency exchange rate Sometimes I dial to our suppliers and call for computer maintenance center

 Missing information Some first days I was in charge of this position, I was not used to the way of receiving a call and asking for information from customers I was lack of some important questions and directly transfer the call to the counselors

 A lot of extensions Our company has totally fifteen extensions that was so much for me to remember I was supposed to remember all of the counselors’ and C.Os’ names through their extensions within several hours

of the first day I had made a lot of mistakes in transferring the calls, and I dealt with the call center slowly

 Strict customers Some customers insisted to get the phone number of our Director while I had no right to give

 Calls coming at the same time I handled three phones of Front Desk Whenever our company had seminars, I would receive and save the attendants’ information At that time, all of other phones rang while I was keeping one I found it so difficult to answer phone calls with my both hands

Achievements:

 Communication skill through phone calls I learnt how to change my tone to please the customers and make them comfortable If other companies called

to introduce their products, I would politely refuse and told them send all the information via email

 Time management skill I was asked to take all of the calls perfectly, so I should quickly get the customers’ demands and complete the call to take another

 Abroad study knowledge Through questions of the customers, I partly knew about some cases of studying abroad and about tasks of our staff

2 Customers welcoming

Customers living in the city usually come to our company to get direct advices from counselors My task is welcoming and asking for information from customers Then

I send their cases right people

Difficulties/ Problems:

 Many customers coming at the same time Our company is attracted by a lot

of customers which sometimes causes me problems While I was instructing some customers to our counselors, others came to the door

Achievements:

 Communication skill I welcome guests every day that gave me a chance to improve my communication skill I knew how to smile to the customers and how to make them comfortable

 Problems management Some customers were angry because some problems happened with their cases or they could not call their counselors I would gently explain and promise to work out with their cases

3 Suppliers dealing

On behalf of my supervisor, I called for stationery supplier, ordered some kind of stationery

In this relation, my company is a customer Therefore, I know what customers want and how to meet the customers’ needs Through this task, I understand how to satisfy our customers and how to deal with unforeseen situation, avoid our customers’ anger

4 Documents translating

The company cooperates with many of schools, colleges and university from the

UK, the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, etc Before sending student’s profile to these institutes, we translate all the documents into English language

Sometimes I helped the C.Os to translate several pages of document such as transcript, study plan, etc This task is suitable to my major and helps to improve

my translation skill

5 Recruitment supporting

Our company is lack of officer and we are recruiting

I got the general recruitment information from HR Department and post them on some forum and recruitment websites

There are many applicants sending their CV to the company to be interview I would let them take a translation test and sent the result to our HR manager and Director to consider After that, I would set the time for applicants to be directly interviewed with our Director

6 Office skills using

I usually supported the staff with photocopying, scanning, printing or faxing documents I did not know how to use them at the first time, and I asked for instruction The more I use them, the quicker I am Besides, I also typed the customers’ information after the seminars I have learnt this skill at university, so I deal with this without problems