[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Nicole Kirui is a student at ALU’s campus in Mauritius, African Leadership College. She’s spending her trimester interning at Royal Media Services, the largest electronic Media House in Kenya. It is home to some of the country’s most popular television and radio channels. Its most popular brands include, Citizen TV, Inooro TV, Radio Citizen, Ramogi FM, Inooro FM, Musyi FM, Chamgei FM and Muuga FM.
What is your role and what are you currently working on?
During my internship I’ll be rotating to a different department each month. I’ll be working in the Sales department for the month of October then will move to the Digital department in November all through to December.
What’s fun is that I get to work with all the 13 stations that the company houses but currently I’m working with one of their radio stations- Wimwaro FM. I’m currently working on getting clients to advertise with the station. My target revenue is a million plus Kenyan Shillings a week.
How has your internship been so far? Any highlights or lowlights?
It has been full of mixed emotions. It started out on a low note with me getting there and discovering that there was no formal structure for interns which translated to no work for me for the in the first few days. I had to raise my concerns which led to me being assigned various tasks to complete. The biggest highlight for me has been putting my Communicating for Impact skills in practice when I was told to pitch to a mega client in the first week and of course with facilitators like Mr.Tofik, the deal went through!
What’s the biggest lesson you have learnt so far?
The biggest lesson I’ve learnt so far is the importance of going into a new environment with a very open mind. I thought I knew everything about sales until I was fully immersed into the world of real sales where numbers are the only deal breakers. That is when I realized that I knew nothing about sales. Sales is the only world where numbers talk while others listen.
What do you wish you had known before going into the experience?
I wish I had known that it is never wrong to be bold enough and voice your opinions even though you are an intern. As interns we are also part of the organisations we are interning with, just like everyone else.
What do you miss the most about school?
Wifi! Wifi! Wifi! (just kidding). I miss being part of a huge family that always cares for you.
What do you hope to achieve at the end of this internship?
At the end of my internship, I hope to have grown in both my professional and social skills. So far, I think that I’m headed in the right direction in comparison to how I was in my first week as an intern. I also hope to build my network with the right kind of people.
What would you like to tell the new cohort as they start their journey?
Be you! I think that’s the greatest piece of advice I would ever give to someone. Let your personality shine all through your school life and also in the workplace. This just makes you stand out as there is no one who can match up to your skills.
Finish this sentence:
The working world is SERIOUS! There is no room for silly mistakes as every company works hard to achieve its set goals.
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