Tokyo intern shares summer experience

Doing an internship is a great way to experience potential careers you might like to do in the future.

Working at Morgan McKinley for the past 6 weeks allowed me to understand the daily life of a professional recruiting company, and practice some skills that I hadn't acquired at school.

This was also my first experience in working in a corporate office environment. I came in the first day feeling excited but also a bit nervous. Everyone in the office was very welcoming and immediately made me feel like part of the team, and thanks to the great atmosphere it didn't take long for me to feel comfortable in the office.

The Tokyo office has six different desks, each focusing on a specific discipline. For my internship I spent a week at each desk, helping out the consultants in their specialisms with a variety of tasks, including:

Database organisation
Online research
Coordinating marketing materials
Attending candidate meetings in the office
Speaking with clients on the phone

I believe that, personally, being on the phone pushed me to grow the most. At first I did not feel comfortable being on the phone and I tried hard to memorize a ready made script, but as time went by, I started to feel more relaxed and added my personal touch to each conversation. Through the phone calls, I was able to experience both feelings of rejection and success, which developed my confidence and professionalism in telephone discussions. The feedback from my co-workers was always very encouraging and I would like to thank them for that.

Not only did I start to feel more like professional on the phone, but also through this internship I gained a better insight on the work of a recruitment agency. From my research I gained a lot of knowledge on each specialism of business. I am sure that this experience and the knowledge I gained will help me in my future.

I would like to express my gratitude to the Tokyo team for making my 6 weeks internship unforgettable. I truly appreciate that you guys welcommend me as a part of your team. Have a good rest of the year, and I will see you in Tokyo!

Niklas Tawast | Tokyo Intern