今年度の日本語弁論大会で、優秀な成績を収めたJannaさんが、豪州三井物産株式会社でのインターンシップレポートを送ってくださいました。
After my participation in the Japanese Language Speech Contest Victoria in 2018, I was very fortunate to be nominated through the JCCIM Internship Opportunities Program as a candidate for an internship at Mitsui & Co. Australia. I was successful in the interview and began my internship in January of 2019. Having just completed my first year of university, I undertook an eight-week internship at Mitsui & Co. Australia during the summer break prior to starting my second year. As part of the Metal & Mineral Resources and Energy Division, I was not only able to gain knowledge in the areas that I did research in, but I was also able to gain insight into how an organisation can operate on a global scale.
As I am studying a double degree combining Commerce and Languages, I was particularly eager to be given an opportunity at Mitsui, where I could exercise my research and statistical analysis skills as well as enhancing my language skills. My tasks mainly involved research, gathering data and presenting it in user-friendly ways, with a lot of work centred around Excel, beyond the level at which I was taught at university so far. This meant that I was practising and building on many practical skills that I can apply to areas in my future study and work, all the while gaining knowledge and insight into the mining industry, and Australia’s imports and exports of metals and energy.
Beyond the practical level, I’ve also been able to see how a corporate firm runs on a daily basis. From the interviewing process and HR inductions, to the codes of conduct and social events that all contribute to my understanding of the corporate culture at Mitsui and have helped develop professionalism. One of the aspects of Mitsui that I came to grow very fond of, was that it operates on such a large scale that the employees really do come from very different backgrounds with varying skills and experiences. This gave me the opportunity to really improve my inter-cultural skills through connecting with many unique individuals who all had their own Mitsui story.
Some ideas that I previously held about working, economics and the trade industry have been unravelled entirely, some reshaped and some reaffirmed. Most significantly, I came to the heavy realisation that a fair amount of content that we are taught in school and university is not a reflection of the world or the economy as it is. I can’t thank Mitsui enough for providing me with the backbone to start my own learning journey to understand more about how businesses operate and reignite my passion for languages and travelling.
I am incredibly grateful to have been given this extremely worthwhile learning opportunity and industry experience and hope that others can also experience and treasure similar opportunities!