My Internship at Yempo
Issa Padul joined Yempo in June as one of our first two “OJT’s” – on-the-job trainees. Issa is in her final year at university, studying HR. On Friday, we had to say farewell as she returns to college, but before leaving, she shared this with us.
Yempo — these five letters that spelled my fun summer, with vibrant logo colors that added art to my life, and together with people who cherish each other’s time, effort and company — now becomes a milestone in my life, one that I can look back on and say, “Wow, that’s one big life-changing company.”
Ready for Yempo
I can clearly remember my first glance of Yempo. From the amazing job ad, to the informative company website, and to that unit 306—Yempo just got me hooked. When Miss Lorraine, my amazing HR manager, welcomed me I couldn’t stop grinning. Deep inside, my inner self was screaming, “This is it, lesson one starts right now!” The excitement of facing an HR manager for real was truly an event for an HR Intern. Miss Lorraine was going to teach me how to become a proper HR professional, and I wasn’t wrong. When I saw the development plan for me, I knew then I was ready for Yempo, and Yempo was ready for me.
Yempo is a fertile ground for learning, surrounded by professionals who know their field, sharing and communicating ideas to make a better company. Being in Human Resources, handling people has got to be one’s expertise. The boost in my social life because of Yempo is something to be treasured–dealing with people through interviews, calls and texts, talking to employees for requirements, replying to every single e-mail and making these applicants know that Yempo cares.
Every day as an HR intern, I was exposed to each facet of HR to the very detail, received sample documents to follow and improve, handled real interviews, wrote memos, designed bulletin boards, learned time keeping and payroll, and so much more. Ask my manager, and she knows it!
Rookie Mistakes
It sounds awesome but I also had my share of challenges in Yempo. I didn’t know how to handle a hundred e-mails a day, sent wrong letters to people, forgot scheduling (now I know why attention to detail is one of the HR’s job requirement) but lucky me, I wasn’t evicted. I was given the chance to learn because this is what Yempo does—they develop people, and develop them well.
This awesome company solidified my principles—that employees are real team mates, that work-life balance should be valued, that there should be an act of giving back, that the workplace should be a second home, and that every person knowing Yempo will be ecstatic to stay.
Even now, I can’t help but talk to my friends and professors about the team–my CEO, my manager, my officemates, the lunchtime pantry sessions, the pizza Fridays, the solid camaraderie, the spontaneous laughter, the good morning and good bye greetings every single day! Okay, I can write a lengthy novel about what Yempo is to me but now isn’t the time.
Holisic Development
So to me, Yempo is not just about the five letters, or the vibrant logo colors, or the overflowing tea and snacks, or even about the nice office location. Yempo is also serious about my career development as an HR intern, my academic development as a student, and most especially my personal development as a person. After all, we are Yempo–committed, excellent and a community.
So years from now, and when I look back at this point of my life, at this milestone in my timeline, I can finally say, “Wow! That’s one big life-changing company! And I have been a part of it.”