Internship Preparation

Selections & Goals

Parkson One Utama was not my first choice that I chose for my internship when I was informed to choose company placement. It was actually my third choice. However, because I had  gone through interviews from my first and second choice of companies but did not get selected, I could only complete my internship with my third choice which was Parkson One Utama.

Before starting my internship, I had attended some workshops and talks provided by Taylor's Career Service Center (CSC) that were all about internship. For instance, what I should wear during internship, what kind of attitude I should have while talking to my 'boss', and etc. After internship, I realized that they were really significant for my internship, for example, I wore my formal clothes properly during internship, customers complimented me that I was smart and look professional, and I was happy with it.

Furthermore, I set some goals for myself to achieve in three month internship before I started. First, to understand well how an international retail store operates the business. Second, to improve my communication skills by promoting products. And lastly, to gain as much as possible knowledge in the area of my internship.

Company Profile

Parkson was founded in 1987. It is an Asian-based department store operator which is under The Lion Group with an extensive network of 132 stores across cities in Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. 

Over the past 26 years, Parkson has built an invincible reputation, operated efficiently, and implemented competitive business model to compete with the other retail stores.

Parkson collaborates with numerous international brands such as Polo Ralph Lauren Children, Burberry Kids, Etro, Lacoste, Timberland, La Mer, Chanel, Christian Dior and Swarovski, to offer consumers in the middle and upper-middle income segment a wide range of merchandise.

In Malaysia, Parkson opened its first store at Sungei Wang Plaza in 1987. Also, the flagship store, Parkson Pavilion, was opened in 2007.

Parkson One Utama
Organization
Chart

Internship Week 1~2

Day 1~14

On the first day of my internship, I planned with my friends who were chose Parkson One Utama for their internship to go earlier. When we reached One Utama, it was only 8.30am, the gate was closed so we could not enter into Parkson. So, the three of us tried to ask people around and find Parkson staff entrance separately, after half an hour we still could not find it. After that, we saw a staff who wore Parkson uniform so we followed her and finally we found the staff entrance. You will never know how the stuff entrance looks like, unless if you be the staff. It was totally different compared to the regular entrance.

Then, we went into the office and we were greeted by Kak Mila who is the head of Human Resources. After greeting us, she brought us to the training room to give us an orientation and the needed forms including the offer letter to fill up. After half an hour of orientation, she gave us a name tag which showed PARKSON TRAINEE and gave us a tour of Parkson One Utama. Later on, she brought us back to the training room and started our eLearning Online Course by using the two computers in the room.

Head of Human Resource

Name Tag

eLearning Online Course is provided by Parkson for new staffs or promoters to learn and understand the most important basics in this service line. There is a service which is called "Parkson Star Service" that included 7 steps which are Ready For Service, Acknowledge & Greet, Identify Needs, Advise Solution, Plus Selling, Close The Sale, and Post Sale Service. It entails the Do's and Dont's about wearing, attitude, language, and so on. 

Parkson 7 Steps Star Service

On the second day, I still went to Parkson much earlier before working hours but not as early as the first day. We were doing the same thing as the first day staying in the training room to continue learning the basics. After lunch, Miss Amy Teo who was the store senior manager gave each of us a Parkson One Utama map and assigned us to memorize all the departments and brands position, also there were some changes that we needed to figure out. This was to ensure that we started checked the area one by one and wrote it down on the map. According to Miss Amy, we needed to be clear with all the departments and brands position because if the customers ask and we give them an incorrect information, it creates a bad impression to the customers.

Ground Floor

First Floor

Second Floor

The following days, due to the job rotation system, we were allocated to six departments which were Receiving Department, Customer Service Department, Accounting Department, Cash Management Department, Household Department, and the last Cosmetic Department.  Five of us were divided into two groups, three of us including me were allocated to the Receiving Department and the other two were allocated to Customer Service Department.

Briefing

Every morning, there will be a briefing before the store opening. It is normally about sales results, staff performance, announcement on the new promotions, and guiding staffs to do what they are supposed to do.

In Receiving Department, there is an executive, a manager, and three workers to handle the department, they are friendly and nice. They were willing to guide me when I was facing problems. What I have learnt from Receiving Department were checking and ensuring the quantity of receiving stocks are matched with the invoice, key in to the system that indicates we have received the stocks, key in the Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) which is to distinguish all the stocks, the prices and the needed quantities and print to make the price tags in the printing room, sticking the price tags and sensor tags to the receiving stocks following exactly with SKU, sending received stocks to the stores that they are belonging to, and processing the returning stocks.

Manager (Receiving Department)

Sticking Price Tags
& Sensor Tags

I have been learning these things for two weeks and I am able to handle the daily process of Receiving Department. Then, we were given a book which is to write our learning outcomes and to evaluate the department from Mr Murali (supervisor in Parkson).

Mr. Murali (Supervisor)

Family (Receiving Department)

Internship Week 3~4

Day 15~28

On the third week, three of us including me were exchanging department with the other two because of the job rotation.

Customer Service Department

Customers Waiting Area

In Customer Service Department, there is an executive, two managers, and an assistant manager. They are friendly and experienced about solving problems with customers.

Executive (Customer Service Department)

On the first day in Customer Service Department, the manager told us there are only five most significant things to remember which are Bonuslink, Vouchers, Giftcard, Elite Card and Promotions. First of all, Parkson has an alliance with Bonuslink that allows customers to collect points by purchasing Parkson products. The Customer Service Department is for customers to check their points in their account and redeem items or Parkson Vouchers. Secondly, Parkson Vouchers could be categorized into three types which are Gift Voucher, Promotion Voucher, and Discount Voucher. These vouchers have different terms and conditions, and the purpose of distributing these vouchers is to encourage customers to come back and purchase Parkson products as what I learnt from my studies. Third, Giftcard as its name which could be a gift for friends, employees, and others that buying from Parkson. Fourth, Elite Card is also called member card, it has its terms and condition. For example, customers who purchase more than RM 500 in a day in Parkson could apply for the member card which benefits them by getting a 5% discount with purchasing any products in Parkson. Lastly, Promotion is the promotions which called Purchase With Purchase (PWP) and Gift With Purchase (GWP) that Parkson giving benefit for customers, for instance, PWP is when customers purchase RM 150 products in Parkson, they are having the benefit to buy the certain products with 50% discount in Customer Service Department, and GWP is when customers' purchases achieve certain amount, they could collect a free gift from Customer Service Department. And the most most important thing is to be polite with any kind of customers while serving them.

Assisting Distribute Parkson Voucher

In the beginning, I faced a lot of problems that I was not clear with Vouchers' terms and conditions, some of the promotions and processes, I kept asking for help from the manager. I did give incorrect information to customer but luckily I checked with my manager and corrected it before the customer left. From that case, I have learnt that I needed to be exactly clear with the terms and conditions that could avoid unnecessary problems from the customers. Also, there was a mistake that my colleague accidentally gave the wrong voucher to the customer. After that, he needed to pay for the mistake. For instance, the customer's redemption was only a RM 50 voucher but he gave a RM 100 voucher to the customer. So, he had to pay for it. What I have learnt from this is that I need to double check before making any transactions, and also you will pay dearly for what you have done wrongly.

                              Handsome Colleague        Customer Service Supervisor

Two weeks later, I found that serving different kinds of customers is not easy, it was my responsibility to be polite and try my best to solve the problems that customers face as I worked in the service line. Also, there will never be enough staffs to serve customers as the manager has said on the first day because there are a lot of different kinds of problems that appear everyday. I recommended that Parkson adds one more counter to serve customers as it will be more efficient and faster

Internship Week 5~6

Day 29~35

On the fifth week of internship, we were just returning from Chinese New Year celebrations in our hometown. I was allocated to the Account Department and the others were in Cash Management Department.

Because our internship was only eleven weeks, there was not enough time for us to be allocated to every department for two weeks each. Our job rotation was only one week for Account Department and Cash Management Department.

Every morning after briefing, we needed to stand by the entrance for half an hour to greet entering customers. Greeting is used to create good impression for customers that they are feeling welcomed and that we are respecting them to shop in Parkson.

Greeting Customer

In Account Department, there is an executive, a manager, and a worker. The jobs that needed to be done in Account Department were doing rechecking the invoices after Receiving Department received the stocks. If there is a mistake between invoice and receiving stocks, we need to e-mail the supplier and require them to resend new invoices. Secondly, we needed to count and ensure that all the amounts of transactions are exactly matched between the actual amount and the system. If there is a mistake, we needed to figure it out which part is done incorrectly. Third was to separate the bills with different paying methods that allows headquarters to easily to finish up the year end report and to photocopy the bills for back up. Also we needed to key in and print out every single transaction for back up purposes.

Account Department (Quite Messy)

One day in Account Department, I was counting and matching the bills amount between manual and system and I found that the amounts were different, I did a recheck with my manager and still got the different amounts. Finally, we found that there was a mistake made by the other department and we corrected it. From this I found that every department is interrelated, one mistake can cause another department to be mistaken. Every transaction and every amount needs to be calculated exactly as what I have learnt from my Accounting studies. There was once, I could not figure out where the mistake was so I asked for help from the manager and she solved it. It was a challenge for me in Account Department because I was unable to learn all things about accounting in a week.

Manager and Staff

Although we were in Account Department for a week, we built a good relationship with Account Department staffs especially Apai (manager) and Yana (worker) because they were friendly and they did their best to teach us on Accounting. We always had lunch together, and sometimes after work we had dinner and watched movie. It was the happiest and most memorable times when of my internship in Parkson.

Having Sakae Sushi During Lunch Hour

Having Dinner Before Watching Movie

Seems Like Movie Poster >.<

I recommended to the executive that it needs to add on a PC for Account Department because the staffs were sharing a PC which slows down the efficiency. 

________________________________________________________________________

Day 36~42

On the sixth week, three of us including me went to the Cash Management Department. There is a manager, an assistant manager, and a worker in the department.

Colleagues Are Hardworking

The photo above was a workplace of Cash Management Department and also there was another workplace which had a safety box with all the cash and vouchers that was not allow for taking photo.

In Cash Management, my daily job was about lodgement, which was to check every received voucher and to ensure that they are used before the expiry date. 
If there is a mistake, whoever that received the expired voucher has to pay for it. Furthermore, I to cut off the angle of the used vouchers that indicated it has been checked. Besides that, I also matched the daily cash received from every cashier and the price of sales in the system. If there is a staff makes a mistake, he or she has to pay for it. Sometimes, there was a fuzzy writing that we could not recognize what it was, we needed to key in the transaction number in to system to look for what it exactly was.

Jobs in Cash Management Department were simple and easy but there were plenty of work that needed to be finished daily. It was the only department that I fell asleep while working because I was checking vouchers expiry date one by one so it was a boring job.

The challenge that I faced in Cash Management was I could not finish up all the tasks that needed to be done daily. Also, I was only there for a week so I was unable to learn more in Cash Management Department.

Colleague (Cash Management)

Family In Office

Internship Week 7~8

Day 43~56

On the seventh week, we were allocated to Household Department and the other two were allocated to Cosmetic Department.

In Household Department, it is categorized into three which were cookware, plasticware, and glassware also called tableware. There is an executive, four supervisors, and the rest were promoters which under their own company in Household Department.

 Supervisor (Household Department)

Cookware Area

Glassware Area

Plasticware Area

On the first day in Household Department we were briefed and we did not need to stand beside the entrance for greeting but we needed to do 'House Keeping' which means to tidy up the products. According to Miss Amy, before and after 'House Keeping' gives a totally different impression to the customers, and she showed us the difference as the below figures.

                                          Before                                        After

After 'House Keeping', we went to all different areas to ask the promoters about the knowledge of products. Products knowledge including origin, material, application, function, speciality and warranty. These were necessary to be clear with, because we were also working as a promoter to serve customers.

At first, I was not familiar with the products like frying pan, cooking wok, spatula, and others in Household Department. As Miss Amy said 'to be curious as a kid, look around and ask the promoter for products knowledge'. So, I started walking around and asked the promoters. Also, I observed how the promoters promote their products, how they communicate with customers, and how they serve and satisfy the customers needs.

After few days, I was able to serve customers because I had followed the Parkson Star Service and observed how other promoters sell. One day a customer came to me and asked for the non-stick frying pan so I promoted the Tefal frying pan to her which was not only a non-stick pan but it was light and did not need oil to fry eggs. It was also an induction pan that was designed for optimum and even heat distribution which means no 'hot spot', after that she bought the frying pan and thanked me. I was happy and proud that I applied what I had learnt from the Parkson Star Service which are Identify Needs and Advise Solution.

In the middle of Household Department was an area for promotion products. It will be changed periodically due to different brands that had different promotion periods.

Changing Promotion

Sometimes, some brands would have their promotions outside of Parkson to increase sales or to demonstrate the new products function as what I have learnt from my studies.

Promotions:

Tefal Blender

Tefal ActiFry Low Fat Electric Fryer

Two weeks later, I was able to promote and serve customers well, also I had gained a lot of products knowledge that I would never know if I did not work in Household Department.

However, there was a weakness of Household Department which was sometimes promoters were not on their own position so customers could not ask for the product information that creates dissatisfaction. I recommended to ensure that promoters job rotations are rotated and every department at least has a promoter all the time.

Career Service Center Officer 

From Taylor University

Visiting

Executive, Supervisor & Hardworking Promoter

Internship Week 9~10

Day 57~70

On the ninth week, we were same as normal exchanging department with the other two and it was the last department. I worked with the Cosmetic Department.

In Cosmetic Department, there is an executive, a manager, and two supervisors. Cosmetic Department sells three main types of products which are fragrance, make-up, and skincare.

Cosmetic Department

On the first day in Cosmetic Department, after half an hour of greeting, we were assigned to work in the store which needed to be authorized before we were allowed in. In cosmetic's store, the process was totally different with the other departments, it had to be more secured because every single product was high in cost and it was small in size which means it is easily stolen. We were assigned to check and record all the products quantities and the returning of stocks as well.

Counting Quantities

Listing Returning Stocks

After listing all the stocks including returning stock, we were guided by Abang Sya (Manager) to walk around Cosmetic Department to recognize every brand's origin, gender, and flavour. There were a lot of brands and among  popular brands were Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Gucci, SK-II, Prada, Coach, and etcetera. I had learnt from the fragrance promoter that smelling coffee bean allows people to distinguish the flavor of fragrances when they are confused by smelling more than three flavor. Also, to distinguish French 'Pour Homme' and 'Pour Femme' words on the fragrance packages, 'Pour Homme' means 'for men' and 'Pour Femme' means 'for women'.

On the next day, after the briefing, the manager asked us to check and ensure that all the lights are switched on. According to Abang Sya, the cosmetic's products display with the lights could get people attention and gives them a perception that it is a 'high class' product.

After that, we were given a job rotation table that differentiate us into different shifts which were morning and afternoon that started on the next day.

Job Rotation Table

Then, we followed him to go store and rechecked the quantities of new stocks from the Receiving Department. One of us was doing listing and the other two counted the new stocks' quantity.

Listing

Listing And Counting Quantities

In Cosmetic Department, daily processes was to take staffs attendance, switch on all the lights, check quantity of new stocks, and return stocks like slow moving and damaged that asked from promoters, and replenish the selling fast products with suppliers.

Sending Returning Stocks to 

Receiving Department

As what I had learnt from my studies, Parkson uses Inventory Control strategy that minimizes inventory which reduces holding cost that could increase the profit at the end of year and stay competitive in the market.

The challenges that I faced in Cosmetic Department was that I was still unable to memorize all the brands name and their locations after two weeks, also I was still unfamiliar with the women cosmetics (make-up & skincare).