Striking a Balance Between Finance and IT: Timothy Kim’s Internship Journey
Skillsoft’s annual internship program offers college students a unique and personalized experience to further explore their budding interests. Throughout the summer, they gain exposure to people and projects that produce immeasurable value, providing long-term career benefits. Tim Kim, our IT Solution in Finance Intern, is a testament to how an exceptional internship program can create opportunities for learning and growth. As a business major at Boston University, Tim’s studies focus on Finance and Information Systems, perfectly aligning with his role at Skillsoft.
Read on to learn about Tim’s background and his journey at Skillsoft thus far.
Can you introduce yourself and your position at Skillsoft? Additionally, what hobbies and interests do you pursue outside of work and studying?
“My name is Tim, and I’m the IT Solutions in Finance Intern this summer. In this position, I hope to explore both of my areas of interest, Finance and Information Systems, while improving the organization’s financial and order processes by visualizing data in new ways. I’m excited to learn from the company and narrow down my interests for the future of my career.
In my free time, I love playing music, traveling, and spending time with friends. I really enjoy jazz music, and playing the saxophone has been a hobby of mine since I taught myself how to play in high school. In my few weeks at Skillsoft, I have appreciated the flexibility of working remotely, whether from home or while traveling. I usually work from New York, but right now I am visiting Boston. I have found that my work-life balance has improved since starting this role, and I have had more time outside of my working hours to spend with friends and family.”
What attracted you to apply for this internship? Was there a particular aspect of the company or role that stood out to you?
“My interest in Skillsoft was sparked by its mission to help people grow their skill sets. I have an older brother who works in tech and is struggling in the job market, so I understand how important it is for employees to keep up with new companies and software platforms to retain and acquire positions. The chance to be a part of a company that continuously supports professional development while simultaneously exploring my two main interests is what drew me to Skillsoft.”
What were your initial thoughts when you started your internship? Has anything surprised you so far?
“Initially, I was surprised by how much freedom and independence we have as interns. Once I got a good overview of the company and my manager understood my skill set, I was able to partake in a meaningful project. I really enjoy this autonomy because I feel like I’m adding something valuable to the organization. It has been a great learning experience these past few weeks.
As for what has surprised me most, I would say Skillsoft’s commitment to innovation. I think when you find something that works, it’s easy to get comfortable and complacent. However, through the different Lunch and Learn sessions that we have as interns, it’s clear that people here are trying to figure out the next steps in anticipation of what the future of the industry will look like. For example, they’re thinking about how we can prepare for upcoming changes and improve our products to align with these demands.”
How have you been adjusting to your role and learning about Skillsoft’s infrastructure and operations? Can you share an example of a moment when you encountered a significant learning curve?
“Understanding the company and what they are looking for, whether it be quarterly goals or goals for overall improvement, was important for me to grasp early on. Also, asking questions about the structure of different departments helped me see how they work together to achieve common objectives. My manager helped me comprehend what we were working towards, which put my current assignments into perspective.
Right now, I am moving data and visualizations into a new software platform. Learning this software is the greatest learning curve I have faced but asking about ‘the why’ has helped me understand the greater purpose. I encountered many technical difficulties in the early stages and felt lost. However, after gaining a solid understanding of the new software, I now feel confident using it and learning how to utilize other platforms in the future.”
Based on your experiences, how would you describe Skillsoft’s company culture? Can you provide an example that exemplifies this culture?
“I would say the culture is very innovative, while also being supportive and connected amongst the teams. Skillsoft does a great job of remaining connected in a remote environment by utilizing different means. For example, the Lunch and Learn sessions have been fantastic for networking and meeting people within the company. It’s evident from the way coworkers communicate on team calls that Skillsoft encourages a connected community culture.
One moment that exemplifies this occurred in an early conversation with my manager. She introduced the task that I was working on and let me know what she wanted me to accomplish. She also made it clear that if I had ideas for how we could innovate this process, I should let her know and we could create a secondary project around that topic. I thought this was very supportive of my thoughts and took into consideration my background.”
Can you share any projects you’ve been involved in during your first weeks at Skillsoft? What challenges did you face, and how did you approach them?
“The project I am currently working on involves Dynamic 365, a software we are using to track Skillsoft orders and specific metrics, including payment methods and revenue. The primary issue with this software is that the company has to pay a fee for employees to utilize it. My goal is to solve this problem, and right now my task is to relocate our data and all visualizations to a free platform called Microsoft PowerBI.
The challenge I have been facing is that I have never had hands-on experience with Power BI. However, I used Percipio videos to learn more about the platform and how I could organize the data. It was largely a self-learning process, but other people on the team knew a lot about it. This allowed me to network with my coworkers and get their input. Through a mix of independent learning and support from others, I was able to continue with the project and it is progressing smoothly.”
What skills or knowledge areas do you hope to develop during your internship? Is there an area of IT or professional development that excites you?
“As for hard skills, one practical one that I hope to develop is learning how to use the different platforms within Skillsoft. This has been great so far as I have been learning how to use Power BI, which is a commonly used platform across many businesses. I am also hoping to learn how AI will be integrated into future business plans, and I am already getting exposed to these ideas.
Focusing on power skills, I hope to grow overall in this position. I need to challenge myself because it is a remote environment, making it easy to log on and off every day with little to no interaction. I’ve found that small acts, such as reaching out to my manager for a check-in, asking to learn more about something, or speaking with the other interns about their work, can help me connect and network.
Regarding which area of IT excites me, I am still exploring options and figuring them out. As both a Finance and IT major, I’m working in a middle ground between the two this summer that will help me understand which I am more geared toward.”
What advice would you give to someone who is just starting as an intern in a similar role?
“One piece of advice would be to not rely on the company to tell you what you should be doing, or what you should be passionate about. Before you start in a new role, it’s important to research the company, figure out what you want to learn about, and how you want to get involved. Because of Skillsoft’s virtual nature, it is unique in that you need to seek out tasks from your managers, rather than being automatically assigned them. It is critical to define your interests before this in order to get exposure to your passions.”
We hope you enjoyed exploring Tim’s journey with Skillsoft. In the weeks ahead, we’ll be featuring more stories from our exceptional IT interns — don’t miss out!
