Our former intern, Marisa, shares her experience working at our Kuala Lumpur office.
I started working with 3Degrees in September 2017 at the beginning of my gap year. Because this was my first job, my expectations weren’t high — I thought that I would spend most days getting coffee, or doing menial tasks. Boy, was I wrong!
Work Hard
One of the first projects I was assigned was to write a blog post about marketing to millennials. After a month of working on mostly in-house content, I started to work on projects with actual clients.
My favourite project was working on Genie Live 2017. I was in charge of designing the agenda and badges. On top of that, I interviewed bankers from countries like Ghana, Nepal, and Mongolia about fintech development in their region. Thanks to the work with GenieLive, I was exposed to the world of FinTech, design, and event-planning. Although I was just an intern, I was trusted to be part of the team that pulled off a successful event – we even took the delegates to the Singapore Zoo!
Throughout my nine months here with 3Degrees, I was constantly given opportunities to learn. Photoshop, Illustrator, iMovie, and Final Cut Pro were all apps that I had to use regularly on the job. For a noob like me, this was quite daunting, but tackling new skills was a lot easier with the help of my co-workers.
We also have access to resources to help us learn. It was great working in a supportive environment where you’re encouraged to improve.
Play Hard
However, it’s not all work at 3Degrees. This was evident on my first day – everyone in the office headed out for “Monthly Munchies”. This is a monthly event where we go for a special lunch at a restaurant of our choosing. That month, it was Samba Brazilian Steakhouse. As I was sitting, heaving from the all-you-can-eat buffet, the rest of the office was still stuffing their faces. I remember thinking “Man, these people can eat.” We stayed out for about three hours, eating Brazilian food, drinking Starbucks, and checking out samples at Sephora.
“Cheesy Mondays” are also another monthly occurrence where lunch is an opportuity to try out new cheeses and cold cuts. Suffice to say, we know how to #party, and always find reasons to eat and drink together.
An Internship Like No Other
I can’t put into words how grateful I am to the 3Degrees family for the past nine months. What initially began as a three-month work period, became a six-month, and then a nine-month work period. Each time I was meant to leave, I ended up staying because I realised there isn’t any job that would provide as much breadth of opportunity as 3Degrees did.
What other company would be crazy enough trust a fresh grad?! It’s rare to find an internship (especially your first!) that treats you like an equal. Despite the fact that I was younger and less qualified, I never felt as though my ideas or work was inferior to others.
There isn’t a sense of hierarchy, where the boss is superior than the people with less experience and has the final say.
It’s a friendly environment, where creativity can flow freely without barriers. I learned about marketing, design, writing, event-planning… the list is endless!
Thank you to everyone in 3Degrees for making my “forever internship” seem so short!
To all future interns: You’re fortunate to be a part of 3Degrees family! I hope you really really really like food, cheese, wine, and Hari Hari Datang*!
*Note: “Hari Hari Datang” is a food court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The name in the Malay language means “Come Everyday”, which the team (almost) did for our lunches.
Tags: CareersInterested in an internship with us? Write to recruit@3degrees.asia for more details.