Having left South Korea at an early age, I had a deep desire to explore Korean culture and its working environment. Thanks to this unique internship program, I was led to Anyang City near Seoul for this amazing opportunity. Upon my arrival at YOLK, I was greeted by lovely colleagues. YOLK, a social venture in South Korea, is dedicated to combatting child labor by incentivizing families in developing countries with green energy and mitigating CO2 emissions through the innovative Solar Cow Project. Recently, YOLK launched AYANTU, a sustainable Ethiopian coffee brand, which contributes 1-10% of its revenue to support the Solar Cow Project.

If you enjoy creating unique ideas and desire to learn and experience different environments, go for it!

My three-month internship at YOLK was both immensely enjoyable and memorable. I was able to gain deep insight into the marketing and development cooperation field. Apart from the professional side, we would play board games every Thursday together, which was a great way to bond and strengthen our teamwork. As a coffee lover, I particularly enjoyed the coffee-tasting sessions with freshly sourced Ethiopian beans and the discussion regarding further product development opportunities. On the weekends, I could easily visit Seoul for sightseeing and enjoy the local cafes, bars, and restaurants with another intern from this exchange program, Veronica. Also, we traveled to Busan, enjoyed the sea, and explored South Korea even more. It was truly a unique journey, and the memories are dear to my heart!

Having visited South Korea in 2022 and being intrigued by the country and its culture, I decided to return, this time for a 3-month internship. Working and living on my own there gave me the opportunity to meet some incredible people and have some unexpected experiences.

Right from the start of my internship, I was made to feel very welcome by every member of the team, especially Yujin Kim, the second intern who was also taken on as part of the exchange program. Having already been here for over a month, she enabled me to get to know the company and our work very well. We took the opportunity to work together on our outreach research, education reports, and other tasks throughout the internship, as well as visiting Seoul and Busan together.

It was a journey blending professional development with cultural enrichment

The cultural difference wasn’t felt very much at YOLK, thanks to the staff and CEO who were very attentive and willing to help. It was an enriching experience both professionally and personally.

I also had the opportunity to promote the brand directly at events such as 2023 Seoul Design Week and 2023 Seoul Cafe Show. Over several days, we exhibited Ethiopian coffee products and set up tasting sessions for participants in these events. This enabled me to have direct contact with the locals and interact with them. Those two events also allowed me to become closer with the team members. We laughed a lot after spending so many hours together; working, eating, talking, cleaning.

One day, the event was really busy, but our hot coffee wasn’t ready yet. People kept coming and we had to tell them to come back later.  So, me and my coworkers decided to hide behind the counter for 5 minutes to dissuade people from coming to our booth. That moment is a great memory that I will keep for a long time as we were laughing at the thoughtless decision we took in a hurry.

What’s more, the CEO was keen for me to try out different traditional dishes, drinks and games. We did different activities such as an escape game, tasting coffee, playing board games or eating in different Korean restaurants.

But none of this would have been possible without the help of the Leading House. A few problems arose with the travel arrangements and communication with YOLK before the internship, but thanks to the efficiency and availability of the Leading House, everything was quickly sorted out.

If I can give one piece of advice to future interns, it’s to find out about the various apps to be used (NaverMap, KakaoMap, KakaoTalk, KakaoTaxi, etc.) and the means of payment – not all foreign credit cards work in South Korea, so I recommend taking out a Revolut or other digital bank card.

From all the choices given by Leading House Asia; I choose Cochl. It’s an AI audio recognition company. I chose them because AI is a wonderful tool and I wanted to learn more about it. I also wanted to step out of my comfort zone since it differs a bit from my major (Micro-technic). They found the perfect task for me, implementing their model inside a new microcontroller board. I have been able to learn a lot about how to use AI inside low-power, low-capacity devices.

Probably the best way to start your professional career!

I couldn’t dream of a better company to start my professional career. Cochl is friendly. Everyone in the company speaks good English. They also have a team of foreign which help to be integrated. Every message or document is in English and Korean so no need to worry. They have flexible working hours which help you organize your working/visit schedule. Since you can eat lunch and dinner at the company, I have been able to discuss the background of the company with the founders themselves during those times and bond with my colleagues. I have also been able to enjoy different activities with my colleagues from drinking beer after work to going to a weekend in the countryside. I recommend you do the internship during the autumn you will have nice weather and some vacation (Chuseok). Those vacations allowed me to visit Japan during my internship.

 

 

At YOLK, a lovely team of women welcomed me. YOLK is a social venture that provides solar installations – so-called Solar Cows – in off-grid areas in rural Africa. Recently, YOLK launched a coffee brand, called AYANTU, exporting from Ethiopia. By leveraging the experience that YOLK gained over the years by installing Solar Cows in Africa, with AYANTU, YOLK is able to provide the highest quality coffee to consumers and at the same time support the Solar Cow projects and make the funding more sustainable.

My interest to work at YOLK was motivated by my studies in international development. With my additional background at the business university in St. Gallen, the idea of combining a business and a social cause in an innovative social venture was very compelling and interesting to me.

The opportunity to work in a small local company was very appealing to me!

As AYANTU was still in the early stages of its business development, I mainly worked on the marketing and fundraising strategy for AYANTU and I prepared marketing and social media materials. While I was often working independently, drafting articles, concepts, outreach emails, and the storyline for AYANTU and Solar Cow, I also enjoyed working with the team at YOLK and a team of students in the US. For example, I did a photoshoot with my co-worker Soo (where I spontaneously turned into a model) or I participated in the International Cafe Show.

In summary, during my internship at YOLK, I learned a lot about the workings, opportunities, and challenges of an innovative social venture. Essentially, it is very important to have a motivated team where people find inspiration and purpose in their work. I also learned a lot from my hard-working co-workers. They were always very welcoming and it was a pleasure to work with them. I  am grateful for this experience and I am convinced that it will help me in my future career. Thus, I can only recommend the opportunities at Leading House Asia and the Science and Technology Office in Seoul, especially for people interested in a career in Asia.

Cochl, a research-based startup specializing in the emerging field of machine learning for sound recognition, attracted my attention. I was lucky enough to be accepted as a research assistant to support the team in the development of a context module for their current system. As the name suggests, the module captures the acoustic context and corrects the output of the sound recognition system if necessary. I got to know the company’s core algorithm and was able to prototype a context-aware model on top of the existing product.

An exceptional way to gain working experience while exploring a foreign culture!

Initially, I was skeptical about communicating without knowing the Korean language, but after my first interview with the team members, my doubts vanished. Luckily, all colleagues – Korean or foreign – know how to speak English, and the company’s documents are also in English. Thus, communication works very well. Above all, the atmosphere at the company is especially friendly and I enjoyed having flexible working hours. The most memorable opportunity I had was to meet all of the founders of Cochl and to learn about the company’s origins and future plans. Knowing that they started Cochl right after finishing their doctoral studies showed me first-hand what can be achieved with an academic background. Lastly, I really enjoyed experiencing the Korean work life which includes various activities with your colleagues (e.g. archery or ski day) and after-work dinners having Ssamgyeobsal. I can recommend the program to anyone who is looking for an exceptional way to gain working experience while exploring a foreign culture. Just make sure to bring really warm clothes for winter in South Korea, and get your Kakao & Naver apps ready so that you won’t get lost in the City.

In the end, I applied at Mand.ro for an internship, since my interests lied in biomedical engineering. Mand.ro is a company known for its efforts to make prosthetic technology more accessible and affordable to people in need. During my internship, I gained valuable hands-on experience in the field by assembling prosthetics and improving the reduction gear system in their new prototype. This type of practical work helped me develop my skills and knowledge as a mechanical engineer, as it allowed me to apply theoretical concepts to real-world situations. Additionally, by working on a prototype, I had the opportunity to be involved in the design and development process, giving me insight into the entire life-cycle of their product.

An experience I would recommend to anybody!

Overall, my internship experience in Korea was incredibly valuable in terms of both my professional and personal development. In terms of work, I learned a lot about the assembly and improvement of prosthetic hands, and I also gained valuable experience working in a team and communicating with colleagues. In terms of life experience, I had the opportunity to immerse myself in a new culture and try new things that I never would have had the chance to do if I had stayed in Switzerland. Also, I had the chance to indulge myself with Korean food throughout my internship.
I would definitely recommend an internship in Korea to other students. It is a great opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a new and exciting environment.

My first intensive contact with South Korea was during my exchange semester in 2021. Since Covid-19 was at its perks then, I decided I wanted to come back one day and experience the real Seoul. After finishing my bachelor’s thesis, I flew straight to Korea for my internship at YOLK; a company that makes clean and unlimited solar energy available to people. They got famous for their Solar Paper, the world’s thinnest and lightest solar charger, back in 2018. Additionally, their innovative project Solar Cow raised global headlines through its awards and its impact in Africa. The Solar Cow initiative enables families in off-grid areas to have access to electricity while sustaining education by giving students a “Solar Milk,” a power bank integrated with a lantern, which students can charge during the time they study at school. Through this, they simultaneously tackle both issues relating to educational and electrical access.

I could see firsthand the impact and joy that the Solar Cow project brought.

To increase the impact of Solar Cow, YOLK has recently decided to launch a new coffee brand Ayantu which will dedicate part of its sales to the Solar Cow project. During my internship, I was mainly responsible for the marketing of the brands, and I had the chance to build up the brand Ayantu. It was a great experience to work and learn from the creative minds in YOLK. Koreans’ hardworking and flexible working style impressed me a lot, and I believe I could learn immensely from my co-workers. During my period in YOLK, I also had the opportunity to travel to Ethiopia and assist with a Solar Cow installation. It was an incredible experience! I could see firsthand the impact and joy that the Solar Cow project brought to the children and their families in Arbegona. This internship has brought and taught me a lot, both personally and professionally. I can only recommend this internship scholarship to anyone interested in going abroad and gaining insights into another country and culture.

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