In all honesty, I was not sure what to expect from my internship at CJ 4DPLEX; a strange combination of events meant that I was not introduced to any members of my team until less than a week before I joined the team. Because of those same confluence of events, I also had no idea what would be expected of me. I was told that I was the first intern this team had ever had, and, for a while, it showed. I’m not convinced that they knew what to do with me and I kept surprising them anytime I’d finish something quickly.
The first day at work I didn’t move from my seat because I was so nervous but very soon everyone was bringing me in. My second day a coworker took me for coffee and explained the way seats were set up. As we all became adjusted, expectations were very clearly offered and I almost never felt worried that I was going to misstep or fumble—in other words, my coworkers made me feel incredibly comfortable and welcome and settled. Almost everyone spoke to me in English and my experience was actually incredibly unique because of the number of foreigners or people who had studied or worked extensively abroad on my team. But no matter what the level of language that we had in common, the people were simply wonderful. The head of HR took me to see the ScreenX department because she saw that I was interested and was not sure what to do next. My team and the HR team would explain things to me even beyond the internship—like where to buy fruit; they shared life stories and events with me.
At work itself I was definitely given my wish to be helpful and not simply ornamental as a random intern. I know for a fact that I provided a lot of aid as far as doing and organizing market research and that knowledge alone would be enough to make the internship worth it even without the additional benefits of meeting new people and learning more about Korea. Other things I did at work include asking to and then correcting English on various levels and tasks (including while working with another team). I provided summaries of morning news, reports on what I thought about ScreenX and 4DX as an outsider, and I helped another department for three days. I also became very good at excel shortcuts.
Beyond work itself, I had class about the structure of CJ CGV before going on a tour with other 4DPLEX interns; then with the other international interns I had a two-day tour of CJ as a whole—which was super informative and enlightening. During my internship, I learned a lot. I learned what I’m interested in as a job; how to bow to people when you’re coming at each other in a long hallway; how different academic writing is from Korean business writing but how similar research itself is (and how helpful doing a thesis is going to prove to be in the long run); a lot about cinemas, exhibitors, and box offices all around the world; what business culture can sometimes be like and how I fit within it.
My advice to next year’s intern would be to have a routine for/plans outside of work. Work-life balance is a big talking point but you’re in Korea. The internship is like immersive sightseeing and learning about business culture (you’re learning about another country through an aspect of its culture and so it is important to absorb and experience and learn all while you’re working), but business culture is not the only thing to experience while you’re there. Even within work itself, the people that you’re working with, under, and around are incredibly interesting and awesome people. Definitely take the time to learn as much from your surroundings as you do about the breakdown of theaters in Russian oblasts!