One objective of this program is to prepare us for working abroad in the near future. As a result, it is inevitable to be working with people speaking English and from different cultural background. We are glad to have the internship opportunity after the previous phases studying theories and languages, which will help enhance our communication skills and adapt to new working environment.
I believe that the university have abundant Alumni resources but the time and human to reach out. Outsourcing the service to a third party is an easy way and might be a good idea. After all, no one can solve all problems by himself. The partner hired by the office is a Chinese expert who spent several years in China and could speak fluent Chinese. There are no obstacles in the aspect of communication.
The process is long and full of challenges. Before we came to the States, we had remote interviews by the instructors of the office. The purpose was to get to know our interest and working directions. We were told that our working places would be Fintech companies and financial institutes. What matters most is the experience of working cross-culture.
We met our partner and had a seminar of how to work with Americans. For the following weeks we revised our Resume and visited a few potential internship companies, including Fintech accretors and start-ups. On a meeting mingled with people from different companies, we were introduced to this CA Ventures.
The representative of CA Ventures that day was a Chinese lady named Yu. Before the meeting, personally, I did my homework and knew CA Ventures is a Venture Capital company. It is their job to find potential investment opportunities and persuade investors to put capital into these projects. Yu also mentioned that they invested several student living properties in Champaign. When we were surveyed which companies to go, I ranked CA Ventures on my first place.
I planned a tour to visit CA Ventures Champaign after I was informed the interview would take place on July 13.
My first destination on July 12 was HERE. I was inspired by the Decision Making instructor and IEI instructor. If you introduced yourself properly, many people would offer their help. If not, you lost nothing. I stepped into the student living office and explained my intention; the employees were happy to give me a tour. The lease manager, Stephen, gave me detailed introduction of this 30-story building. All the facilities and the services they provided, their target customers, marketing strategy, the daily operation routine, the management team, the price, the security and many other related questions were answered by Stephen. It seemed I was treated as a potential customer, but they knew I was not. Same thing happened in West Quad, another property held and managed by CA Ventures. This experience was unforgettable to me.
The second day, I was interviewed by Yu and a guy from investment sector. The CFO met us and gave a presentation about the company. I suddenly realized they were engaged in a niche market. If the economic went wrong, they were not influenced, because people need turn to university to get more education. People will eventually get old, so they need find nice place to rest themselves. This point was further proved on July 27 tour to Gibson City Assit Living. I was shocked by the high-quality life in the senior living. This is definitely a new emerging and profitable industry in China. I have to admit CA Ventures have a very good business model and no wonder they grew very quickly recently.
After the interview, we were given a tour around the CA Ventures office. On the 21 floor of a skyscraper beside Lake Michigan, the beautiful lake view is available. The decoration of the office is modern, and the working time is quite flexible. The work opportunity is as much exciting as the luxurious office itself. However, I missed the shot. I am still happy for my 2 friends who got the offer.
I really enjoyed the process of getting to know CA Ventures and hope to cooperate with companies like this in the future.
The student living CA Ventures invested and managed.
