Welcome to another episode of Intern-view, where The Bumpy Career interviews former interns of interesting and cool places and where we ask what’s their advice for the next batch of interns. Today we're featuring someone who came from the Globe internship.

Please note that any company featured in this series is in no way endorsed by and from TBC. No one’s advocating that you should go intern at our featured places. We just thought that these people had stories and projects that were great to share.

Today’s episode features a self-introduction by Arby Cuevas, a 3rd year Legal Management major from Ateneo de Manila University who interned at Globe Telecom.

Usually we have to ask a lot of questions to prompt our contributors for their intros, but Arby did such a great job answering our basic that we’re just going to leave everything as exactly how she sent it to us!

So, here is Arby Cuevas, future corporate-something-to-do-with-creative-or-marketing manager, to tell us about her summer at Globe Telecom:

Romabel S. Cuevas, aka Arby aka Arbebe aka Arbbgurl

ADMU, 3 BS LM, Globe Telecom, April-June 2015

Academic Credentials: I used to be a starry-eyed 16-year-old HS salutatorian with high hopes in life, then I evolved into a sleep-deprived, coffee-infused (occasionally beer-infused) 19-year-old chick, struggling/striving to maintain a 3.38 cumulative QPI while minoring in Philosophy.
Co-curricular Credentials: I was recently elected as a part of AMP’s Executive Board as the Administration Associate Vice President (AAVP).
- I was also appointed as the Admin & Finance Officer (AFO) of a non-AMP gig production called HIGAD Productions, which aims to create gigs in order to integrate the diverse (ehem rather distant) aspects of the local music scene.
- I love music. My boyfriend and my AMP friends usually drag me to gigs almost every week (sometimes, on weekdays). I play the drums which implies that I know how to bang hard (but I also know how to play guitar, piano, and bass - slight lang).
  - I rarely make songs but I still try, huhu. I am here as an advocate of the local music scene! SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTISTS/BANDS!
  - I love Theology and Philosophy. I’m taking up a minor in Philo, but if I could, I would minor in Theo as well. I find them quite well-made and thought-provoking subjects.
    - Oftentimes, I prefer crying over an existential crisis more than breaking down over my management majors (if it’s going to hurt either way, at least choose the path that’s worth being hurt).
    - I also like having balance in my life and having something reflective to think about.

I’m an ENFP-A Scorpio with a blue aura (and a dash of red) born on the year of the rat (if that helps).

Lundagin Mo, Arbeybe!

About the above image: I took these two pictures and superimposed them on one another. One was of BGC’s skyline during sunset and the other might* be a Batangas beach sunset.

How did you find and pick this internship?

Before the second semester ended, my ninang asked me how I was going to spend my 5-month-long summer vacation. I told her I had nothing planned yet although I was looking into getting an internship so I’d have something productive to do during the long-ass break.

She wanted to help me look for some place to work. I told her I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do yet so she just started recommending big companies, “San Miguel, Globe, etc.”

That night, I just told her that Globe seemed like a good place to intern. I opted for Globe -- just because.

TL;DR: Ask your relatives for internship opportunities. They might make it easier for you to get in.

Why did you choose to intern?

This was the summer of the academic shift and I had nothing to do during the 5-month-long vacation. All my friends were going out of the country/out of town because of the long break and I had no one to spend time with (lol i was lonely) so I decided to put my time to good use. That’s it.

TL;DR: I got an internship just because.

How was the experience of applying/being interviewed for the internship?

The conversation with my ninang happened mid-Feb. By the time the second semester ended, I actually forgot about wanting to apply for an internship.

kalye_bars.jpg Processed with VSCO with f2 preset

It was only until I received an e-mail from my ninang that I remembered I wanted to intern in the first place. She asked me to send in my resume to an HR person from Globe, along with some sample writeups.

As a non-leisure writer (este someone who doesn’t write for fun), I found it difficult to look for great writeups. All I had were “so-so” work and I wasn’t inspired enough to write anything new so I settled for some old lit analysis papers and a couple of history essays (i.e. Lit14 and Hi18 requirements, lol).

After a couple of weeks, someone from the Globe internship department e-mailed me, asking for my number, so she could schedule an interview.

The text said, “Go to TGT at 32nd St., BGC on (this date).” I was a north girl with relatively strict and lazy parents. By that, I mean the farthest I’ve gone to the south was C-5.

My parents don’t like going to distant places so whenever we go out, it’s always within Quezon City. This was the first time my family and I were able to go to BGC (the last time we were there, it was still called “The Fort/Fort Bonifacio”). I was dolled up in my corporate attire.

It was an hour-long drive from Maginhawa Street to BGC and I had both my parents with me for moral support. I was so nervous. That was the first time I was interviewed by HR personnel from a big-time company. It was a big deal! I was interviewed by my boss and his boss (from here on out, I will call them boss and Boss-Lady) and they asked me all about me: my academic performance, written work, my hobbies, my org experience, and so on.

It wasn’t as tense as I expected it to be. They made jokes and they were quite welcoming. It didn’t feel like an interview at all because it felt like I was just having a consultation with a professor (I was also hired immediately, lol).

TL;DR: The interview is not as scary as you think it is. Just come prepared and be your best self - confident and beautiful (it won’t hurt to show a little passion as well).

What would you say are the skills you needed when you applied? Did you pick up any new skills through your internship?

I had to make sure I put my best foot forward. When they asked me about my grades, I made sure to highlight my best subjects and my highest QPI. When they asked about org work, I immediately told them I organized 3 projects in a year (they were fascinated by my project management skills).

When they asked about my hobbies, I told them everything that I could do (kasi nga jack of all trades, master of none nga ako, huhu).

As for the skills I picked up, I can say that the one I most appreciated was the administrative skills. The Globe internship was a good time to further develop my MS Excel skills (since I didn’t pay enough attention in ITM; sigh apparently, you do need it in real life). I also organized files, attended meetings with my boss and took notes, fixed schedules, etc.

But the most important skill that I had (and further developed during my Globe internship) was the Kakayanin mentality: to accept work even amidst uncertainty.

There were plenty of times my boss asked me if I knew what this was or how it was done, but if I told him I didn’t know, he might give the job to someone else and that’s one less learning opportunity to me. It’s a risky move, I know, but aren’t taking risks a part of the learning experience?

TL;DR: When you’re asked to do something you don’t know how to do, accept the job and learn how to do it. Don’t be afraid to ask for help but also don’t be a wuss. Believing that you can do something and working hard to learn and accomplish that something should be enough to get things done.

What was your expectation for the internship? How did the actual experience compare?

I didn’t know what to expect, actually. Back then, I was so confused what I wanted to intern in, I placed Human Resources, Marketing, and Public Relations as the positions I was willing to work for.

And when I was considered for an interview in Human Relations, I just wanted to try out what it would be like to work in such an environment.

Overall, I have to say that my Globe internship experience was a blast. I had to work for 300 hours on an 8AM-5PM pace with a one-hour lunch break in the middle. The 1st half of my Globe internship was focused on administrative work (which was too dull and tedious for me), but the 2nd half of it was probably the most adventurous I’ve been in my 19 years of life.

Through this experience, I was able to distinguish the things I wanted to do and the things I wasn’t interested in doing. It was a good start to sorting out which path I wanted to take as soon as I step out of college.

TL;DR: I interned not because I knew what I wanted. I interned because I was unsure.

What did you do during your internship? What kinds of tasks and projects?

Primarily, I was hired as an intern for a writing project but when my Boss-Lady found out I organized 3 projects during the school year, she got the impression that I was great at project management (which I am, lol).

I’m not sure if I’m allowed to disclose what this project was but I am sure that the 300 hours weren’t enough for me to know how the company was going to go about this future project implementation.

As I’ve said previously, during the 1st month of my Globe internship, I was stuck with administrative work: working on documents, spreadsheets, powerpoints, attending meetings about the said project, and so on. You get the point.

But during the latter half of the Globe internship, I was tasked to facilitate various team building sessions for the departments my boss was in charge of. These team building sessions were held in Batangas (once in Zambales) and they were at least 3-days-2-nights long.

This meant having to design activities to engage these titos and titas to develop their sense of accountability, foresight, communication, etc. I was also assigned to look for people to help me facilitate these activities so I was also asked to conduct applications for co-facilitators and thankfully, a lot of people applied.

In short, it was like getting paid to be a OrSem TnT (Note from Justine: OrSem = Ateneo's welcoming rites for freshmen. TnT = super energetic tour guides for the freshmen) for middle-aged employees - it was the best!

TL;DR: Administrative work is necessary but it is not fun. :-(

What would you say were the best parts about your internship?

It was a new experience: the 8-5 work pace, the Maginhawa to BGC travel, having a desk to myself, being away from home three days at a time for work, meeting all these titos and titas and knowing how they think, knowing what corporate life feels like, and so on. These were all so exciting to me.
The Workcation: I was sent to Zambales and Batangas (a lot) to facilitate these workshops and these were usually held at resorts. It was a different beach every three days. In addition to that, food, lodging, and transportation were free. I EVEN GET PAID. THANK JESUS.
Interviews: Being asked to look for co-facilitators, I had to interview a lot of interested applicants. It felt great being on the other side of the interview setup as the one to ask questions. I’ve never felt so administrative/professional.

TL;DR: Get an internship because it’s funstagram!

What would you say were the worst parts about your internship (or interning in general)?

It was at BGC and I was from Maginhawa. All the complaints my southern friends made all make sense now. The one-hour travel time to and from the office was no joke. I had to wake up at 5AM to leave at 6:30AM to make it to my 8AM shift. I had to work til 5PM and I usually get home by 7 (sometimes 9 if we have dinner out). It was one of the most expensive experiences ever.
Maybe this was just me but I think I was put on a pedestal. Everyone was hesitant to give me heavy work just because I’m from Ateneo (and probably because they didn’t know what to give me).
I didn’t enjoy the administrative work as much (sobrang ironic kasi Admin Associate VP na ko ng AMP ngayon; oh how the turntables lol)

TL;DR: Be prepared to commit (long hours, long drives/commutes). Be prepared to get comments like, “Uy, Atenista. WOW,” and prepare possible (sincere & humble) replies to such comments. Most importantly, BE PREPARED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE WORK (I cannot stress that enough - it’s a necessary evil).

If you could go back in time to the first day of your internship, what is one piece of advice you would have given yourself?

You can wear flats to work but wear heels every once in awhile because it makes you look great! Other than that, just relax. Oh, and prepare for tons of administrative work.

What would you say was your greatest learning from interning?

The TL;DR statements I put in bold are all great learnings but if I were asked to just choose one, I’d choose this: I interned not because I knew what I wanted. I interned because I was unsure.

What was the most interesting thing you did at your internship?

The 2nd half of my Globe internship didn’t feel like work at all. It was the perfect combination of work and play (play because I was kinda also on vacation - imagine all the food and alak). I thoroughly enjoyed it!

What advice would you give anybody who wants/is about to start interning?

For me, interning wasn’t just about the “experience” (ehem, something to put on my resume). It might seem cliche for me to admit that my Globe internship was my shot at self-discovery.

It was a time I figured out what I wasn’t interested in and what I kinda wanted to do. Just as I said earlier, I interned because I was unsure. It all started with not knowing what to do with the five-month break and followed through with not knowing what I wanted to go into.

Back then, all I had in mind was a vague aspiration of interning at a big company just know to what it’s like to be an intern.

Yes, having Globe Telecom, HR Intern on my resume might give it a little splendor - and originally, that was the only thing I was after. It’s only now that I realized that there were more important things than the resume.

I figured out that the south was beautiful (tho sobrang hassle ng transpo). I also discovered that sitting behind a desk for 8 hours with nothing to do is not the life for me (administrative work back then was the bane of my existence. I thoroughly enjoy it now with AMP).

I would be fine with administrative work if it meant being completely passionate about it. I found out that being on-the-go can get a little tiring sometimes and I’m the kind to miss home too often. And lastly, I figured out that a strictly corporate life is probably not the path for me.

It sucks to know that I’m already in my junior year of Legal Management and it’s only now that I’m beginning to doubt my placement in this course (and in this life). Yes, I do like some management aspects like HR and Marketing, but I can’t find it in myself to be stuck doing just that.

Above all, I realized I don’t exactly know what I want yet. I’m about to turn 20, almost done with college, about to be kicked out of my home like the Spartan my parents think I am, and I still don’t know what I’m going to do after college. It’s terrifying.

But I can say that taking that Globe internship helped me take a few steps forward in knowing the least of what I wanted to do (which I guess was something along the lines of corporate-creatives).

See, that’s still very vague and I’m already running out of time, but I don’t mind. I’m willing to take my time in looking for love in employment or entrepreneurship. I might not know what I’m going to do yet but at least I’m already on my way to doing something. Lundagin mo lang ‘yan.

This is undoubtedly the easiest guest article we ever had to write because Arby is such a dream to work with.

And that’s it from Arby Cuevas, who interned at Globe Telecom. Arby and I are friends, but I had no idea that was what she was doing during our 5 month summer lol.

Hi! I’m Justine.

I’m the founder and writer of all things in The Bumpy Career and welcome to Intern-view, a whole category where we ask people who've interned at other places here in Manila to share their experiences and advice for anyone and everyone's reading. Hopefully from their experiences you'll feel like there's a lot more possibilities out there. We want you to feel like sky's the limit for you!

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Intern-view: Arby Cuevas on Globe Telecom