My summer internship at Asia Tea Co., Ltd was a wonderful experience. I finished my internship by accompanying the CEO and the production manager on another business trip to Northern provinces. The management philosophy is that in order to truly understand tea production you need to visit tea hills and factories often. In only two days, we visited eighteen tea factories across four provinces to negotiate tea prices and buy materials. We only had a break after midnight and went back to work at 7 o’clock in the morning. During the trip, I learned much more about how to negotiate business deals and handle stressful situations. The most memorable moment was when we waited for a ferry to cross the beautiful Hau River at 10 pm to meet a business partner. Besides the ferry drivers, we were the only three people on the ferry. I knew that the CEO wanted me to understand that a good manager really understands all aspects of the business. The trip was very enlightening and I consider it the capstone of the internship program.
An article about the Ngoc Lap factory, one of the factories that Asia Tea Co., Ltd owns.
My summer internship helped me realize my strengths and weaknesses. Thanks to data analysis assignments and market research projects, I am now more confident in my quantitative ability and broad knowledge about the world. However, I realized that I need to expand my industry knowledge base and improve my negotiation skills if I want to become a CEO in the future. Therefore, I look forward to taking some graduate-level business classes at Brandeis and hope to intern at a consulting firm next summer. Experience as a management consultant will improve my analytic and management skills and better my chance of getting into a MBA program. Thanks to the internship, I also understand the importance of the relationship between the government and companies. Since Asia Tea Co., Ltd always strives to contribute to the development of national agriculture, it receives support and subsidies from the government. The subsidies play an important role in shaping the company’s business policies. I want to learn more about economic policies and their impact on the economy at Brandeis.
The Vietnamese tea industry is undergoing a new direction in development.
I really enjoyed my internship at Asia Tea Co., Ltd this summer. I hope other Brandeis students could achieve amazing internships during their time at college. For people who have never got an internship before, I have an advice: “Be bold.” We are usually afraid of failure, so that we sometimes do not apply to the top opportunities. However, if we try hard enough, we can succeed. To intern in Vietnam, you certainly need to know some Vietnamese. But you can intern in the tea industry in almost every country, including the United States. In order to get the internship, you must be passionate about agriculture and tea in particular. If you can demonstrate your passion to the interviewers, your chance of getting the internship is much higher. If you have any question regarding my internship or the tea industry in Vietnam, feel free to email me at dt1308@brandeis.edu. I look forward to sharing my experience with other Brandeis students.
– Duc Tran ’13
Being Vietnamese my self, I know the importance of tea within my culture. It must have been great to be out there. I really like the communication between you and the CEO of the company. Not to many CEOs are willing to be working hand in hand with other interns. I am happy that you soaked in that experience and hope you achieve your goals of becoming an CEO.
I’ve enjoyed reading about your internship this summer! It sounds like it was a really great opportunity for you. After completing this internship, would you consider working again in the tea industry? Why or why not? Good luck in your classes this year!
I had a chance to visit one of the major tea factories during my time in Kenya this summer. I went on a tour that showed the production from the tea being picked to the final testing. The whole process is fascinating. Sounds like you had a great experience.