Internship at Citi Bank Nanjing Branch - Essay Example

25th April Intern report of firm My internship this summer was working at Citi BankNanjing branch. The bank headquarters are in Nanjing which is located in the East China. Citi bank Nanjing Branch is a financial institution which has more than 200 million customers; the bank has expanded in more than 160 countries. The bank has a wider range of services like credit, corporate and investments among others. In 2012, an income statement that ended 31 December indicates that the bank had a worth value of 4,829,671,147 Yuan. Citi bank Nanjing branch in 2012 had operating profit of 1,816,600,836 Yuan after deducting all the expenditure and other expenses in the bank the net profit for the year was 1,373,212,966 Yuan. The mission statement of Citi Bank Nanjing branch is creating value for their clients, aiming to achieve long term growth for the clients and operational excellence where the staffs will focus on professionalism, innovation, and team spirit. This can only be achieved through human capital and commitment so as to attain long-term development. To make sure that the mission statement is achieved Citi Bank Nanjing branch is supporting the small and medium size enterprises. Citi Bank Nanjing branch has been working with different stakeholders thus engaging farmers to borrow loans, small business enterprises, loans for individual with basic necessities and loans for micro enterprises Description of work As stated earlier Citi Bank Nanjing branch key role is to support the society and those like minded organizations thus enrolling a system of lending money to small firms. Loan leading was provided to the farmers, small enterprises, and basic necessity for individual consumption and loans for micro enterprises. In the process of my internship period in Citi Bank Nanjing branch, I was assisting the department of finance with the process of leading money to all small and medium sized entities though in the first few days it was a challenging responsibility but I was determined to achieve my goals. Explicitly, I was issuing loans to all those companies or individuals though the process was done in different departments before one was issued with the loan. For the purpose of accountability, the senior manager instructed one of the bank experienced worker to guide me in the process of giving loans almost a week and thus making my work easier though some times when the staff was a way for a breakfast or lunch I used to encounter problems. But within three weeks time, I managed to get all the necessary information concerning money lending thus the manager and other officials were optimistic that if I put more efforts, I will be in a position to attain my objectives as well those of the organization. As a money lender in the branch I had to communicate with customers and thus sharing information about the company or the small business enterprises and again I had to submit the same information to the manager so that he could examine the business legality. The bank and the customer had to write down all the information concerning the business for instance how much they need, whether it is a long-term loan or short term loan, the interest rate which the company will refund the loan with, the number of creditors and debtors and finally the security the company is wishing to leave to the bank or if it was an individual the amount he or she is willing to contribute. After going through the companies’ application forms and documents and evaluating the companies worth value in term of assets, we had to decide what we are willing to lend depending on the companies assets and the payback amount required for the same amount. When the bank and the customer negotiated and reached a consensus, companies together with the bank will prepare loan forms and ensure the customer fills them in a correct way for the purpose of effective processing of the loan. The company must submit the original documents to the bank. In Citi Bank Nanjing branch, customers were supposed to provide ownership documents must be submitted, operational business licenses, loan application form together with grantors among other business certificates. During this period working as a money lender in Citi Bank Nanjing branch I encountered many challenges though I came to learn that money issues must be done with patience where all the stakeholders have to value different assets so that loan can be given to a company. Again I learnt that writing of agreement must be done and later submitted to the relevant officials but if one does not take time before lending, then Citi Bank Nanjing branch can be at risk of loosing the money. I came to learn that experience in the bank and professionalism in the field must be enhanced in the area since many people have suffered in bank related problems. Goal setting and analysis From the internship in Citi Bank Nanjing branch I socialized with other employees in the bank and this gave me an idea on how one can relate with others in working environment. For instance, as I continued with my daily duties as well as during my free time, I observed how the employees and the managers used to socialize and this made me to lay the goals which I wanted to achieve. The goals include: 1. Since in the first stages I was trained then I decided to do my project without assistance 2. To make use of my academic knowledge that I acquired in the first stages which I got in the college 3. Have confidence in my work 4. Improve relationship between I and the customers in terms of communication Doing my project without assistance During the internship period I used to write reports and other projects relating to the bank where the manager of Citi Bank Nanjing branch used to give me description of the job and later a report was supposed to be submitted to the manger. This give me my first goal that after the internship I had to submit a project to my lecturer and since I had an idea how a project is written then I decided to do it on my own without any assistance from an individual. Since I was well equipped with the knowledge of handling project I had the courage to do it without any assistance though in Citi Bank Nanjing branch the information concerning the project were provided. After deciding to do the project on my own I experienced a lot of challenges since I had to rely on the customer information about the loan so I had to be sensitive and later to compile the information to come up with a project. This was a problem and till to date it is a challenge. Another problem that I encountered during the internship period in the process of writing the project was how the customer exaggerated their financial value of the companies. This meant that I had to be cautious while dealing with the customers since they were providing figures that were high as a way of indicating good performance of their entities while in the real sense they looked incorrect. Another challenge that I encountered while in internship was that even if the firm was not large, the project required us to know the buyer and suppliers of the bank. This meant that I had to know the clients and again the analysis of the bank in the market since I was well versed with finance knowledge while in the college. This meant that for the completion of the project it required someone who had experience relating to the firm. In other terms, my goal of doing the project without any assistance was not achieved mainly because I underestimated the work thinking that it was an easy job. This made me aware that some work only requires experience and again I decided that I will not set goals which are impossible to achieve though given another chance I will be prepared since I have underwent extensive training and guidance. Make use of academic knowledge In college we did a lot theoretically concerning finance related issues though practically I was not poor since in the first weeks of internship I did a lot of practical preparing me to the task ahead. This made me to decide that the theory that I got from the college I had to put it in reality. During this period I was challenged by the language barrier since I was good in English speaking and this posted a threat in my work since some employees would even use Chinese to communicate which was a problem. Again some of information that I was required to use was written in Chinese language making it hard to understand though I used to seek help from the workmates who generously helped making it a success. In the college I had a lot of information concerning banks and calculations related to financial ratios. I had to balance all the financial estimates and other calculations being able to now the weaknesses and strengths of Citi Bank Nanjing branch apply from what I got from the college though whenever I made a mistake in calculation the workmates used to collect before the data is taken to the manager. This made me to achieve the goal though I had to work harder and seek help from others. Have confidence in my work From the time I was in the college, I was not able to convince someone that something is good or bad since I did not have confidence though sometimes I was right. I was shy and not able to talk to a group of individuals whenever I was given a chance in the college. But when I was internship, I had the confidence to talk in meeting and even present financial report on the behalf of the head of finance department. My partners encouraged me to be confident so that I could achieve my goals. During the internship period my confidence level was increased since I participated in discussion and forums where I had increased the confidence level. This confidence level helped me when I was back in the college since even the lecturer noted an improvement in confidence level since I was able to make presentations well in the class. Improvement of communication Good communication skills in the first few days was a challenge since in the college I was shy and I did not like to associate with classmates but during my internship period I had to improve in communication since I had to communicate to the customers in daily bases. Negotiation was a must with the customer since we had to come into an agreement so that the loan could be processed and this made me to be open to my colleagues where I explained my challenge in communication and they helped me a lot to improve. My colleagues in Citi Bank Nanjing branch helped me a lot since they used to direct the customer to me and helped me whenever I was not clear in my communication. Before starting daily duties in Citi Bank Nanjing branch, one had to give a brief overview of what he or she is going to achieve before the day ends making me to improve my communication skills. During the working hours I also observed how the colleagues and the customers were shaking hands communicating to everyone in the department thus making me to be able to set my goal and make sure that my communication skills will be improved. Within the first four weeks of the internship period, I was able to improve my communication skills through the help of workmates thus accomplishing my goal. This made me to decide that even when I will be back in class I will make my communication skill to be even much better through socializing with other classmates. Evaluation of the internship During my entire time in class we had not done any practical relating to the firms but I am pleased because Citi Bank Nanjing branch has made me to understand and get an experience relating to the bank. I benefited a lot from the experience and in near future am going to enroll to another internship so that I can add my experience. (I)Practical values During my entire period in Citi Bank Nanjing branch I was able to acquire good communication skills from the bank through the assistance of workmates and till to now I have maintained it. Communication is the key issue whenever one is dealing with customers. In addition to communication skills I was able to acquire confidence in my work and I was able to convince the customers and other employees in Citi Bank Nanjing branch that I was perfect in my endeavors. Confidence in one daily routine work matters a lot since one must convince the customer the channel to be followed. I came to know that what we learn from the class though not practical is of importance since it leads to achievement of goals in the organization. I cannot forget all the workmates especially the manager who used to assist me in various way as well as what I needed for the accomplishment of the goals and the co- workers who used to help me to get practical information. I came to realize that the sky is the limit as long as there is somebody who can support. (ii) Academic values Calculations that involved the banking system which is computerized is of great help to me since I do not think if I had not gone internship in the bank what I have acquired would not have been achieved. The use of excel sheet to balance some of financial documents in the bank was another academic value that was added in my experience. The use of Microsoft word which I was not conversant with it was still added in my experience since I used to use Excel sheet and Microsoft word in daily basis. In summary, I can say that Citi Bank Nanjing branch has equipped me with the necessary experience which in return will yield a lot in my career. (iii) Improvement Citi Bank Nanjing branch is located in China and this means that majority of the customers usually use Chinese language which was a challenge in my entire period of internship in the bank. One of the improvements that I need to polish up is to get knowledge on how I can be able to talk and interpret Chinese language. Since no one is perfect in everything, I can say that given another chance to be working in Citi Bank Nanjing branch I just need little improvements so that I can be smart in the Citi Bank Nanjing branch. Conclusion I benefited a lot to be attached in the bank where Citi Bank Nanjing branch staffs contributed a lot for me to get the necessary experience which will boost my career in future. I would like to recognize Nanjing branch fraternity since they have laid a foundation in my life through what I gained from the bank and the whole entire support team. If given another chance for internship I would join Citi Bank Nanjing branch since I benefited a lot from the bank since theoretical information that I was equipped in class was put into practice. In addition to the things I achieved while in Citi Bank Nanjing branch, it would be my wish to be in the stock and customer care departments where I could still get experience. Since I do have the support from the parent as mentioned earlier the sky is the limit and I am planning for more in near future. References Citi bank Nanjing branch, http://www.hrbcb.com.cn/eng/index.jsp retrieved on 24 April 2014. Read More