Profiles of Promise: Tanvi Chheda | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR
A geology PhD student interned with Professional Marketing Services Group Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, where they developed an app to track inventory and improve efficiency in supermarkets.
Key Insights
- 🌍 The intern's decision to intern in a different country allowed them to experience daily life and professional culture in another culture.
- 🌍 Professional Marketing Services Group Africa primarily focuses on marketing and merchandising in supermarkets.
- 😀 The intern's development of an app improved inventory tracking, report generation, and leave requests for the company.
- 😀 The intern found the experience valuable in confirming their interest in app development and product management.
- 💦 The impact of the intern's work was more visible and significant compared to working in a large corporation.
- 🌍 The intern gained transferable skills that can be applied across different industries.
- ✳️ The company previously relied on WhatsApp messages for inventory tracking, which was inefficient and posed risks.
Transcript
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Questions & Answers
Q: What motivated the geology PhD student to intern with Professional Marketing Services Group Africa?
The student was interested in experiencing daily life and professional culture in another country, and the company offered a unique opportunity to work in a startup-like environment with less defined roles and systems.
Q: How did the intern improve inventory tracking in the company?
The intern developed an app that allowed employees to log inventory levels and generate monthly reports, replacing the previous method of relying on WhatsApp messages. The app also streamlined processes such as requesting leave, eliminating the need for employees to visit the office in person.
Q: What was the impact of the intern's work compared to a large corporation?
Unlike in a large corporation, where a small change may not significantly affect the overall operations, the intern's changes had a visible impact on the company. This allowed the intern to see the results of their work and the value they added.
Q: What skills did the intern learn from this experience?
The intern gained skills in app development and product management, which can be applied to various industries. They also had the opportunity to experience the day-to-day responsibilities of these roles, confirming their interest in pursuing them further.
Summary & Key Takeaways
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The intern, a geology PhD student, spent two months interning with Professional Marketing Services Group Africa, a company involved in marketing and merchandising in supermarkets.
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The company previously used WhatsApp messages to track inventory and stocking, so the intern developed an app to streamline these processes, resulting in easier report generation and tracking of attendance and leave requests for employees.
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The intern found the experience valuable in learning skills that can be applied to any industry, such as app development and product management.
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