Intern Interview: Steven Tang

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Student Intern Profile

Name: Steven Tang
Country: U.S.A.
Major: International Business Administration / Management Information Systems
Internship at: Delta Air Lines
Duration: Fall 2014 & Spring 2015
Note: Academic Year Abroad

Q1: Why did you choose to intern at Delta?

Steven: What first attracted me to Delta Air Lines was its brand. I have always had a keen interest in the airline industry, so Delta instantly stood out when I was researching potential internships. As one of the world's largest airlines, Delta was easily my first choice for an internship. I felt that Delta's internship description fit exactly what I was looking for in an internship. Likewise, I felt that my profile was a good fit for what Delta desired from an intern.

Q2: What are some of your projects/responsibilities at the internship?

Steven: My biggest project was creating purchase orders from the raw data pulled from SAP. It was my job to sort through the raw data and create purchase orders, which would be entered into InvoiceWorks and used for making numerous critical financial decisions throughout the company.

Q3: What have you learned from the internship?

Steven: My internship at Delta allowed me to gain experience in professionalism and taught me how to navigate across cultures. I learned how to plan projects, measure progress, and execute goals in an international setting.

Q4: What was the biggest challenge you faced during your internship and what did you do to overcome it?

Steven: The biggest challenge I faced during my internship at Delta was the underlying question of how to eliminate human error, and how to make the process faster without sacrificing quality. Manually sorting through the information was time consuming and redundant work. My solution to this was to create a macro on Excel to help automate the process.

Q5: Please tell us your future goals or your plans after graduation.

Steven: Going forward, I plan to continue my education at graduate school while looking for a rewarding career at an international company working in the IT field.

Q6: How do you envision your internship experience helping you in the future?

Steven: TUJ truly provided me with the international experience that I was searching for, both inside and outside the classroom. I believe that my experience studying abroad and working in Delta Air Lines has given me the experience and skills needed to succeed in an international company.

Q7: Would you recommend this internship to other TUJ students?

Steven: My internship at Delta Air Lines allowed me to apply the knowledge and skills Temple has equipped me with and take on challenging and rewarding projects. As an intern at Delta, you are not treated as a student. You are held to the same level of professionalism that they would expected from employee. This is especially true in the Finance Department, where numerous critical decisions are made based off of the reports you create. Delta was the professional experience I was searching for and I really enjoyed the international environment. Furthermore, my supervisor and coworkers at Delta really cared about my development and always made sure I had the resources I needed to succeed.

Steven's Daily Schedule

TimeActivity
9:30Arrive at work, greet coworkers with "おはようございます" (ohayou gozaimasu/good morning), respond to emails.
10:00Create new Purchase Orders
12:00Meet with head of IT Department to discuss IT career path
13:00Lunch with coworkers
14:00Meeting with supervisor to discuss specific Purchase Order issues
15:30Update and adjust previously created Purchase Orders
17:30Work on Excel Macro Project
18:30"お疲れ様です" (otsukaresama desu/thank you for your hard work) to coworkers, return to home