So far, my time in Seoul has been amazing. I’ve had the chance to try a variety of Korean foods, including tteokbokki, kimbap, Korean BBQ, and, of course, convenience store ramen. I’ve also enjoyed exploring different parts of the city. Seoul Forest is a beautiful place to walk around and take in the scenery, while Hongdae is full of unique cafés and shops where I can easily spend an entire day wandering. Beyond sightseeing and food, I’m really enjoying my internship placement and have already met so many amazing people during my time here, which has made the experience even more memorable.
My favorite part about living in Seoul so far is the public transportation system. It is extremely reliable, clean, and efficient, making it easy to travel throughout the city without needing a car. I can get to anywhere in Seoul quickly and without any hassle, which has made exploring the city extremely easy. I feel extremely grateful for its speed, as it has made commuting to and from my internship stress-free.
My internship placement is at Seoul Brewery, which is a taproom and craft brewery located in Seoul with locations in Seongsu and Mapo-gu. In their on-site locations, they produce a wide range of distinct and unique beers to serve to both locals and visitors. Being located in Seongsu and Mapo-gu gives Seoul Brewery a significant advantage, since these two locations are very popular tourist spots in Seoul, and their convenient locations drive a lot of sales. I am working as a finance intern, and my duties so far have consisted of data analysis and clean-up in Google Sheets, specifically with sales data and looking at customer purchasing patterns. These tasks require careful attention to detail, as even small errors can affect the accuracy of financial information and business decisions. Strong spreadsheet skills are extremely important in the finance field because professionals frequently use tools like Excel and Google Sheets to analyze data and generate reports. My courses at Pitt have prepared me quite well for this role, as I’ve learned key functions like pivot tables and vlookup which have been handy thus far.
Additionally, communication is extremely important to be skilled in when it comes to working in finance. The finance team at Seoul Brewery is quite small, as most of the work is outsourced, so one of my major tasks is going to be communicating and sharing my findings across departments. As I am going to be speaking with employees who do not have as much knowledge when it comes to the finance side of business, I need to be able to easily and efficiently convey information. Working across multiple departments requires collaboration and the ability to tailor my communication style to different audiences. Through this experience, I hope to improve my ability to present information clearly and ensure that important financial findings can be used to support better decision-making throughout the company. At the very end of my internship, I am going to presenting key business insights and operational improvement recommendations, which is important for me to be able to convey clearly for everyone to understand.
One competency that is necessary to be successful in the industry that may be unique to my host country is the emphasis on punctuality. During my program orientation, we were told that if we are supposed to begin work at 9am and we show up at 9am, we are late. This was an interesting adjustment that I took note of. At my previous places of employment, you could show up right when you were scheduled to start work, maybe even a few minutes late, and nobody would bat an eye. Here, however, it is crucial that employees show up early. I typically arrive to work early, but on my first day I was extremely anxious to accidentally be considered late that I arrived 30 minutes early. Seeing as one of my coworkers also arrived at the same time, this seemed like a good thing to do.
While punctuality is valued in the United States as well, there seems to be a greater emphasis on arriving early and being fully prepared before the workday begins in South Korea. Adjusting to these expectations has helped me become more mindful of professional norms in a different cultural setting and has given me a better understanding of what is required to succeed in a Korean workplace. As I continue my internship, I hope to keep learning about these cultural differences and develop habits that will make me a more effective professional in international work environments.
