My Star Anise Experience

#ZubinFoundation #EMergingTalentInternshipProject #DiversityAndInclusion

As a #CompanyHost of Zubin Foundation's EMerging Talent Internship Project, we were delighted to host two talented and bright interns — Naz and Hallaji.

In this blog, Hallaji shares with us his expectations and experience working in the fast-paced recruitment industry.

Introduction

When I was searching for internships for the summer, the main concern and deciding factor for me was that I wanted to try something new, and something that could benefit me both now and in the future. After researching and going through a lot of internship possibilities, I came across a position for a Marketing, Research, and Admin Intern at Star Anise Limited. 

Star Anise is a specialist legal and compliance recruitment firm, based in Central, Hong Kong, specialising in the selection and placement of qualified legal, compliance, and business support candidates at all levels in international law firms, financial services, and commercial industries across Hong Kong and major financial hubs in Asia. By launching SALT (training and development services for lawyers) and YUZU last year Star Anise have opened their doors to various newer business opportunities.

Pre-Internship

At first, I had very little knowledge on what a recruitment agency does and how they operate. The only few ideas I had came from a talk done by an employee working in a headhunting agency held by my university. But it was difficult to visualise this in practice.

Another important thing to note was that I had always thought that people who intend to be a lawyer would only end up working at law firms, wearing a black suit and going to courts, which in reality is only a small part of what they do, and not all lawyers go to court! 

This is why when I saw the opportunity to work in a recruitment firm specialising in the selection and placement of legal candidates, I went forward and applied for it. It felt like I was hitting two birds with one stone as I would be able to broaden my thinking and knowledge on both the hiring and the legal industry.

Internship

During my internship of two weeks at Star Anise, I had to come into the office and work 5 days a week, from 9 am till 6 pm. On my first day, I have to admit that I was pretty nervous, as it was my first time ever interning in a company and working in an office. However, as soon as I entered, I was warmly greeted by our researcher, Serena and one of the managing directors of Star Anise, Annie. Serena then showed me around the office, introduced me to my colleagues for the next two weeks and my seat from where I would be working. I was then told that along with me, there would be another intern, Naz, joining and working with me for the entire course of my internship. Even though my internship period was relatively short, I would have to say that it has taught me a lot of new things. 

I had many questions when I first walked through the doors of Star Anise, i.e. i) What would be my main tasks? ii) What types of research would I have to do? iii) How do I do them quickly but still be accurate? 

There were some practice tasks given to me to get myself familiar with the process and how they usually do their work at Star Anise. 

Tasks included compiling the latest job postings, formatting CVs, researching prospective candidates, updating existing candidates' information, and many more projects. 

I have always been someone to ask for help if I had any difficulties along the way, and this is exactly what I did. One of the tasks required the usage of CRM (customer relationship management) tools, in which I had zero prior experience in, to find and research potential candidates suitable for a particular job posting. I had asked for help from Serena, who was more than happy to aid with my work, and with her assistance, I was able to finish up the tasks effectively. 

Post-Internship

If asked what my biggest learning point from this internship is, the answer would be that a great building is only as strong as its foundation. Without the proper fundamental research or ‘house-keeping’ (as impressed upon by director, Chris Tang) that is continually carried out behind-the-scenes, no task would ever be completed satisfactorily. This disciplined approach does not apply to a particular industry. Rather, it is embedded in any business you can think of. 

Star Anise provided me with an ample amount of opportunities for me to grow myself and learn how to work efficiently, while at the same time being thorough with our work. 

For that, I am very grateful, and I will be looking forward to any new future possibilities.