The Internship Report
Internship with:
See Hoy Chan Sdn. Berhad Group
Position:
Assitant Sales Administration
Department:
Sales & Marketing
Scheduled Commencement:
1st December 2014 ~ 27th February 2015
(2 Months & 27 days)
Actual Commencement:
10th November 2014 ~ 14th February 2015
(3 Months & 5 days)
Introduction
Appointment Letter
Appreciation
Letter
Company Evaluation Form
Change of Contract Period
Testimonial
Letter
This report is based on my experience that I had gained during the internship conducted with See Hoy Chan Sdn. Bhd. Group. The span of the duration lasted for 3 months and 5 days in total, and it has been started from early November towards the mid of February. The internship is required by Taylor's University during my 5th semester. It is a compulsory requirement in order to graduate from the Diploma in Business course that I am undertaking since July 2013. This report consists of my personal journey of how Taylor's University had enhanced my learning theoretically from the classroom, to a more practical and in-depth sense towards the more technical business environment. This report outlines the basis of my choice for the selection of an own-placement company, and the preparation that has been made before commencement. My expectations and the key developments gained from working in See Hoy Chan will be reflected in this journal to my utmost accuracy. Furthermore, these experiences and developments will be directed to construct a more vivid idea on my future career development.
Preparation
Before the commencement, the preparation for the internship proves to be one of the most crucial steps. It had to be in accordance with a company that best suits my interest for my future development, and is available to hire students who are looking to undertake an internship. The initial process took place at Taylor's University, where only the 37 students who are eligible to proceed to the internship would be commencing during the December period. Students are required to take up the selection of either the University Placement that is managed by Taylor's, or an Own Placement where the students' themselves are highly responsible for the company of their choice. Without much hesitation, I undertake the Own Placement selection where I would schedule the whole process on my own. This includes finding and contacting the company personally and to conduct the interview. Moreover, Taylor's had given students to participate in briefings and workshops about the business environment. This part of the preparation provides me with the knowledge such as constructing a resume, understanding business ethics and entreprenuer ability that we are required to perform during the actual commencement.
The selection of the company that I had interest was in the property or the automotive industry. After conducting my research, I have found out five companies that are available to join for an internship. These of which are, Ken Holdings (property), YTL (property), See Hoy Chan (property), Naza Italia (automotive) and Mercedes-Benz (automotive). The first company that I had approach was Ken Holdings. I have sent in my resume and also called the person-in-charge for hiring. But is it to no avail that I did not get any response from them. After a week of waiting during the month of August 2014, I had called in to YTL Corporation and enquired about an internship. I spoke to the Human Resource manager, but she had turned down my application as they only require students who are undertaking degree courses only. The same goes with Mercedes-Benz, which I had called in, but turned down as they require degree graduates only. At the end of my decision, I did not approach Naza Italia as I had visited the company about a month earlier due to my check up on a car ordered with them. I find that I would not learn much as is it a job mostly revolved around customer service.
On the 1st week of September 2014, I gave a try on the company that I find is the most interesting of my choices. I had emailed to the Human Resource department in the morning, surprisingly, the company replied to my email within the next few hours. The human resource recruiting specialist named Zeti approached to me via the response from my email. Ms. Zeti was positive that she was looking to hire recruits planning to have an internship. We planned an interview on a Wednesday evening the very next week. On the day of the interview, we had met up at a rather casual location. The interview was located in a cafe at Wangsa Maju, which was rather far away from their headquarters in Damansara Utama. The interview was brief and precise. It took up to around half an hour for the both of us to understand both parties. Strangely, instead of the interviewer asking the questions, she gave me in my ability to ask any questions that I may have to clarify. At the end of the interview, she had given me the offer letter to work at See Hoy Chan. Gladly I accepted the offer to work with them, where my basic income will be RM 1500 per month plus overtime payments and other bonuses to be added on after commencement. Additionally, I will be provided with my own parking space where an access card and registered vehicles are only allowed to enter. My position will be as an assistant sales administration personnel, which will be quartered with the Sales & Marketing Department, where it consist of of both administrative and sales duties.
The Expectations
For my expectations, working in a company that revolves around the property industry does provide me with a sense of a personal accomplishment. That includes a basis about the in depth knowledge found in the field. Where I expect that these are the such of the movement of the pricing, administrative environments, sales procedures and the valuation of the land in Malaysia to name a few. Other factors of knowledge will be the challenges when working in a team within the department, and to create rapport with the staffs that I will be working with. My expectations also lead me to pronounce my own pathway of the future. Where initially, I had planned to be a property developer of my own company that will provide a good cause for the economical impact in Malaysia. For the views about the individuals that I will be working with in See Hoy Chan, I was told by Ms. Zeti that my department will consist of around 27 people. Where that includes both the administrative staffs and also the sales staffs. They are separated from the nature of their work, but reports to the same department. For the recruits as an intern, that will be just 3 individuals including myself. I expect to learn fields that are related to the division, which would be the sales administration, marketing and as a sales personnel during my working period with them. My personal goals that I had set to achieve is to gain as much hands on experience that involves to being a property developer as I can. To learn about the movement of the business and its departments. Where my goal takes me to new challenges, I set a clear mind to adapt to any circumstances that may fall into the scope of my job.
Company Profile
See Hoy Chan Sdn. Bhd. Group is a highly established property developer that started developing residential and commercial land in Malaysia since 1938. The private company was founded by the late Dato' Teo Hang Sam in Kuala Lumpur, and since then it has been passed on to the family to continue his legacy. Today, the company has been managed by the 3rd generation, and coming forth to their 4th. The company develops high storey apartments, condominiums, houses, offices, shopping malls and also retail lots. Their products are focused on a high end scale of quality, as wells as a target market, were they focuses on the upper middle class to the upper class. They focus their developments mainly in the Selangor State, but does have developments in the Federal Territory as well. The headquarters is located at Damansara Utama, or also known as Damansara Uptown in Petaling Jaya. The location in Damansara Utama is a commercially focused land, yet it does consist of a few residential areas and serviced apartments, which are fully developed by their company. Where their main business focus on developing vacant lands in the Selangor State, the group also expands to 63 different sub-companies located in Malaysia. These companies are ranging from interior designs, car park managements, facilities management, property leasing, investments, automotive firms and also as an eco-friendly products manufacturer to name a few.
Their headquarters is situated on a 12 storey-high office building, which was built by their company. On the 12th floor sits their headquarters, where it houses 13 different departments with over 200 staffs in the building. Their total staffs are well over thousands, but are separated into their respective sub companies. In my position, I will be working alongside 27 individuals in the Sales & Marketing Department. I have been recruited as an assistant sales administration personnel. In my department, it consists of 1 vice president, 1 assistant vice president, 1 manager and 1 assistant manager. The other 11 of those will be in the administration side of work, and the other 12 are in the sales. The sales team is headed by 1 manager and also 2 project team leaders. The scope of my job will be doing all three of the work in the department, which is administration, sales and also marketing. My working days and hours are from Mondays to Fridays, 8:30 am until 5:30 pm. The person that I will be reporting to will be directly to 1 manager, Mr. Melvin Cheng, in the Sales & Marketing Department. For the management side of the structure, it is controlled by 1 executive chairman, 1 executive director and also together with 3 directors and 1 chief executive officer. A few of the departments in the company will be the in the finance, sales and marketing, human resources, facilities, project management, investment and also the information technology departments.
The Pathway
In this segment of my internship report, holds my genuine reflections, learning developments and also the valuable experiences that I had gained working with See Hoy Chan Sdn. Bhd. Group from 10th of November, 2014 to the end of the 14th of February, 2015.
The 1st Day - November 10th 2014:
On the first day of my commencement, I found my way in the early morning to their headquarters located at Damansara Uptown, Petaling Jaya. I had parked my car at my designated parking space, and I had again met up with my recruiter, Ms. Zeti. Upon arriving at the office, immediately I felt a sense of space. The modernity about the office interior cultivates to me as a warm opening to a new beginning. Ms. Zeti was surely kind enough to give me quite a comprehensive tour around the entire office. The first area that I entered was directly to the department that I will be working in. She later introduced me to my colleagues, where I met the senior executives and also the vice president himself, Mr. Gerald Wong. Furthermore, I have greet and met the two other interns during the first day. They are of the same age as I am, both 21 years old. In total, there are only 3 interns working there in the office, which was in my department. At my department, I was provided my own working space which has been just next to my manager, Mr. Melvin Cheng. Where he would also be my internship supervisor during the period. Unfortunately, he would not be in the office until the next week. Moving on, she guided me through all of the 13 departments housed in the office. The neighbouring departments are the finance department and also the human resource department. After the office tour, she guided me back to my department and I had started to create my rapport with the individuals that I will work closely with. I was provided with my own staff card that allows me access through the security in the whole office. Furthermore, I was also being given two sets of uniforms, which are only required when I am stationed at one of their sales galleries.
Week 1 - Nov 10th - Nov 16th 2014:
During the 1st week, I had been introduced to their Standard Operation Procedures. It consists of the site duty roster, where it requires me to station whether at the headquarters or at the sales galleries. I will be mainly stationed at the headquarters. I found that currently, they have three residential developments ongoing and they have only two sales galleries. One in Damansara Uptown, and the other at Ara Damansara. The third development was almost to its full completion. My normal working period is from Monday to Friday, at 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. Lunch breaks would be on a rotation basis, and it is either from 12 pm to 1 pm or 1 pm to 2 pm, and it has been scheduled for the entire month. For certain days, the job require that I would work during the weekends, provided that there is an extra bonus of RM 140 for Saturday and RM 170 for Sunday. Overtime bonuses were at RM 40, fixed during the first four hours of working extension, and an additional RM 20 after four hours.
The first job that I was taught was to learn about the documentation that the sales administration consists. The process was taught by the senior executives, and also by the two other interns working there too. On the documents, one of the most important ones that I have learnt is called the liquidated damages payment. I learnt that specific document was issued and sent out from the developers to the purchasers, where it was meant to compensate buyers for an overdue construction period of the project. From this point of view, I find that the company is being a highly responsible property developer. In a standard, each project is given a term of 36 months to complete. Where any longer than that period, developers may need to compensate the damages occurred to the purchasers. They would issue out these payments to the purchasers on a monthly basis, rather than other developers, who send out payments only when the project itself is fully completed. Other documents that I had learnt was for me to issue official receipts from payments and also to create invoices through a centralized software by Oracle. The software is specialized and tailored to the requirements of the firm, where the infomation of their buyers are held to proccess the receipts and other forms of communications. On the same week, I am exposed to their company's internal network. Where emails, data storage, accounts, project informations and financial reports could be found.
Furthermore, I have learned about legal documents and sensitive progressive billings during the first week. The legal documents consist of the Sales and Purchase Agreement, which the expertise of the lawyers is needed to certify this procedure. Personally, I have learnt that the panel lawyers associated with See Hoy Chan accounts to nine different law firms and they have 1 lead lawyer firm called Shui-Tai Advocates and Solicitors. The progressive billing that I have learnt was a method used in most big developers, such as YTL and SP Setia Group. It consist of stages of payments and only bills to the financiers, according to the progress of the project. This helps protect the security of both the buyers and also the end-financiers. On the other hand, I was engaged in one of two of their property sales gallery on the 1st week. Which was just right beside their headquarters in Damansara Uptown. From there, I have met up with the manager and also the top sales personnel of the sales team, Mr. Calvin Kwet. During my time at the sales gallery, he had taught the flow of how the property industry work. I have learnt that the industry is controlled by the Ministry of Housing in Malaysia, where they control and standardize certain procedures towards property developers.
The learning criteria that I had gained during the first week was about the administrative procedures and also the components about the business. I have learnt that these are very crucial in the progress of the business, where communications highly represent the company towards its own staffs, panels, suppliers, partners and also towards their own customers. The administrative procedures that I have learnt was issuing many variations of communication to their customers. These are also inclusive of the technical skills needed, the materials to issue and also the correct form of their operations in order to make it a complete proccess. I learnt that the components that makes a business fully functional is the departments and their staffs who represents the firm. On a daily basis, business deals and other important matters are being handled by the people who are working in the firm. This grant me the opportunity to have an exposure of how established property developers performs. The challenges that I had faced initially during this week was where the work is rather unfamiliar to me. Where during each time a task had been passed on to me, I would be given a very brief detail on how I can solve it. This proves to be very challenging, as where the staffs here are normally very busy to handle requests. I had overcome this challenge by being more daring to approach and correct the unanswered questions that I have in my mind.
Week 2 - Nov 17th - Nov 23rd 2014:
On this week, I have met up with my manager, Mr. Melvin as he came back from his annual leave. The expression that he gave was rather warm and very friendly. The first principle that he had guide me was to give which ever person who gave me the task to double check the work before I proceed with it. During this week, I have learnt one very beneficial skill, which is the process of evaluating land prices. The task that has been given to me was on a daily basis by one the marketing staff. Where I would need to process a communication between her and many property agents or firms. These agents would propose new vacant land for potential buyers such as a property developer. The transaction I had observed comes with a filtration process. Where after the communication started with the marketing staff, she would then pass on to me to do the valuation. She has taught me about how to measure the land, and it is standard in the acres metric. I have learnt that the land values varies very differently according to the area oh which the land itself is located in. Usually, it would measure from a few millions of Ringgit to a few hundred of millions for the empty land. From here, I would need to calculate the total acreage of the land and to calculate the pricing and into the price per square foot measurement. After which, I would need to place it into its respective folder, located in one of their internal storages. After the calculation is done, I would need to submit as a business development material, give a double check by the marketing personnel and send it directly to the Senior Vice President in my department.
Furthermore, one highlight during this week was where I had my first visit to one of the company's projects. It is called the Seringin Residences, located at Old Klang Road in Kuala Lumpur. The Seringin Residences is a 23 storey high condominium, where the units are a mixture of standard homes, garden villas and also penthouses. This visit was a briefing for only selected personnel on that day. I was sent by my manager to go to the site to learn with the sales staff and alongside some of the administration staff. The briefing was conducted by one of the sales staff, of whom I had newly met. It is aimed to learn about the process of a vacant possesion. This is where the developer finishes the building, and prepares to hand over the units to the purchasers. Within a few months time, condominium will be ready. I will be fortunate enough to be exposed to this crucial process, where this normally happens after 3 years time. The process will be a whole tour around the building. I had visited the main lobby, the facilities and also to the units itself. The sales staff in charge gave us this direction and briefing, whereby it is required when vacant possession is being held after 1 or 2 months later. The company estimates that the Seringin Residences will be ready for the handover during the end of Janaury or early February, 2015.
The learning criteria gained during this week were to get a hold of the whole administration procedures and their usual conduct of business. I have learnt to be in conscious to the business requirements, and also to be in line with business rapports. This creates a sense of belonging, where relationships are crucial for a more productive teamwork. Furthermore, I have developed the confidence to work better in the company. This confidence leads me to produce a more positive outcome, where I am able to achieve greater results after taking on the countless tasks given by the senior executives. I stay with a positive mindset, where more work comes with more learning experiences. This learning criteria provide a clearer sense of my direction to achieve the goals that I have set before working in the property industry. The challenge that I had faced in this week would be time relevant issues. After receiving many tasks to perform, I would also been given a deadline. Some of the days I will be given around 10 to 15 tasks to complete. The process of each task was normally very long to complete. This is where I would apply efficient time management to plan ahead and to prioritize each task according to its urgency.
Week 3 - Nov 24th - Nov 30th 2014:
During this week, my observations and the things that I had learnt about the property industry in the previous weeks will be tested. I have been scheduled to work for both of the days during the weekend, where I had been working in both of the sales galleries. The first sales gallery is in Uptown, and the other is located at Ara Damansara. The projects are both high-end apartments, and is called the Uptown Residences and The Potpourri. For the Uptown Residences are a project since 2011, but for The Potpourri was still new, which was launched during May, 2014. The pricing for the Uptown Residences are ranged from RM1.2 million to RM6 million, and The Potpourri is from RM700 thousand to RM1.5 million. The training provided was directly from the team leaders, the sales manager and also by the sales staffs stationed there. I was fortunate to have a one-on-one training session with the sales personnels. They had provided me with the skills and the knowledge necessary to learn about property sales. My observations was that the price per square feet varies depending on the level of the unit, the direction, the views associated with the unit, also to the types of the unit. This can be whether how high the unit may be located at, the cardinal direction and also the variety of the unit.
For my first trail, I had attended two customers at the Uptown Residences and five customers at The Potpourri. The process begins with a warm welcome, and it is similar like a tour around the gallery. After a welcoming note, we would proceed to the introduction to the project. From here, I would need to highlight the importance of the project. Such as whether it is in a freehold land or a leasehold land, the amenities, the facilities, price per square feet and also the maintenance fees. My observations from selling a property was that I find it is not an easy task. The whole process of the introduction may take up to an hour just to serve a single customer. Property sales require a lot of time for potential customers to consider, as they would also be looking at the competitions in the market. My challenge was that I would need to point of the strengths of the project that I am selling, as compared to the competitors. I also found that changing a customer's perspective was really difficult. This is where I had developed a skill that is by the first impression and also a better negotiation process.
The skills that I had developed during this week was being the skill of speech, and also by utilizing strengths to promote a product. I felt a certain achievement, after being confident to promote a product that is in millions of Ringgit in value towards a potential customer. I had developed a sense of being able to adapt to the requirements of the customers, and to bring out the strenghts that the project may consist to appeal to the customer. Although I had learnt to utilize strengths, I had also developed a sense of not to overshadow weaknesses. This is rather important, as I find that weaknesses may provide me with the informative materials that is necessary to build a greater understanding. On the other hand, I had also learnt how to issue out the liquidated damages payment, which I had learnt about during my first week. It was a lengthy procedure, that takes up to fives hours to complete. I have been in engaged in all aspects of issuing the payment. It starts from the finance department to issue the check, then for the CEO to verify, after that, it will be passed on to my department for the procedures. During the last day of the week, it was also the last day for one of the interns. My department had a brief celebration during lunch to thank him for his service.
Week 4 - Dec 1st - Dec 7th 2014:
For this week, I will be expecting to be working for three consecutive weeks. It includes for both the weekdays and also the following weekends. This measure is because there will be an event held at The Potpourri sales gallery during the month of December, 2014. The event will be a follow-up launch of two new show units at the sales gallery. For the preparation during the weekdays, I had been involved for which many invitations are being sent out through two communication channels. The first being called an SMS Blast, and the other called email distribution media or EDM for short. The recipients will be found in See Hoy Chan's customer database. I have been assigned to the task of amending and double checking for any errors in the message itself. Furthermore, an integration with many of the local banks will also be sending out invitations to their selected banking customers. I had learnt that there is a very strong partnership in relation between the company and the local banks. These local banks almost include each and every single local bank that is established in Malaysia.
During the event, all of the staffs in the Sales and Marketing Department are required to attend. In the first week of December, both of the sales administration staffs and also the sales staffs are required to work during the weekends for the event. The event was held from 9:30 am until 6:30 pm, also the normal working hours in the sales galleries. It started off with a departmental meeting, where the Assistant Vice President, Ms. Meng Wei, would brief all of us on the procedures, promotions and targets to achieve. I have been briefed that marketing is very important, especially street buntings. We were informed that we would need to notify walked-in customers to note down how they have found out about the project. The briefing took place at the management's office, where it took around an hour to complete. Because The Potpourri is a leasehold project, we had learnt that there are also sometimes superior than freehold project because of its development. Furthermore, the sales staffs would also present their study and findings about leasehold versus freehold projects. The information is used to understand that the leasehold property prices are also substantial towards freehold projects.
After the departmental briefing by the Assistant Vice President, the sales manager Mr. Calvin conducted a short briefing for all of us to understand a few matters. He emphasized that physical behavior or specific questions may trigger whether or not the customer would be a potential buyer. He also suggested that the transition of speech is highly reliable in order to capture the customer's appeal, and to ensure a smooth flow of the sales presentation. With the knowledge, skills and techniques manifested from the two briefings, I had been able to use it for my own sales presentation. I achieved a sense of confidence and determination to attend as many customers as I may handle. I had managed to serve up to 12 customers for both of the days on the weekend. Naturally, I had developed the confidence and a professional image to approach my customers. I had learnt how to maintain a negotiation, and to create a respectful relationship between the both of us during the sales. During Sunday, I had also invited my family to visit the sales gallery and I had attended them on my own. Furthermore, I had observed that the sales staffs would naturally categorize people into their respective demographics. I learnt that they use this natural response to customize a presentation that is comfortable and suited to their customers.
Week 5 - Dec 8th - Dec 14th 2014:
During this week, I have created a friendly relationship with almost all of the staffs working here. The staffs are also including personnels that are from different departments. I have observed that the department that worked the hardest was my department, the finance department, as well as the project department. In the previous weeks, I had learnt how important teamwork is to create productivity. I also got a hold on most of the jobs that are being handled for me. This would bring up to this week, where I would need to work closely with my fellow work mates who are also having their internship there. I got close with the interns, as my line of work is rather similar to theirs. At most of the time, we would assign many tasks to one another, where initially the task was given by the senior executives. I have experience that all of the staff in my department are very hard workers. They are also very centralized with the standard operating procedures, where they will always handle problems according to stated and required procedures. I learnt that this side of control of the management does ensure proper and efficient progress of work. For an example, the manager would always hold a daily meeting with the senior executives first thing in the morning, to ensure that progress is according to their schedules. Such as when reports of sales must first be completed, and finalized to issue out another report for the finance department.
The challenges that I had faced during this week was rather impactful to my daily life. In terms of work, I found myself to have a shortage of time spent with my family and friends. Normally, the time that I end my work at the office are on an overtime measure, which is at around 8 o'clock in the evening. I found that my own time management plays a huge importance to my daily social life. This is the challenge that I would need to overcome, in order to promote a greater work-life balance. Up until this week, I felt that the leisure time that I had spent for my own was also being taken away from my duties at work as well. The challenges that I had faced up until this week was to ensure a proper balance as I will also be working during the weekends. Until today, I had worked for 15 days in a row, and coming up to add on until 22 days straight until I may have my off days again. This week I had also been working at the sales gallery during both of the weekdays for the follow-up launch. The follow-up launch for this week was rather unresponsive, as compare to the previous week. Total customers for the 1st week was up to 60 people, but for this week we had only around 20 to 30 people.
The learning criteria on this week has been proven to be very challenging. In spite of working for days in a row, I found myself to have experienced opportunities to correct the problems that I had faced after the internship had started. This begins with my time spent at work. My daily routine starts early in the morning until late at night, and the time I will have each day has been rather short. At around just 2 to 3 hours I have for myself after work, I found that it is difficult to maintain a closer relation with my family and friends. I had planned to schedule myself to leave earlier after work at around 7 o'clock or when I have finished an important task for each day. This limitation was rather a goal for myself, for whether I could balance out a healthy separation between work and life. I have learnt the great importance of the time that I had spent with my family or for myself after my realization. To continue on with work, I will always pronounce a positive productivity to ensure that there is a balance.
Week 6 - Dec 15th - Dec 21st 2014:
After creating a mutual rapport with the staffs and setting myself a plan, I find that coordination was really efficient. Because of this, I found that the understanding had more clarity and the problems of the tasks are more mutual. A low context measurement can be found when I was working. This is where the tasks are directly handled to me without further explanation. But as always, I would need to hand back the task for double checking purposes. For now, the challenges that I had faced was to complete all of my tasks in a required time. I found it challenging, as when I was focusing on a single task, a flow of many new different tasks may be brought to me to finish. An example would be when I would to do the legal documents, and after completing it, I would need to call the lawyers themselves to inform them that the documents are ready. Whereby at the same time, the senior executives will request that I need to bring a document for acknowledgement at another building nearby the headquarters.
For this week, the sales and marketing department have recruited two new interns. In my position, I became their senior, where the senior executives require me to train and handle to them specific tasks. Currently, there are only four interns working there. As Ms. Zeti previously had shown me, I was the person in charge to bring them along to the office. There was a woman in my department who is in charge of notifying new recruits about the company's standard operating procedures, but she was on her annual leave for the whole week. The senior executives there gave me in charge on explaining the details to them, and to also provide them with their site duty roster as well as their lunch breaks for each day. We have greeted each other and got to know one another. Surprisingly, both of the new interns were also from Taylor's University Lakeside Campus. They are of the same age as I am, but both of them are currently undertaking the International Business & Marketing degree courses there.
Moreover, what I had learned from this week was a rather in-depth review of the property industry. As I had created good relations, one of the experienced sales staff working here have spent a good deal of her time sharing information with me. I learnt from her that big property developers usually do not construct their own projects. Rather, they emphasize on undertaking well known contractors to build their developments. Such as See Hoy Chan, they never construct their projects, but they only focus on developing it. Futhermore, big developers normally consist of a cluster of many different organizations under their company. These sub-companies are mostly revolving around the same industry, where this strategy is to minimize their cost of expenses. I learnt from her that developers would break-even given they have achieved only at around 30 to 45 percent of the total sales. This key development that I had gain was rather an insight to the property industry. I find that I have achieved a basis of a guide towards this field of business. I will be looking forward for what great experiences that may bring from the upcoming weeks.
Week 7 - Dec 22nd - Dec 28th 2014:
During this week, the company requires me to be frequently stationed at one of their projects named the Seringin Residences, located at Old Klang Road. It is a project that is coming towards its final completion, which construction had started since early 2011. This preparation was a frequent site visit, where I was need to inspect the facilities and also the units together with the sales staffs and also the staffs from the project department. The visit was conducted during the weekdays, where I will also be going alongside with the new interns. This preparation is also one of the early stages of the building to be ready for vacant possession. From what I had learned, the vacant possession is the final progress of any residential projects. It is where the developers pass the legal rights, the key to their units, utility applications, and also to perform a tour of their newly completed homes.
I have learnt that vacant possession will be also one of the most complicated and lengthy procedures for developers to initiate. I have observed that in the initial phase, the construction works must be certified by the architectural firm who designs the building. After which, the certification must be passed on to the Ministry of Housing in Malaysia for the government official to acknowledge the said building. The certification progress would take up to three weeks or more depending on the situation of the government officials. After that, the Certificate of Completion and Compliance, or also known as the CCC, will be sent to the developer. This is where the developer will issue out letters attached together with the CCC informing all the purchasers of the project that their units are ready for the handover procedure. After which, appointments will be set, authorization letters will be provided and many briefings will be held from the developer's point of view.
During the same week, a lunch to celebrate the Winter Solstice Festival will be held for all of the staff in the headquarters to attend. The lunch is held at a restaurant located a few blocks away from the headquarters in Damansara Uptown. By far from now, I felt that the company was a very caring company, as they would always hold this event of such importance on a yearly basis. During this week, I have achieved a great deal of understanding about being a property developer of such calibre.
Week 8 - Dec 29th - Jan 4th 2015:
During this week, I would highlight on what I had experienced about the transitions that the company undertake in the process of moving on from the year 2014, to meet a new year in 2015. Normally, the last week of the month was where the liquidated damages payments are being issued. I had been involved for the second time to observe the entire process of the payment. During this week, both me and the other 3 interns will be working on an average of until 8pm in the evening where we would call it a day. The payment procedures were a lengthy process, as it is issued to almost all 525 units of the Seringin Residences purchasers. The payment would range between RM 5,000 to RM 10,000, depending on the unit's total selling price. Other than issuing the payments, there is a significant departmental gathering for this week. It is when all departments will conduct their own meetings on the issues, challenges and performances that the company had faced in this year.
The departmental meeting had started at 8:30 am sharp, and it is where all of the personnels will gather and be ready for the briefing. Both the administrative staffs and the sales staffs had attended, including myself as well as the other interns. I had observed that the meeting was conducted by the manager and also by the assistant vice president. The briefing guides all of the staff on the sales performances for the year. In early 2014, the targeted sales had been implemented, and this is where the actual sales has been reviewed. Sales wise, the sales team managed to achieve most of the projects targeted sales. But this meeting also kept into account the sales of The Potpourri. It had achieved about 30% to 40% less than the tageted sales. After the review, a plan for a new strategy has been advised to be implemented in the year 2015. It would involve marketing strategies, promotional plans and partnership events to improve on this matter. Other than that, the key performance index (KPI) was also being reviewed, and the new KPI will be implemented during 2015 as well.
From the meeting, I had learnt how a business department would function. I had observed that a company measures its personnels based on the performances that the individual had performed during the entire year. This experience has given me the opportunity on how great businesses look back into their past and on how to improve it in the future. Futhermore, I was fortunate enough to have had this exposure to learn about the key details about this improvement. In the meeting, it was also being announced that the company will implement new core values to achieve their targets for the year 2015. The challenges during this week was to work in a fast paced environment. As the payments were a long procedure, it would take up to a day just for the payment processing to finish and be ready for posting to the purchasers. During this period, my development was on how to produce a more accurate administration documents and to be in accordance with the company's key procedures.
Week 9 - Jan 5th - Jan 11th 2015:
During this week, the Sales & Marketing department will be preparing for the initiatives for the vacant possession of the Seringin Residences. The Seringin Residences were delayed for about almost 3 months from now. This initiative was quite of an rare opportunity, as any given project will take up to 3 years to complete. In this regard, some of the staffs that have been with the company earlier had never experience this final and wondrous process. It is to my experience to learn from this great opportunity during this week, where the staffs undertake the first movement to deal with the vacant possession period. The period will be starting during the last week of January until the end of April 2015. Earlier this week, a meeting in my department was conducted that is solely focused on the vacant possession of the Seringin Residences. The briefing was headed by the manager, Mr. Melvin, and also by the Assistant Vice President. During the meeting, I had observed the guidance that the manager and the Assistant Vice President has brief to the staffs and me as well.
The briefing conducted gave all of us an insight and guides on how the process and procedures will be like. It would start at the administration procedures. It is where the vacant possession notices, relevant documentations, legal documentations, utility documents and clearance letters will be prepared. The manager also did notify all of us that the preparation for the relevant documentations will be initiated during the last week of this month. Furthermore, the Assistant Vice President will notify that both the administrative staffs and the sales staffs will be working alongside at the headquarters on level 12. It will be for the preparation of all the necessary documents to be completed before the handover of the project. From this observation, I had learnt that keeping it team in line with the requirements of the company requires further planning. This is to ensure the progress of the project schedule is kept at a manageable situation. I learnt that this requires constant briefing to ensure that all staffs are prepared accordingly.
On the other hand, this week is also the final week for the previous intern that I had met earlier on during my first day. The whole department had prepared an afternoon lunch for all the staffs that are able to join to bid him farewell. I noticed that the company was rather caring for sending off a previous staff, even as an intern working with the company. Other than working at the headquarters, I was also stationed in the Seringin Residences for 3 days to prepare multiple forms that will be used during vacant possession. I was stationed there together with one of the new interns and one marketing staff in my department. This was where I learnt a good communication with the team, as it produces a higher rate of productivity. As we need to organize the documents according to the units, and to make the least of mistakes possible. My challenges for this week was where I would need to organize the required documents for the preparation of the Seringin Residences. It is a challenge for me, as the process was rather complicated and where there are around 30 different documents to complete for just a single unit. I learnt how to manage my own organization skills, given with the task that has been handled for me to complete.
Week 10 - Jan 12th - Jan 18th 2015:
Over this week, the work at the headquarters, the Seringin Residences site and also at the sales galleries are greatly recognized. I have experience an efficient progress while I was at work in all three of the work stations. I found that it is because of the repitition of work conducted at about nine weeks of time, had been proved to be familiarly recognized. Previously, I had been exposed to the company's database to carry on with my usual task. Of all the tasks that I had been working, the most repeated jobs were issuing financial sales report to the finance department. I learnt that mistakes must be kept at the lowest degree. That is why each time when I had been passed to issue this report, I would need to pass to two other senior executives for them to acknowledge and to review on the work that I had produced. The system that I had observed in the company was where mistakes are greatly reduced. This initiative was not also for the practice of the interns, but for the senior staffs as well.
Furthermore, one of the days during this week was where I had followed my company's supervisor, Mr. Melvin, to meet up with a puchaser of the Uptown Residences. I had followed him during the afternoon, where the location requires him to drive there. He had mentioned earlier on that he would always take this measure as it is the practice of being cautious at work. He noted that it is always a better prevention of things that may not happen as planned or something of the unknown risk may bring. The short drive to meet up with the purchasers was a special request from the purchaser to sign a furnishing package agreements for his unit. As he mentioned that he had a leg injury, and was unable to go to the headquarters. From here, I developed a sense of a good relationship with the customer. As he had mentioned multiple questions about the project and I was able to keep him updated to the latest progress, while Mr. Melvin was preparing the documents.
During one of the days in this week, there is one significant day that has happened at the headquarters. There was an unexpected power blackout at around 10am the office. It had caused my department and the all of the other departments to be facing this same problem as well. This situation had interfered the entire office for about half of the day until the power has been restored. The blackout had caused the server room to be in backup operations, but the hardwares in the office are unable to operate. As almost all of the work can only be done via the company's internal database, I had observed that the usual working progress in the office had been severely stagnated. Up until around 3pm in the afternoon, the power had been restored. An announcement has been made that the reason of this outage was caused by a faulty backup supply. From this experience, I realized that most of the modern companies that conduct their daily work with computers has its biggest drawback. I learnt that the blackout was a great cost to the company.
Week 11 - Jan 19th - Jan 25th 2015:
On the 11th week, it is where I had learnt something that is rather interesting. I had learnt about competition studies about The Potpourri. As it is the company's latest project, it is where I find it vital for the company to keep track of its vital components such as this study. I had been a part of the group in this study, together with the marketing side of my department. The study assesses the local competitors that are building the same residential property segment. The study first assess its competitors based on a location radius. It consist of short distance and long distance competition in the market. The short distance covered of about 10 kilometres of competition nearby, whereas the long distance radius ranged about 50 kilometres away from The Potpourri. From there, I learnt that it is used to analyse its close competitors by the price trends, subsales market and by the location of the area. The study is then produced to an A3 sized paper, where it would consist of a few components. These components are the such of pricing per square feet, current selling price, total units, land size, density, percentage sold and the materials used.
The only objective that has been given to me was to understand this process. It is also to be used when I were to make a sales presentation to potential customers. I have learnt that it is vital to fully understand the elements that would be affecting the products that you are selling. From this experience, I have found that the marketing team does not only promote their products, but to strategize and plan on its own products as well. This development from my point of view, was where I learnt to acknowledge the surrounding competitions. From here, the planning and strategies that a business would implement would be far more effective to approach its own target market. From this study, I found that the reported study also has to be passed on for the assessment of the vice presidents in my department. After which, I have seen that it is used to conduct their briefings for the whole sales team. The study that I had learnt promotes a key understanding to where the products that the company are selling may or may not standout from its competition. I look forward into my own future to also utilize this concept as one of the key components to promote the products that one would be selling.
During this week, I found that the competition studies have a more impactful effect for my own development. I was fortunate enough to be involve in such studies, whereas from there I had learnt a heap of information about one of the company's strategic planning. From this study, I learnt that is it vital to fully undertstand the local competitor that may take affect on your sales. Moreover, I found it to be very resourceful as to where the highlights of the products may standout. After this study, I find that The Potpourri was selling at a premium than its assessed competition. It is selling at RM 820 per square feet onwards, as compared to the average RM 700 from its competitors. Yet sales wise are almost alike with the other projects from the other companies. I found that it is solely due to the overall designs of the project. It was also the only project available that is linked with a shopping mall in Ara Damansara. After this experiece, I developed a keen understanding to a products competitions. The study that I had been involved, proves to be rather challenging as I had not have this exposure before. I need to understand the concept as to how and why they are utilizing this crucial study.
Week 12 - Jan 26th - Feb 1st 2015:
In this week, it is where the annual Town Hall meeting of all the staffs working in See Hoy Chan Sdn. Bhd. Group will have a dinner all together. It has been held in at the 8th floor in the building, where all the staffs and also the directors will be there. The Town Hall gathering falls on the 30th January, 2015. It is where the CEO and the Executive Director will annouce on the performances about the company during the year 2014. The theme of the gathering is of a Chinese New Year setting, and most staffs will be also entitled for a lucky draw. The Town Hall was hosted by the human resource department, where the head of that department will be the one who organized the event. During the event, I sat in the table where the Sales and Marketing team is be located at during the evening. The director gave a brief detail about the performance on 2014, where the sales are up to the targets and new projects and partnerships will be formed. He noted that the sales of all the ongoing projects had been performed better during 2013. As compared to 2014, the overall profit gained during 2013 was better. He noted that it is due to the development expenses occured for their upcoming mall called The Starling, which is also located at Damansara Uptown.
During this yearly event, the cheif executive officer announced that there will be new core values and a staff evaluation standard to the company in this new year. From what I had learnt, the new core values will be called SHC Core Ideology. It will be implemented to train the staffs on two core values. The first is aimed to enrich the communities they serve through exeptional products and services, adhering to sustainable practices. The second confines to the care for the well-being of employees and foster them to their full potential. For the new staff evaluation, it is called the BARR test. This is the initiatives for Beneficial, Appropriate, Relevant and Realistic. From this experience, I learnt that this test is aimed to allign the company's personnels to the the SHC Core Ideology. I learnt that this helps to promote a pathway for how a staff working in See Hoy Chan may project themselves towards the community and also to their own company. On the other hand, I had observed the gathering was rather a gathering that is full of cheers. Despite the amount of profitability gained during 2014 as compared to 2013, I noticed how great companies strive to create a better pathway for its future.
In this weekend, I recall the opportunity that has been passed on to me. It involves on how companies deals with their performaces after a challenging year. Despite earning lesser in the latter year, I learnt how companies would strategize its resources to create a better outcome for the future. The development that I had gain was how to guide a company's employees to the needs of the firm. I learnt on how great companies would treat their own staffs with proper care and aid. During one session in the gathering, there is also a prize giving ceremony. Long serving staffs will be directly assigned with their own gifts, and for most staffs a lucky draw had been held. This week proves to be a week of understanding, as to how the company may function for its upcoming developments in this year. The key learning point was to treat employees that are working with the company with proper care and respect. That way, the staffs will be more than delighted to follow each step of conduct that has been administered by the top management. I value the direction of how the company manages its own employees to meet their own standards. This learning experience may guide my own direction to where I would also treat the personnels in my business fairly to meet the standards that has been implemented.
Week 13 - Feb 2nd - Feb 8th 2015:
During this week, it is where the preparation for the vacant possession of the Seringin Residences must be ready. The vacant possesion initiative was initially appointed to be starting during last week. But because of the pending approval for the Certificate of Compliance and Completion (CCC) has not been received, it was delayed until the first week of February. Both the staffs from the administration team and the sales team have had yet another collaboration to finish this task. For the vacant possesion documents, it is known to the developers as one of the most lengthy procedures to finish because of the files associated with it. One of the documents associated with the vacant possesion consist of 3 letters from the company attached with a copy of the CCC. Other supporting documents includes the clearance letter, TNB bill, SYABAS form, LPG gas form, fire insurance, quit rent bill and taxation documents. During Monday and Tuesday, I had spent working with the team until around 12:30am in the midnight for both of the days. For the first day, I had prepared all the files and documents to be checked by the senior executives. On the second day, I had been assigned as a team leader for registered posting of the letters to be sent out for the purchasers. I had coordinate with the executives, the new interns and also the ex-interns. They were called in by my department to work on the second day.
The leadership task was assigned by my manager, Mr. Melvin. For which, in total there are four different segments of units focusing on that particular job for the vacant possesion in my department. He had assignment to me this reponsibility, as he finds that I had did an efficient work on the registred posting previously. My job during the second day was to ensure all of the units has been attached with the relevant documents and to prepare it for registered posting. I had the opportunity to assigned parts of the task to the other staffs. From that experience, I learnt how to coordinate and delegate specific tasks to my seniors as well as the new interns. Other than that, during this week was also where Mr. Khairul from career services paid a visit to the company. We had conducted an interview at one of the meeting rooms located at the reception area. During his visit, he enquired about the working experience that I had gained throughout this internship period. I explained the details of my job and the things that I have learnt during my stay. The session was initially to meet up with my company's supervisor during that day. But I find it unfortunate that the company's supervisor, Mr. Melvin had too much work caught up. Instead, Ms. Zeti had conducted the interview with him in replacement for Mr. Melvin.
Also, during this week I had switch my place of work with one of the senior executives. From my experience, the sales and marketing department was one of the most intensive departments to work at. Given how the senior executives translate to it, one of which quoted that ''our department is the heart of the company''. The challenges that I had faced was more towards managing the documents of the vacant possession of the Seringin Residences. It was proven to be one of the most intensive task that I had experience throughout the term of my work. As each and every single document is crucial for the correct procedures, I find it challenging to maintain a task of almost zero errors to accomplish a proper and complete set of documents for each unit. I has learnt how to minimize this risk by assigning a particular job to only a single person. Therefore, the person would be familiar with his jobs to complete and to trace back the error would be far more effective.
Last Week 14 - Feb 9th - Feb 14th 2015:
For the last week of my term, I had the chance to experience the process of when property developers handover the units to its respective owners. It was the handover of the Seringin Residences to the purchasers of the property. From the previous weeks, almost all of the tasks is related to this particulat project as it is due for vacant possession. Although I did not got the chance to handover the units myself, I found that I had already gained the knowledge and experience for when a property had just been developed, to where it would end. In this week, I reflect back to where I had started learning all those documents in the administrative side of my job. I found myself to understand the purpose of each and every single documents that I had been working on. For every documents that I had encounter, I learnt on how to recognize the particular document to what job must be done. Furthermore, I had a clear understanding about its uses and its source.
On the other hand, the last week of my stay was also where I had learnt something new about the administration work in my department. I has been taught by one of the senior executives who is also the project leader for the Seringin Residences. Coincidently on my last day, she taught me on how to issue the final official receipts for the project. That particular receipt was a document aimed to finalize all the payments to be made before a unit can be handed over to the purchaser. After which, I had issued a financial sales report to close the account for those units' settlement. The report also must be passed on to the finance department later on. Originally, I learnt that receipts comes in fives stages. The first being the booking of the unit, the second was where the progressive payments took place and the last three, four and five is where the miscellaneous charges would need to be settled for the handover. During this week, I had also been taught about the whole procedures and documents to be handed over for the purchasers to receive their units.
In this week, I also had shared my knowledge to the other two new interns. I had taught them for how I have been taught by the senior executives. For example, preparing the legal documents requires the person who prepares it to call the lawyer themselves. I had instructed them on what must be done before sending the document to the lawyer during my last day. From this experience, I have learnt the measures of how a company's standard operation procedures functions. For all of the work that I had done, it is also based on the management's requirement. These are the such as the daily news monitoring, on which particular date that reports must be completed and official receipts that must be completed and sent out for at least 2 days when it is issued. Moreover, I gained the knowledge and experience the way of how a big businesses maintain its operations. I have achieved this knowledge through the daily tasks that I have conducted when working with the company.
The Last Day - February 14th 2015
The overall learning criteria for my entire working term with See Hoy Chan grants me a perspective view in the property industry. I had gained the knowledge about the trends in this industry while I am at work with the seniors. My experience of the internship was where I got the chance to learn the whole process of property development. During my last day, my department was kind enough to held a farewell lunch for my leave. They had ordered Domino's and we had our lunch at the Vice President's office. Together with the company's supervisor and all the senior executives, we bid our last departure. My initial goals that I have targeted has been achieved beyond what I could have imagined. The goal of getting as much hands on experience and how the business functions has been achieved tremendously throughout my stay. The welcome of my arrival during my entire term has been enhanced by the warm and energetic spirit shown by my department. I had thanked all of the staffs that I could meet for their kind support and guidance that has been given to me during my internship.
Future Development
Working with See Hoy Chan had given me a great opportunity to discover a clearer view of my own future plans. During my internship with the company, it has helped me to gain an in-depth view towards the property industry. I found that the task from both the administration and sales side of view has given me an opportunity to experience new key learning points that I had never been exposed into. I found that the rapport and the contacts that I had made also do provides me with a presence of where in the future I hope to make use of it. It is where I could communicate with the company themselves where I understand how the processes would be held. For my future plans, I hope that the knowledge that I had gained from the company provides me with a greater understanding of investing in the property segment. My interest in the property industry has lead me to understand of how property prices increase over time, and the factors associated with it. These are the likes of market trends, demographical behaviors and also the developments surrounding the location. I have learnt well during my journey with the company, where I hope that these in-depth knowledge would bring a more prosperous and resourceful future as I would endeavor towards this path.