Assignment 4

Final reflective essay

Internship at Softdreams in Hanoi

Student number: 103572379

Unit: 2023-HX09-BUS20013/ICT20015/MDA20020-
Professional Internship (Extended) (Hanoi)
Supervisor: Lan Chi Nguyen
date: 30th November 2023

Introduction
As a final year student of Swinburne, i realized one thing through my experience during
years studying in Swinburne. Leaving university with a graduate degree itself isn’t enough to
define the all-important jobs in today's world. Working experience is now as valuable as your
qualifications and exam results when it comes to building a successful career. As a result,
internships have become an essential way to help candidates receive outstanding
experience for future jobs. My experience with Softdreams - a company in charge of selling
products, platforms, technology which serving the local business in general. has given me
mixed feelings. For me, i’m satisfied with what i’ve learned through my internship term with
Softdreams. Softdreams has given so many opportunities and choices for me to develop my
skills. As an internship in marketing department, this essay is the wrapped-up of all different
methods, technique, my logical thoughts based on my observation including: The company’s
working culture especially how people in different departments connect with each other. In
this section i also gonna combine two different communication ways face to face and virtual
space. From the working culture and from the different modules i’ve studied in major
classes, i could take a look on my own working skills and things i’ve received when i worked
with Softdreams. Last but not least, from the experiences and working skills, i have to define
my own path to develop it for my own future career

The beginning
I first heard about Softdreams was through my mom’s story when she was talking about her
suggestion about the company i wanna practice as internship as my final year is about to
come. My mom suggested she has a friend who used to work with her in early years. He’s
running a company and he’s looking for a young passionate person that could be a
company’s support when it comes to product’s marketing. So from my mom’s suggestion,
i’ve reached out to Minh who was administrative staff of the company. I’ve submitted my CV to
Minh and 3 days later, i got invitation for an interview with Mr Duy- The leader of Softdreams’s
marketing department on monday. On the interview day, i’ve met Mr Duy and he showed me the
company’s model and direction. The first day was sure stressed me out because this company
mostly all about technology , softwares and more about IT departments more so i’ve got big
pressure is to understand the structure of these products, especially its functions. Because the
most important thing when promoting a product is to understand its functions to use it as
opportunity to develop marketing strategy for it. right in first day, Mr Duy has given me a small
test for example designing a company’s poster and the result wasn’t perfect since i’ve lacked of
designing skills.

Reflecting my early weeks in Softdreams, i’ve got full of anxiety, because of my lacks and also
i’m the youngest member of the team so i felt quite nervous interacting with other people. The
work-life balance is quite important to define my working skills, the collectivism
Collectivism is another important cultural influence in Vietnamese work culture. Vietnamese
society values the collective over the individual, emphasizing cooperation, team spirit and group
harmony. This collective mindset extends to the workplace, where collaboration and consensus
building are highly valued. Team goals take priority over individual achievements, fostering a
spirit of solidarity and shared responsibility within the work group. The emphasis on collectivism
also contributes to a strong sense of loyalty and commitment to the organization ( Chase
Cheung, 2023), Vietnamese culture focuses on family and social relationships, which can affect
work-life balance. Recreational activities, personal interests and community involvement are also
of significant importance. Balancing work commitments with personal and social obligations is a
top priority for many Vietnamese professionals, highlighting their desire to maintain a fulfilling
personal life alongside their career.

Workplace skills
i’m studying in Media and communication unit, applying the skills i’ve learnt through the modules
is very important for a better working skills in future jobs like this. I’ve studied, worked hard to
develop my practice especially the logic to develop marketing strategies through the projects my
made for Softdreams. Before Softdreams i used to work as collaborator in sellingdepartment for
an english center. Although that first experience wasn’t going well but it has became my biggest
lesson to understand about how important to convince, demonstrate and find targeted customer
and finding key points to push the product’s image to the public and make them feel interested in.
But i’ve struggled a lot to define it when i switched to Softdreams because i know my targeted
customers mostly are people who’re working in business and they’re more professional and
might be asking for more of the perfection so saying wasn’t enough, i have to be more creative
when it comes to pushing brand’s image through my SEO posts and videos on company’s
youtube channel. Basically, the connection between members in the team is the key to bring
more values for the marketing strategy which is the thing i lacked of during my internship term. I
found it so hard to connect with them since i’m youngest member of the team so of course my
knowledge wasn’t big or strategic enough to communicate so sometimes it was so difficult for me
to understand and explain my opinion to them.

Because of that my first work in english center was failed and until my internship months with
Softdreams i finally understood the value of communication in the team
The better adoption of technology will mean the skills required in jobs will change over the next
five years and the skills gap will continue to be high. Most employer surveys plan to provide
internal training supplemented by online learning and external consulting. Analytical thinking
Employers will continue to look for employees with the ability to think analytically to find solutions
to problems. Analytical thinking can help you classify information into subgroups to better
interpret data and draw accurate conclusions. You use analytical thinking to spot patterns,
brainstorm, interpret data, integrate new information, and make decisions based on multiple
factors and options.Many careers rely on this skill for research, problem solving, and predicting
trends. One way to help develop analytical thinking skills is to observe your surroundings more
and make an effort to understand how things work. As you expand your industry knowledge,
you'll spend less time testing and more time solving problems faster. 2. Active learning Active
learning is an educational strategy that uses activities to fully engage you in the material you are
trying to learn. Becoming an active learner can help you develop skills and learn how to perform
job tasks quickly. This is valuable to employers because it means you are adaptable so training
you can be easier.You can develop active learning skills by immersing yourself in topics through
discussion, role-playing, and problem solving to gain a full understanding of the material. 3. Solve
complex problems Complex problem solving is the ability to gather the information needed to
analyze a problem and use a strategic plan to solve it. This skill helps identify problems in real
business environments. Businesses face complex problems every day and it is important that
they hire employees who can develop innovative solutions.practicing critical thinking can help
improve your problem-solving skills. It is important to be able to look at the problem from different
vantage points, develop alternative solutions, and then choose the best solution. 4.
Communication will continue to be an essential skill for the jobs of the future. Having
communication skills means you can interpret meaning from written and spoken language and
convey ideas effectively to others. In the workplace, communication is key to collaborating with
colleagues and achieving company goals, such as production output or increased sales.
Cognitive flexibility allows you to multitask and adapt your behavior to different environments.
Flexible skills can help you adjust your work habits to fit a different job or task. People with high
flexibility can change their schedules or change their tasks quickly to adapt to unusual situations
that occur at work. Creativity involves the ability to think of unique solutions and use your
perspective to see situations differently. It can be a useful tool for developing new ideas,
increasing efficiency and devising solutions to complex problems. Creativity is also a skill that
can translate to any job role in every industry.