Miash Shrestha interned with City Express Money Transfer in Japan to gain experience in the fintech industry and develop market research and sales skills.
How did you get your internship and why did you choose it?
I found this internship with the help of a family friend who is the CEO of City Express back in Nepal. I spoke with him about a possible internship with City Express in Japan, he contacted Bishnu (my supervisor) and then I reached out to Bishnu directly. Bishnu is a very well spoken, smart, and kind-hearted person so it was very easy to talk to him and get an idea of what I was supposed to do. After that, I sent my resume and talked to the compliance team as they are also involved in the hiring process and I started my internship.
I chose this internship because I wanted to try gaining experience with a smaller size company for an internship. A lot of people limit their search by only applying to famous companies or big companies, where there would be a bunch of new interns and you might not get as much attention from your mentors or leadership. I think I had a better experience and learned much more doing an internship here because of the amount of responsibility I had.
What new skills did you learn and develop in this internship and what was a contribution you made to put them to use?
I think the skills I gained in market research and communication, and experience in a leadership role, will really help me in the future both in and out of work. I also became more confident talking to people older than myself in a professional way. Communicating with business partners was another thing I learned as well as gaining experience in sales.
The most significant moment I put those skills to use was when I was just starting out and the company trusted me in taking the lead for Cambodia market research and festival event. We had to try getting new customers to use our service, so I had to hire a few Cambodian part-time employees and also teach them how to talk to customers and sell our service. For me, that felt like a leadership moment that I can talk about and use in the future.
How has your internship experience influenced your plans for your future?
I think because I gained so much knowledge and I was always interested in doing work in the fintech industry I will probably continue pursuing work in a remittance business. There is still so much I have to learn that I have decided to work part-time once the internship ends. I learned compliance and how a remittance business works.
What advice do you have for other students as they begin their internship?
Some advice I have is to respect the employees that have been there for longer and try to learn as much as possible from them so that they will respect you back and teach you important lessons. Another thing to keep in mind is to balance doing work independently and looking for guidance because they have their work to do as well, so you have to make sure that they are not too busy.