My name is Léa Wong, I’m currently 18 years old and a first year international trade student from France. One reason that motivated me to come to South Korea was because I have been interested in Kpop, dramas and Korean culture for a while.

  And since, I had to do my internship abroad I thought why not going to a country I want to discover and learn more about?

  I searched for different Korean company; I found NoTag and contacted Aiden to asked for an internship. I had an interview, we talked to each other and here I am!

My internship is focused on international trade especially prospection and I was hoping to learn more about prospection but not only I also wanted to discover more about trade, have more experience and knowledge.

I worked at DDP – Dongdaemun Design Plaza, a brand new building which offers many surprise regarding design.

What I did - What I learned

  First of all, I had to learn more about the products I was going to sell so Aiden explained me each products with the designer’s idea/meaning behind it.

  Plz don’t buy it mean that it asks customers to not buy the products if they do not understand it. As seller, I have the task to explain the products to the customers so I have to understand it.

Then after understanding the products, since the exhibition started a few days ago, we had to make people notice us and introduce our self (our company, our exhibition and sometimes our profile).

And so I created Facebook, Twitter, Instagram account and page, I update our products pictures and description in English, French and Spanish. At the same time, I had to sell products to customers at the exhibition – B to C while selling the products to the customers I explained them the designer meaning because selling is not the only thing that is important. People have to understand the creator message before buying.

  In order to make people notice us, as the exhibition started a few days ago I had to advert by maintaining our different account and page. Update picture of customers buying our products or even simply enjoy their time at our exhibition.

  Some events like, the exhibition inauguration or Soxsoo festival were held at DDP and so I had to update pictures of this event on Facebook and Instagram. (Keep those accounts alive are an important part in advertisement)

  During my internship, I also had to do prospection: sending mails to our buyers to recommend them our products. For this task, I had to check their website in order to find out their concept, understand what type of products they sell and if our products can match what they want.

  After this I sent customized brochure to each of them, customized brochure are important since they show the customer that we did some research before contacting him but also it optimize the chance to get an order, he will see products that might interest him immediately.

  I also had the chance to visit some gifts shop in Seoul as well as the design square in Hongdae to search for new items that could be part of our new brochure. It was fun to discover new products but also very interesting to have the place of a buyer in a company. It made me realize that as a buyer I think differently than as a seller but I of course have to think carefully before choosing.

What I achieved
 Netgift is a company based in China, they were interested to order our products and be our distributor in China
  Their company already has made plans for the next few years such as opening park stores, online store, center store, opening in Beijing & Shanghai and then nationwide.

  We proposed them P. products, after exchanging mails and going through negotiation they orders our products and became our distributor in China.

  They order for almost 12 000 $, as I was in charge of this company I received 1% commission from their order so an amount of 120$. Receiving commission is not only a way to motivate but as I am a student I need to be more careful on my expenses so it helps me to cover up some of them.

  SLG Kids is a Chinese company specialized in children and baby furniture and clothes. They already have 4 shops in China, use high – class materials and luxurious design to provide children the best comfort with lots of love. 

        

  They ordered some of our products and as I did for Netgift, I received a commission on their order. I was happy at that time because it was my first order and I am grateful to Aiden who gave me the chance to manage this order and teach me the process.

 Lane Crawford is a famous shop in Hong Kong, specialized in luxury fashion, beauty and lifestyle retailer. It offers one of the largest products in China and carefully selects their products.

Grateful 

 I enjoy the past 10 weeks here and I am really grateful for this experience, I have not only learned many things concerning trade but I also met many kind-hearted people. I do not know how my life here would have been if I did not have met them. They were kind, open-minded and helped me a lot during my staying. I hope many people can have the same experience as I did because it makes you change and realize things, I came out more mature after working at NoTag and living in Seoul on my own.

How was life in South Korea - Seoul

The life in South Korea is different than in France, people act and think differently. The culture is also completely different, I find that Korean are more respectful of each other. They show much more their affection and care for someone, I mean not only couples but also family members and friends.

As I am Chinese I was not really affected by the change of environment and the food except the fact that the food is really too spicy for me.

I hope to be able to come here again, I leave NoTag and Seoul with very beautiful memories and I hope to met all of the amazing people I have met here.

I really recommend an internship at NoTag, you will learn many things, have different tasks and work with amazing people. Also life in Seoul might help you realize things and grow up, it will makes you change and be a good experience to live at least once.

In short, it was a beautiful and an amazing experience, I have loved it and wish someone to live the same one as I did.