Welcome to another episode in Intern-views, 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 took a Nestle internship, proving that internships are a great way to find full-time employment afterwards, whether it be with the company you interned at or anywhere else for that matter.

It's why people intern in the 1st place: to grab transferable skills you can bring with you wherever you go.

Today’s episode will be introduced by Bea Pelayo, featuring Earl Viray who proved that little fact in the best possible way. With his combined experience of the Nestle internship and competing at Brandstorm, Earl is one of the enviable L'Oreal Management Trainees for 2016!

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.

Bea: Hello guys! Thank y’all for reading the Intern-views we’ve had these past couple of weeks. I hope everyone’s gaining a lot of insights from our Intern-views - whether it’s about the industry or the more cheesy parts - because I surely did.

Since I was recruited to TBC, I’ve been on the lookout for amazing people with amazing internship experiences. And honestly, it isn’t that hard to find them, especially when you’re surrounded with them.

For tonight’s Intern-view, I was able to talk to one of my classmates from UPD, Earl Ricser Viray. We were classmates a lot since I'm a Business Administration student and he's a Business Economics student, but my first memory with him isn’t even business-related.

He was my classmate in Geography 1 (which was dominated by Econ students) in 2013, and we were teammates during Geog Camp (where we go on a field trip to fight each other). Back then, I saw his stellar leadership skills through our group activities, and can I just say that he is really good in talking to and connecting with people.

Earl's also the kind of student who never hesitates to recite, especially when the professor asks something and no one raises a hand.

Aside from being classmates in marketing, I remember him (together with other BA friends, Mari Perez and Ralph Ramos) representing our batch in the L’Oreal Brandstorm national finals. That’s when I realized that Earl is, indeed, #goalz. (Aside from taking a Nestle internship last June July 2015.)

Immediately after graduating from UP, he was hired by no other than L’Oreal. He’s now enjoying his time and starting his career as a Management Trainee there. We all know not everyone gets a chance to work for such a company, but Earl deserves it really. I mean, aside from being a Brandstorm national finalist, just take a look at his random fun facts:

I became the Corporate Relations Director of UP Economics Society.
I handled the Public Relations Department of National Economics Summit, a symposium that brings together students from around the nation to discuss, debate and consolidate views and opinions on issues that shape our country.
I led UP Aguman (an organization for UP students hailing from Pampanga) as its President.
I like Japanese food, but...
I don't eat sushi.

Okay, those last two weren’t as glitzy, but you get what I mean. Anywho, let’s now take a look at what Earl has for us tonight! I hope you get something helpful from what he shared. Happy reading!

How did you find and pick this internship?

I found it through an FB post! I picked it because I wanted to get a glimpse of the Nestle culture they were talking about. (Note from Justine: FB is honestly changing the way we find jobs. Use it better guys.)

Why did you choose to intern?

I was initially planning to go to law school. However, I thought that I might be better off in the non-legal corporate world, so I chose to intern to see whether I am fit or not in the non-legal corporate environment.

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

It was challenging and fun at the same time! In the final round, we had to innovate in just 20 minutes. The details are, of course, secret. wink

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

I needed to be agile, cooperative, and articulate. After the Nestle internship, those skills were further developed and I learned to be more creative. (Note from Justine: Those skills are called transferable skills and they're the most useful things you need to learn while you're still in college.)

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

I expected the Nestle internship to be very demanding of your time and effort. Fortunately, they gave us flexible time schedules and relatively light workload. In my case, I was the one who demanded for more work. After all, if I ask for more work, I would gain more experience and network. It would be a win-win scenario.

What did you do during your internship? What kinds of tasks and projects were you given? Did you volunteer to take on a task yourself?

I was the only General Sales intern under the Interns to Leaders (i2L) Nestle internship program that time. Most of the tasks and projects given to me were aligned with the department of my line manager, Field Sales Capability and Activation Group.

I helped in training the sales force of Nestle by organizing boot camps and creating a Product Knowledge Module. Alongside those stints are voluntary tasks as well.

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

The best parts of my Nestle internship were the times I met different kinds of people: CEO, employees, co-interns, maintenance staff, etc. With my talks with them, I was able to get insightful life lessons.

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

The worst part of my Nestle internship was the heavy traffic going to and fro Rockwell. I stay in Katipunan, so I had to travel during rush hours. Good thing I had wonderful carpool buddies! (Note from Bea: This is very much useful and a lot cheaper than Uber!)

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?

Make sure that you were able to properly close your water bottle inside your bag especially when you have important papers with it. First day is also the day of first impression.

And when I opened my bag that day, the inside was flooded by water. The signed papers for Nestle were wet, and I didn't know how to explain it. How's that for a first impression?

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

Go to different forms of stores! I went to modern trade stores (e.g. Puregold) and general trade stores (e.g. palengke). Learned a lot of interesting things from those trade visits. (Note from Justine: I got to do this at my internship too, and wow guys, it's so fun that you can never enter the supermarket or any store normally ever again.)

What would you say was your greatest learning from interning?

Grab every opportunity to develop yourself. If no one is challenging you, find yourself a challenge. If no one is pushing you to your limits, be that one. In the end, it's all up to you.

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

Know how to deal with different types of people. It's a skill you can use forever. #MayForever

Do you have anything else you want to say to the readers?

Life is full of surprises - both positive and negative ones. When those surprises come, feel free to jump, shout, laugh, cry, or... just give it a poker face.

What's important is that afterwards, you should convince yourself to keep moving on and to be stronger to face the next surprise with a cooler head and a warmer heart. Sincerely wishing you all a meaningful life!

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: Earl Viray on Nestle Philippines