Hello, Quentin here!
Here at Kaomoji we tend to employ one or two interns per period depending on the expected workload.
Our interns usually come from one of two studies: All-Round DTP and Graphic Design but this time we have a marketing and communications student!
So.... Meet Chun!
I’ve conducted a short interview with him here, to give those of you interested a bit of an insight on what his internship is like here.
"Chun, tell us a little bit about yourself."
Hi, my name is Chun, which is my unofficial official name (does it make sense? :eyes: ). So basically my parents call me that, which is my official Chinese name, however, I don’t have this name on my passport. My hobbies are playing games and watching anime OR sports. However, whilst I like both of them separately, I actually dislike sports anime! Furthermore, I like to explore the world, is what I would normally call it, but basically I like to go to places I’ve never been before, whether it is by foot, bike or car, you name it. As I have this app called Fog of World, which gives me exp for every distance I travel, if I have not been there before. So it is basically a real life exploratory game!
"What are you currently studying?"
I am currently studying Oriental Languages and Communication at the Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. It is a unique major in the Netherlands, as it is the only major that combines communication with an oriental language. Before we started in our first year, we had the opportunity to choose between Arabic, Chinese and Japanese. Being the weeb I am, Japanese was really an easy choice for me. Furthermore, I found (and still find) Japanese culture to be truly fascinating.
The funny thing for me, however, was that I chose this major purely for the Japanese language, and afterwards realised there was a big chunk of communication as well. (I mean duh, it is called Oriental Languages AND communication) Luckily for me, I found the communication aspect interesting as well so it was a pleasant surprise haha.
"What made you choose Kaomoji for your internship?"
To be honest, kaomoji wasn’t my first choice, and I actually stumbled on kaomoji by chance! I was watching Miku Expo Online, as physical concerts were either canceled or postponed due to...well I think you can figure it out yourself ;). So whilst I was enjoying the concert, I saw a kaomoji banner flashing by, and was like, hey I know them! I even bought a shirt from them two years ago at a convention, so I just went to their site to check out any merchandise. There I stumbled upon the page that listed a marketing and communication internship. I was like, wowowow wait a minute… I am a communication student!! AND I am looking for an internship as well!! And I really wanted to do an internship at a company that was related to either gaming or anime, so I was really overjoyed when the opportunity came and I just applied, and well here I am! :)
"How would you describe your role in the company?"
My role within kaomoji would be to increase the brand awareness of kaomoji, both in the Netherlands and abroad. Therefore I am continuously looking for opportunities, both online and offline, for kaomoji to be present as a brand. Furthermore, I occasionally support the company on their marketing ideas with suggestions of my own. Lastly, I analyse available company data and share with my colleagues how things are going.
"What did you do before coming here?"
Being a student in corona times, I guess you might’ve guessed, but I just chilled at home like 24/7, not having many alternatives. I have to say I am pretty good at it! So, I just worked on the assignments I had to do, and spent most of my free time just gaming or chilling on Discord. At some point I wanted to learn something new, and thinking I have plenty of spare time anyway, I started playing guitar! The road of a self taught guitarist is a slow and bumpy one, but very fun and definitely rewarding when you finally manage to play a song!
"How different is work here compared to your previous workplaces?"
I had one part-time job before, which was as a data entry worker for a pharmaceutical company. The vibes are totally opposite! At my part-time job, there was this serious vibe, which is not that surprising, as we were dealing with patients and medicine data, and you don’t want the patients to end up RIP because you entered the wrong medicine data!! So, even though it was only a shift of 5 hours on Saturdays, I usually ended up fairly dead mentally, as it required maximum concentration, and also I had to wake up at 6 am for that...On a Saturday!!
The vibe at kaomoji is really positive, the colleagues are really fun to be around with
and there is not the pressure that someone might RIP because of my mistake hehe. That all combined makes every work day enjoyable, and time goes by so quickly, that it barely feels like a full shift of 8 hours!
"Have you learned anything new during your internship here?"
I never paid any attention to how a company operates on the back-end, the proportion normal people wouldn’t see. AKA the ‘behind the scenes’, but It is really interesting to see how a company operates. There is just so much more than meets the eye and to keep everything smoothly, good communication is really helpful. That is why I was introduced to Notion in the first week of my internship. It is really great software to keep everyone in the team updated about future projects and daily tasks. Basically everything we ever say or do is recorded somewhere into this so-called ‘brain’ of kaomoji. Furthermore, I have learned how to best approach potential new partners and influencers.
"Has the internship lived up to your expectations (so far)?"
Absolutely! I feel truly part of the team, and not as just another intern that kaomoji ‘has to learn something’. I am really involved in many aspects of kaomoji businesses, and I knew beforehand that kaomoji was a fairly small business, so I hoped my suggestions and ideas would be appreciated, which is definitely the case! Moreover, I can just ask my colleagues anything if something is unclear to me, and they also give me quite some feedback on what I can do better next time. The pace and work pressure is also not too high that it is killing me, nor too low that I will slack off. It is just perfect! Also, the company is doing quite some conventions during my internship period, more than I thought initially, and I can go to some of these conventions as well. How hecking awesome is that?!
"What’s going to be your next step?"
After my internship I hope to be able to go to Japan for a study exchange. It is actually a mandatory ‘course’ for my bachelors degree, and has been postponed twice already. However, they can not postpone it again as the study exchange is already planned for the last half year of my bachelors program. If there are no issues, I will be flying in the second half of December and will be studying at a university in Nagoya for five months. During this period I hope to get placed in a home stay. However, everything is still uncertain yet, and the university told me that they will have more news on the 8th of October, so fingers crossed!
"Anything you would like to share before we end the interview?"
Thank you for reading this interview! I told many friends and family members that I am really having the best internship I could wish for. I am really grateful that I can do my internship here at kaomoji! Curious to know more about me? You can occasionally see me on our official Discord or meet me at TomoFair Nijmegen and Made in Asia Brussel!
And there you have it. Hopefully you found the interview fun to read, and maybe we even piqued your interest in following an internship here yourself…? For more information on how to apply for a future internship, look here (Dutch residents only).
Thank you for reading, see you in the next blog!
Shop here
And yes he loves Madoka a lot
