SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

INTERNSHIP REPORT

LAURA T. NZENZA

(H180066F)

SEPTEMBER 2020 – JULY 2021

BLUE VALLEY ENTERPRISES, CHILD REGISTRY.ORG

 I …………………………………………. Of Blue Valley Enterprises have worked with and supervised
Laura T. Nzenza, H180066F during his/her internship period.

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 I …………………………………………. Of UK Child Registry.Org have worked with and supervised
Laura T. Nzenza, H180066F during his/her internship period.

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 Dedication

The humble effort is dedicated to my family and friends whose affection, love and encouragement has

played a major role in all the outstanding achievements, as they made my success their ambition.

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Foreword

I wrote this report as per requirements of Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) work related learning

policy, which requires all students on industrial attachment to submit a report, which shall be submitted

upon the completion of the internship. In this report, I was mainly focusing on the company background,

core aspects of the organization, the department I was specialised in and an evaluation of the industrial

attachment. I will also briefly explain the activities I dealt with during the year of work related learning.

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Acknowledgements

My sincere gratitude goes on to my supervisors, Mr. N Mavura, Mr. T Mundere and Mr K Dubugwane,

for the valuable guidance they have given in the writing of this report. I would like to express my special

gratitude to Blue Valley Enterprises and UK Child Registry teams for me giving such attention and time.

Profound gratitude goes to H.I.T, School of Business for incorporating the work-related learning into E-

Commerce Honours degree program.

Above all, I want to thank the Lord Almighty for bringing me this far.

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Abstract

This report is a compilation of my duties and activities during my period of industrial attachment at Blue

Valley Enterprises and at UK Child Registry. It also summarizes the problems I encountered and includes

suggestions and recommendations on how to counter the problems. This report also explains and brings

out how these duties proved competent and relevant in applying the theoretical knowledge I obtained from

the first two years of the degree program in a professional environment. During the attachment period, I

was attached in the Sales and Marketing Department. I had the opportunity to comprehend and make use

of judgment in the working environment. This was possible as the supervisor gave me discretion on work

duties and this helped me acquire a lot of experience and skills.

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Table of Contents
Dedication .............................................................................................................................................................3
Foreword ...............................................................................................................................................................4
Acknowledgements...............................................................................................................................................5
Abstract .................................................................................................................................................................6
Executive Summary ..............................................................................................................................................9
Chapter 1 .............................................................................................................................................................10
1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 10
1.1 Purpose .................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Chapter 2 .............................................................................................................................................................11
2.1.1 Blue Valley Enterprises ......................................................................................................................................... 11
2.1.2 The organisation ................................................................................................................................................... 12
Fig1: The organisation ................................................................................................................................................ 12
2.1.3 Services provided .................................................................................................................................................. 13
Fig3: Services provided .............................................................................................................................................. 13
2.1.4 Blue Valley Products ............................................................................................................................................. 15
Fig 3: Products............................................................................................................................................................ 16
2.2.1 UK Child Registry................................................................................................................................................... 17
2.2.2 The organisation ................................................................................................................................................... 18
Fig 4: CR Organisation .......................................................................................................................................18
2.2.3 Services and Corporate Sponsored Events ........................................................................................................... 20
Chapter 3 .............................................................................................................................................................22
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 22
Social media marketing ......................................................................................................................................22
Micromarketing ..................................................................................................................................................23
Grant proposals ...................................................................................................................................................23
Research ..............................................................................................................................................................24
Advertising .........................................................................................................................................................24
Stock management ..............................................................................................................................................25

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Planning ..............................................................................................................................................................25
Customer consultancy.........................................................................................................................................25
Report writing .....................................................................................................................................................26
Projects ...............................................................................................................................................................26
Chapter 4 .............................................................................................................................................................27
Critical evaluation of relevance of the theory to practice ...................................................................................27
4.1 Skills and qualifications gained ................................................................................................................................ 27
4.2 Relevance of HIT curriculum .................................................................................................................................... 29
4.2.1 Courses and topics ............................................................................................................................................ 29
4.2.2 Techniques ........................................................................................................................................................ 32
Chapter 5 .............................................................................................................................................................34
Challenges faced and attempts made to resolve the challenges .........................................................................34
5.1 Introduction...................................................................................................................................................34
5.2 Major problems identified ............................................................................................................................34
Chapter 6 .............................................................................................................................................................37
Log book .............................................................................................................................................................37
Chapter 7 .............................................................................................................................................................54
Conclusions, Recommendations and Suggestions ..............................................................................................54
7.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 54
7.1 Recommendations and suggestions to the Companies .......................................................................................... 54
7.3 Recommendations and suggestions to the University ............................................................................................ 55
7.4 Conclusion................................................................................................................................................................ 56
References: ................................................................................................................................................................ 57

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Executive Summary

This report is an in-depth analysis of the organizations, exploring Blue Valley Enterprises and UK
Child Registry’s type of business and departments, making emphasis on the sales and marketing
department, as well as the duties performed at the company and contributions made. Internal and
external environments that the organisations operate in are also scrutinized. I had set the following
goals with the help of my supervisors; to achieve increased proficiency in specific business
disciplines such as operations management, marketing, accounting, economics, finance, and
business law, to develop and improve business skills in communication, software development,
quantitative reasoning, and teamwork. I encountered some challenges in pursuit of these set goals
and these are explained in this report, as well as how they were overcome.

Upon completion I had acquired sales and marketing experience, business management skills,
advertising skills, event management skills and sharpened my web and application development
skill as I solved identified problems within the firms. I managed revive social media pages
(Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). The report finishes with recommendations given to both the
companies in question and the university itself.

I was attached at Blue Valley Enterprises during the first three months of my internship, and then
I was attached at UK Child Registry until the end of my internship period. In this report, I outline
the experience I gained when I was working at these firms. Blue Valley enterprises is an official
distributor of electronic components, and UK Child Registry is an esteemed NGO that focuses on
improving standards of living in African nations.

Blue Valley Enterprises is located in the first floor at Batanai Gardens in Harare (+263784116182),
and UK Child Registry is located at Karigamombe Centre in Harare (+263773839985), and its
headquarters is in London (+16463454442).

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 Chapter 1

1.0 Introduction

At the Harare Institute of Technology, in the Business department, an Industrial attachment is a

course in the department’s curriculum. Industrial Attachment was introduced to inspire the students

with practical and technical skills, as a partial fulfilment for the award of a Certificate, Diploma or

a Degree and to introduce the students into working life. The training time allows the students to

link the theoretical principles learnt in the higher learning institutions and the real life professional

and technical application. It gives the students the practical skills and the work environment

philosophy, to use their skills and principles learned in class to serve the institutions and the society

in general. Due to the above reasons, the school of business department of the H.I.T has organized

a period of training in any institution of students’ choice to give every student an opportunity to

apply the skills and knowledge achieved during the course of study and to acquire new skills in

managing relationship and carrying out the jobs assigned.

1.1 Purpose
The industrial attachment program fulfils part of the requirement for the award of a Bachelor’s

Degree in E-Commerce at the H.I.T.

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Chapter 2

Evaluation of organizational activities

2.1.1 Blue Valley Enterprises

This section gives a brief introduction about Blue Valley Private Limited, its vision, mission
and core values. This section also provides an overview of the organisational structure, services
provided by company and its products.

Blue Valley is a Zimbabwean start-up that focuses on creating ideas and bringing them to
maturity through Electronics Engineering. This company believes in innovation-based
solutions to present everyday problems and for sustainable development.
The company’s core business is to carry out project support, research and development. These
projects provide innovative solutions to projects.

The services offered by Blue Valley are:

 Project support, research, and development
 3D printing
 Tech-based projects
 Retailing of electronic components
 Logistics and transportation services
 Virtual farming and farming technology under Blue Valley’s product Kurima Online

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2.1.2 The organisation

Fig1: The organisation

Blue Valley
Limited

Faka Mali Blue Valley Kurima Online

Logistics and Procurement of Virtual Farming

Electronics Sales and
Transportation goods from Finance and Farming
Engineering Marketing
Services South Africa Technology

Corporate Values
 Innovation
 Team work
 Social responsibility
 Reliability
Corporate Motto
 Solutions through innovation
Location
Blue Valley is located on first floor Batanai Gardens, Corner Jason Moyo Avenue and First Street, Harare.

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2.1.3 Services provided

Fig3: Services provided

Blue Valley
Limited

Projects Support, Retailing of

PCB Design and CNC Machine
Research and 3D Printing Electronic
Etching Operations
Development Components

Project support, research and development

Blue Valley offers innovative solutions to problems. The customer has to describe the problem
or give the specifications of the project. Blue Valley does the research and develops the project
according to the design requirements of the customer.

Blue Valley Learn and Electronic Components Retail

Blue Valley learn offers an introductory course to electronics and it is available on Blue Valley
website. It is well equipped with systematic tutorials based on electronic components that are
available for retail at Blue Valley. The tutorials are suitable for hobbyists or anyone who would
like to learn about electronic components, mostly sensors but without any background
knowledge. The tutorials have a brief description of the electronic components, how to
interface the components with Arduino and the Arduino code. These tutorials are to ensure that

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 the customers can quickly learn how to operate the electronic components and their
applications before or after purchasing them.

CNC Cutting
Blue Valley offers cutting services using a CNC machine. This may be done to customise PVC
junction boxes to make a project housing based on the design requirements of the project.

3D Printing
Blue Valley provides 3D printing services. The customer provides the design in STL format,
which is compatible with the 3D printer.

PCB Design and Circuit Board Etching

The software applications that are used for PCB designing are Proteus and Diptrace. The
printed circuit board is made after the circuit has been tested on a breadboard and the
components now have to be secured permanently. Circuit board etching now makes sure that
the tracks are printed on the copper board.

Virtual farming and farming technology under Blue Valley’s product Kurima Online
Kurima Online
An online platform brings together;
 Farmer- the farmer who does not have marketing skills and capital
 Virtual farmer- has an interest in farming, has enough capital but does not the time to
invest in farming.
 Consumer- needs farm produce

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Kazambeu Strategy

The Kazambeu strategy is meant to bridge the gap between the industry and the theoretical
knowledge gained in high school or at tertiary level.
It is an online platform that will allow students from high school and tertiary institutions to do
the following:
 Facilitate the students to get industrial experience
 Facilitate students to get volunteering experience.
 Facilitate students to interact and work together with other students from various
universities
 Help companies with recruiting candidates that suit the company’s vision and also
make the ground fair for applying students.

2.1.4 Blue Valley Products

Electronic components

Electronics components such as microcontrollers (Arduino) and sensors, used in robotics,

electronics engineering and automation, and computer science projects are available for sale
and for rentals at Blue Valley.

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Fig 3: Products

Automated Water Kiosk

The system replaces manually operated water kiosks with automated systems to help reduce
congestion and contact lowering the risk of contracting COVID-19. This system also reduces
water wastage due to spillage. The system uses a tap-card that is based on the Radio Frequency
Identification Technology (RFID) to allow users to access water by tapping on the dispenser
unit. The tap-card is prepaid and the amount of money available is deducted each time the
client uses water. The amount of money deducted is directly proportional to the amount of
water used. The water management system server captures all the reports from the water kiosk.
This allows remote monitoring as the data is available on the web portal.

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Fowl Run Temperature Monitoring System
Favourable temperatures for rearing broilers are between 28 and 32. If temperatures rises
beyond 32 or is below 28, it becomes problematic. The purpose of this project is to develop a
low cost temperature monitoring system. This system uses a DHT11 to measure temperature
and display the results on an LCD. If the temperature is between 28 and 32 the green, LED is
lit indicating normal conditions. If the temperature is too high or too low, the buzzer and red
LED will be activated thereby warning the farmer about the unfavourable conditions. This
system displays temperature and humidity on the LCD screen.

Keep You Sane

This system allows drivers to communicate without getting distracted. The Bluetooth Voice
Control for Arduino is used to control the Arduino. The application works by pressing the mic
button, then it waits for a voice command. The application will display the words said by the
used and it sends data strings for Arduino to process. This application can be downloaded on
Google play store. Whatever the driver says is displayed on the LED Matrix.

2.2.1 UK Child Registry

This section gives a brief introduction about UK Child Registry, its vision, mission and core
values. This section also provides an overview of the organisational, and the services provided
by company.

Child Registry is a sponsored organisation by various African/UK/US and European Regulated

Institutions that contribute for the betterment and prosperity of all registered children in Africa
though the African Child Prosperity Fund (ACPF). The ACPF is a structured investment
vehicle that gives every parent an equal opportunity to contribute towards their child’s future
so that he/she may have resources for a better and brighter tomorrow.

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 All contributions are made to a registered and regulated investment partnership, GSP US$
Dividend LLP (UK) and collateralised by EGX Credit Liquidity Ltd (UK) via locally registered
funds in respective markets.

2.2.2 The organisation

Child Registry Ltd (UK) is a sponsored US/UK Technology company in collaboration and
partnerships with African/US/EU/UK Regulated institutions that contribute for the betterment
and prosperity of all registered children in Africa.

Fig 4: CR Organisation

CEO
(Saira Thawer)

Directors
(Dr. Chomi Makina, Rahim
Thawer)

Operations
Marketing Manager Funds Manager
Manager

Finance and
Marketing Business Operations
personnel Management Personnel
Personnel

Saira Thawer, CEO

Saira is the CEO and co-founder of Child Registry Ltd (UK).

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Vision
To create an opportunity for every child in Africa towards a better life and a prosperous future
through our local and international partners.

As the citizens of respective countries become educated, they have access to more resources
and better career opportunities, hence resulting in higher income contributing positively to
their respective communities and industries.

What we do
We are part of various communities in Africa that contribute towards individual development
as well as outreach programs in creating a self-sustaining environment.
We participate in not only economic development programs but also empowering future
leaders as well as women in rural communities.

Our community
We create and oversee various initiatives from grass root level to corporate partnerships for the
benefit of Africa. Through various initiatives, we provide financing of education, technology
products as well as source jobs to various markets. We also offer apprenticeship programs in
various fields, whereby successful candidates get good paying jobs.

Location and contact details

Zimbabwe office: Office Number 7 Karigamombe Centre, Harare.
Head office: 169 Piccadilly Mayfair Dudley House, Fourth Floor, London, W1JEH, United
Kingdom
+16463454442
info@childregistry.org
childregistry.org

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2.2.3 Services and Corporate Sponsored Events

Apprenticeship Program Scholarship

Child Registry Ltd has launched an apprenticeship program in respective markets to fulfil
outsourced positions in various fields.
Candidates are awarded with US$1,875 scholarship. Candidates earn while they learn.
Child Registry’s Apprenticeship Program is offering jobs in various fields such as Law,
Technology, Finance, Engineering and Medical.
The program guarantees candidates a job, dedicated mentor, lifelong learning programs,
laptop/tablet financing, matching company sponsored retirement pension and US$1,875
scholarship upon successful completion of the 18 month program.

Prosperity plan

Child Registry, through African Child Prosperity Fund (ACPF) and in collaboration with
various partnerships, contributes towards registered children, whereby parents contribute
towards their children’s prosperous future.
For a limited time, ACPF registered children can qualify for US$100 towards education with
no commitment from their parents.

Scholarships

Child Registry Ltd contributed to contribute US$1,000,000 annually towards scholarship

programs for Child Registry children who have scored top 10% in our internal

CR LIFE Certification Program for Teachers

Child Registry introduced an initiative to help teachers in Zimbabwe through disbursement of

information, communication and technology (ICT) gadgets via hire purchase. Child Registry,

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in consultation with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education will distribute more
than 12 000 laptops to teachers under the hire purchase scheme. The payment period ranges
from one to five years.

The scheme enables teachers to use the gadgets while paying relatively low and affordable
amounts. The thrust of the scheme is to equip teachers with relevant new technology skills in
line with the emergence of digital communication. The LIFE membership program offers
benefits such as finance, grants, US$ income opportunities and international exchange
programmes.

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Chapter 3

Key result areas of internship

Introduction

I was tasked to perform a number of sales and marketing duties. I also participated in other
departments to broaden my knowledge of the operations and to gain more work experience.
Duties performed are explained in depth in this chapter.

Social media marketing

We used social media platforms at both organisations especially Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
and LinkedIn to promote our products and services. Here we could track progress, reach and
engagement of ad campaigns.

At Blue Valley, we used mainly Facebook and Instagram ads to reach out to university students
in the computer science and in the engineering faculties who need projects support and
electronic components for innovation projects. We also included the link to our catalogue in
social media posts and on our website.

At Child Registry, we used platforms that are more formal, that are Twitter and Linked in to
reach out to investors and potential investors. Here we structured posts to be in a professional
language. On Facebook, we targeted parents who would be, and who already are clients for
ACPF (African Child Prosperity Fund).

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Micromarketing

At Blue Valley Enterprises, we used micro marketing to connect to our customers. Micro
marketing is when sales representatives visit customers and potential customers to check for
their awareness of about the products, product knowledge, and whether or not the products
worked as per their expectations, that is, to confirm their satisfaction. These exercises raised
awareness, knowledge, and appreciation of the products and services offered by the firm. This
is a good way to get first-hand information on how the customer perceived our products. It will
gave us, marketers, insight into how the market is behaving and what gaps needed to be
addressed.

At UK Child Registry we did micro marketing in the form of direct mails. We direct mailed
investors and potential investors to inform them about upcoming projects and success of past
projects they funded. Communicating directly to investors, especially when we gave feedback
about projects and events they collaborated in, gained us more trust and encouraged them to
invest more.

Grant proposals

Grant proposals are clear, direct documents written to particular organisations or funding
agencies with the purpose of persuading reviewers to provide support. We drafted grant
proposals on almost a daily basis at Child Registry to invite investors to collaborate with us in
upcoming and ongoing events and projects. We would examine sample proposals from our
department and those we drafted before, and then we would customise them to suit the purpose
for which they are being written and whom they are being sent to. We direct mailed grant
proposals to investors, then we would make a follow up on those. For us to be able to write to
different types of investors we needed to be well vested in what they do, and whether or not
they may be interested in the projects, and so that we knew how to write to them. Hence, we
needed to do thorough researches on the persons and organisations.

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Research

At Child Registry, we would carry out research to locate granting organisations and/or
individuals to fund our projects, and to find out whether or not their mission aligns with our
plan. We needed to find out which sources are most likely to support a request.
At Blue Valley, we carried our marketing research to identify potential threats and
opportunities in the market. We researched about our competitors such as Blitz Technologies
and Kimtronics to find out how they are pricing their products, what they are up to, and their
promotions and about products they are offering that we are not. We would then generate
alternative courses of action, for example to reprice our products to be competitive.

Advertising

I took part in creating adverts for the hackathons, LIFE Membership Program, 3D Printing
Advertisements, Components Ads and Covid19 Awareness. Such exposure not only
enlightened me but it also has equipped me with advertising knowledge in this digitally driven
market.

At Blue Valley, the target audiences on social media were students who do projects, and
engineering persons. We created a catalogue that we distributed physically in universities and
in other organisations. At Child Registry, our target audiences were investors, potential
investors, potential volunteers, donors, teachers (LIFE Portal) and parents who register their
children for the ACPF (African Child Prosperity Fund). I made use of the social media
platforms available. Facebook links:
Blue Valley- Enterprises: facebook.com/bluevalleyinc/
UK Child Registry: www.facebook.com/ChildRegistry/

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Stock management

Blue Valley Enterprises relies on products produced in China and a few from other countries
such as South Africa. The led time between placing orders and getting the products is long
therefore, there is a need for proper stock management. At the sales department we tracked
stock levels as there were being sold, but some products are damaged and some may be stolen.
We also conducted physical stock counts every month-end. This was beneficial as it increased
my knowledge of electronic components and other products and gave a clear picture of the
range of products in stock. This information is essential when quoting customers or in customer
visits.

Planning

In the marketing department, I was given specific tasks in which I had to meet set deadlines.
This helped me to develop the skill of planning and prioritizing work so to be able to meet the
deadlines. At UK Child Registry we as interns we given the events planning tasks. We would
be given a financial budget for each event or project, as well as deadlines. We presented our
proposed plans during meetings prior to the events.

Customer consultancy

We would interact with clients to handle complaints, process orders and to provide information
about products and services. We did customer consultancy mostly physically at Blue Valley,
and online at Child Registry. We had to be well spoken so we could answer questions, address
enquiries, to resolve issues and to provide information on products and services. We sold new
products to customers, demonstrating to them features and benefits before proceeding with
orders, payments and delivery arrangements.
At Blue Valley, I would administer Blue Valley and Fakamali Point of Sale operations such as
cash handling and receipting, and at Child Registry, we would manage confidential, personal

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 information with members while cultivating positive relationships and abiding by privacy
laws; hence I gained more communication skills and customer service skills.

Report writing

I took part in several business functions and was tasked to report the event proceedings to the
seniors in the formal report. I also wrote monthly sales reports. Though guidance I came to
appropriate the proper ways of reporting and with time mastered the skill. The reports included
mere reporting to analytical reports.

Projects

I took part in projects that were running and those that started during the course of my
internship period. I took part in a research for the LIFE Membership Program that started in
February 2021 at UK Child Registry. We were the first group to market the LIFE Portal.
At Blue Valley, we took part in hackathons and these helped us appreciate innovation projects
as we set topics for teams after looking into current problems and how to solve them.
We were pioneers of the Blue Valley E-commerce platform. We took part in its construction
and launch.

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Chapter 4

Critical evaluation of relevance of the theory to practice

4.1 Skills and qualifications gained

Communication skills

I learnt skills of communication during my internship period. Formal methods of

communication were mostly used through emails, meetings and calls. I interacted with

people from other departments, other sections, other companies (service providers) and

clients. I interacted with many employees and people, as we would co-operate in carrying

out certain tasks within the organisation.

Team spirit

I appreciated the team spirit in both Sales and Marketing Departments. Team spirit is of

great importance as it contributes to a greater extend to effectiveness and efficiency of the

organisation.

Boosting of confidence

Minimum supervision in performing assigned tasks resulted in the boosting of my

confidence. The supervisors gave me room for self-supervision and this helped me in the

learning process, as work was interesting and motivating due to minimum supervision.

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Products and services knowledge

I was exposed to the companies’ products (electronic components), learning technical

recommendations for these products, and services (for the betterment and prosperity of the

African child). I gained the experience from working on the sales point, stocktaking,

product training courses, and empowerment seminars.

Business analytical skills

During the end of every month, I was expected to present a sales and marketing report. It

was, therefore, necessary for the student to be able to analyse information before

presenting. Hence, I was able to develop analytical skills.

Conflict Managing

Conflict is associated with the central processes of people and their association with the

surroundings and is, therefore, an unavoidable part of organizational life (Jones & George,

2003). However, conflict is inevitable it is important to learn how to manage it. This was

one of the most essential skills learned during the internship program, putting conflict

management methods to practices.

Events planning and management skills

I planned and attended Child Registry functions, meetings and events such donations and

program launches. Planning of some of these events was tasked primarily to me; I had to

report to the marketing manager and to other senior staff. Planning included searching for

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 groups to involve, budget preparation, food, invitations, advertising campaigns and poster

designs. The experience I gained has equipped me with event planning skills and proper

crisis management.

Customer service skills

We sold to walk in customers, from small retailers to end users. These customers differ in

terms of product knowledge and attitude. It was mandatory that I learned how to interact

with customers. I sat at the sales point and I directly interacted with customers. This

equipped me with the necessary skills to handle customer complaints, help and to address

enquiries. Interaction with the customers via mail and calls gave me experience in proper

customer communication and interaction skills.

4.2 Relevance of HIT curriculum

4.2.1 Courses and topics

Correlation of internship activities to courses and topics;

Purchasing and supply chain management

I carried out procurement tasks, sourcing for stationary and sometimes big purchases such

as office electronic devices. In some of these instances, I had to negotiate prices, delivery

terms and quantities, and quality of services or products. The process involves seeking

quotations from at least three suppliers. Then we evaluate the most suitable supplier basing

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 on the quality of goods or services, prices, supplier service provision and sometimes lead-

time. This taught me to evaluate suppliers critically.

Technical communication skills

Since I was in the sales and marketing department, I got to interact with customers on site

and off site during customer visits. Customers came for different reasons and they had

different personalities. Knowing how communicate with them in person or electronically

was of huge importance. Conflict management was also one of the core concepts I

appreciated which I acquired in my technical communication skills module.

Website engineering

The IT department designed and maintained websites in both organisations, but during

mingle periods I got the opportunity to help in the maintenance of both websites. Blue

Valley, however, was failing to capitalise on digital marketing on the website. I then came

up with ideas of marketing using the website, for example including the links to our

products catalogue and hyperlinks to our media pages, and to current promotional

campaigns on social media.

Intellectual property in Electronic commerce

Child Registry launched the LIFE Portal and Blue Valley started the Kurima Online

Platform during my internship period. I was privileged to be part of the teams behind the

planning of these platforms. We were tasked to design brand guidelines for the portals and

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 the advertising campaigns. We had to make sure that none of the designs and tag lines

violated any intellectual property rights. We also made sure that all material use, videos

and images were original.

Marketing research

During internship, I was tasked to conduct various researches, especially marketing

research. The researches were to determine if digital marketing would be beneficial to the

organisations given their nature and customer base, researches prior to drafting grant

proposals and researches about the markets and competitors. I created questionnaires,

issued them, recorded and analysed results to give detailed conclusive documents.

Software engineering

Through the acquired knowledge in the Software engineering module, I found it easier to

help in the planning and execution of the development of the software packages and

websites when I worked in the IT Department, although it was occasional.

Corporate law

I had to apply the concepts I leant in corporate law to govern issued contracts and create

and amend existing contracts. I made supervised changes to Blue Valley partnership

contracts and Child Registry LIFE Portal laptops on hire purchase forms.

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4.2.2 Techniques

Correlation of internship activities to techniques learnt at HIT

Time management

The establishment of assignments deadlines and in class tests almost weekly when we had

at least eight courses per semester at HIT is indeed tough and teaches us to manage our

time properly and to know what to prioritize. Having dealt with these for four semesters

successfully, I was able to meet work completion deadlines without much struggle. I

appreciated the importance of keeping appointments and to work well ahead of deadlines,

as well as to prioritize work according to the importance and urgency. This is critical to

keeping healthy relations with managers and clients.

Confidence boost

The class presentations and HIT 200 presentations taught me how to handle anxiety and

stage fright; therefore, I did not have problems presenting reports in meetings and staging

morning cultures.

Ability to work under pressure

I learnt how to work under pressure when we were given sudden deadlines for documents

submission, short notice announcements for project presentations and tests. We would have

very little time to prepare for tests and presentations often at school, and we would do so

successfully. Hence, I did not have trouble working under pressure in the industry as we

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were trained for it. The Sales and Marketing Department is a busy department- there would

be only two of us at the reception and so many clients, but we attended to all of them

effectively and we rarely had them complaining for waiting in the queue for long, unless

when we had technical faults.

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Chapter 5

Challenges faced and attempts made to resolve the challenges

5.1 Introduction

The industrial attachment period is of great importance to a student. It has proved to be beneficial

and it has enhanced me with most of the industrial skills. I however faced many challenges during

the attachment period and I was able to overcome most of them. This chapter gives a brief

explanation of the industrial attachment challenges I faced and the attempts that were made to

solve the problems.

5.2 Major problems identified

Difficulty in mastering portfolios

Getting the grasp of the organisations’ systems took long, especially at Child Registry,

which was a completely different environment. Transferring from a profit making

organisation marketing department where we had products to market and promote, to a

non-profit making organisation marketing department where marketing was about

activities and strategies to spread the message of the organisation and to solicit donations

and call for volunteers was an interesting, but a challenging experience. Mastering the

product and services portfolios at Blue Valley proved hard, as there were hundreds of tiny

electronics components in stock, each with many specifications.

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 Solution:

I invested time and effort to master the portfolios, and with time, I learned almost

everything I needed to learn so I could work without difficulties. I consulted my colleagues

whenever I needed help.

Lack of guidance

I was the only Sales and Marketing person at the Blue Valley Harare City Centre branch.

My supervisor worked from another branch. He would allocate tasks via email, and my

boss would allocate tasks as well, some of which I would have learned about at school but

I did not know how to apply their use to the organisation. There was no one else in the

marketing field to ask; therefore, the learning process was slow and difficult.

Solution:

I tried to resolve this challenge by pleading with my supervisor to be available on the phone

to help me whenever I needed help.

Conflict of interest

Conflict of interest from the superiors was another challenge where one superior would

delegate a task and another superior would object to the task. In some cases, more than one

superior would delegate tasks to me at the same time.

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 Solution:

To cater for this I would always seek advice from my legitimate supervisor.

Graphic designing

During my first days at work I faced challenges in coming up with a professional graphic

designs to be used for marketing purposes.

Solution:

To solve this I made sure that I use my free time to learn how to do some professional

advert as well as colour combinations. I watched YouTube tutorials to grasp the concepts

of graphic designing. In cases of emergencies, I outsourced the work.

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Chapter 6

Log book

SEPTEMBER
Week Work Performed and Concepts covered New Skills Learnt and
Comments
1 15 SEPTEMBER – 19 SEPTEMBER

The first week at Blue Valley Holdings I learnt about the

comprised an induction in which I was organisation in general-
introduced to other employees and I was the organisation
educated about all the different departments structure, the products
of the company and their functions. they sell and the services
they offer.
My main area of attachment is the marketing
and sales department, which handles the My supervisor taught me
marketing and selling of electronic how to receive and save
components and the projects service. customers at the
However, the whole internship program reception.
exposes me to many other arms of the I learned how to use
company through interactions and Bitrix24.
hackathons.

My supervisor assigned me to a workspace in

the reception area with a computer and local
internet connections.

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 My supervisor taught me how to use the
Bitrix24 platform that they use at Blue
Valley.

Week Work Performed and Concepts covered New Skills Learnt and
Comments

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2 21 SEPTEMBER – 26 SEPTEMBER
Learn creation of Doodle videos to be used
for marketing. I explored various
Learn how to make Excel price lists, playing applications that can be
around with different Excel price lists used to create doodle
templates, as I will be using them almost on videos and I
a daily basis, and learning how to create a downloaded Sparkle
products catalogue. Video Scribe and
Learn how to do search engine optimization, Animaker for the
a concept I learned at school that I am to videos creation.
apply onto the Blue Valley website.
Research on how to use social media I learned how to use
marketing for Electronic Components. Excel Price Lists.
Downloading images of the products in our I learnt how to create a
Bitrix24 catalogue and to add on the products catalogue.
catalogue I have created.
Creating an Excel Product Price List for the
Covid-19 products.
Draft and send quotations to customers.
Research about online Accounting
applications Wave Applications that we can
use.

Check for prices for drone hiring for aerial

photography from different organizations,
report findings to Supervisor.

Save Fakamali clients at the reception.

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 Week Work Performed and Concepts covered New Skills Learnt and
Comments
3 28 SEPTEMBER – 3 OCTOBER
Continue with the creation of the products When I was
catalogue- downloading or shooting images downloading and
of electronic components in stock, uploading shooting images of
product descriptions and specifications. products in stock,
researching about their
Research on the various aspects we need for descriptions and
our brand guideline. specifications for the
catalogue, I gained an
Document the various aspects we need for appreciation of
our brand guidelines. electronic components
and all the products we
Draft and send quotations to customers. sell at Blue Valley.
Save Fakamali customers at the reception.
I learned about brand
guidelines.

Student’s signature ………………………………………….

Industrial Supervisor’s Signature……………………………………………..
Date…………/………………/………………

OCTOBER

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Week Work performed and concepts covered New Skills Learnt
and Comments
4 5 OCTOBER – 10 OCTOBER
Log in to our Twitter account; explore how Learned how we can
we can use Twitter for components use twitter ads,
marketing. promoted tweets,
drive traffic to our
Draft a word document listing some of the website by adding our
ads and promotions we can upload on our website URL beneath
Twitter account; this was as a proposal to the our bio on our Twitter
management at Blue Valley. profile, incorporate
links to our website in
Research on the potential market for our our tweets and retweet
components and projects, and how we can any content that
promote our products. includes direct links
to our website and/ or
Learning how to use different poster making blogs other people
applications. have shared.

Make our posters for drone services and for

3D printing.

Draft and send quotations to customers.

Save Fakamali customers.

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Week Work Performed and Concepts New Skills Learnt and
covered Comments
5 12 OCTOBER – 17 OCTOBER I learned how to use Video
Learn how to create marketing videos Scribe; I have created a
using Sparkol Video Scribe. trial video. By the end of
next week, I should have
Compile an excel sheet with our products created our first sample
prices and those of Blitz and Kimtronix, marketing video.
which is to be used to compile our final
price list. I could find the prices of
32 products of 37 from
Compile a list of Landscaping companies either Blitz or Kimtronix
and their contacts so I can communicate or Netro electronics, I
with them for a proposal. could not find prices for
the KP500B infrared
Create our first sample marketing video sensor PIR, IR Probe, the
using Sparkol Video Scribe. DSO138 oscilloscope,
TFT LCD Shield, the MP3
Research on the prices of the components player module, the Vero
that are on the catalog but not on the board and the micro SD
excel sheet, and to come up with the final card adapter.
prices for those products.
Learned how to write a
Research on how to write a letter of intent letter of intent.
to send to the landscaping companies,
proposing to do business with them.

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Week Work Performed and Concepts New Skills Learnt and
covered Comments
6 19 OCTOBER – 24 OCTOBER

Learn about content marketing so I can Learned about content

work on it starting this week. marketing and how I apply
it in our organization.
Look at the content plans for First
Capital and our competitors and see I learned that live cover
how I can create our plan. pages are trending on
Facebook, and I have made
Look for templates of content plans, one for us.
and learn how to create posters for I am facing challenges
content using Adobe Illustrator. installing the full Adobe
illustrator package.
Make our first Fun Fridays poster and
to make a PowerPoint presentation for
People are liking our post,
all the Monday, Wednesdays,
but we need to increase our
Thursdays and Fridays posts we are
reach, especially on twitter.
going to post on social media.
I am going to continue to
invite people to like our
Upload our first Wednesday Wisdom
Twitter post, via
poster on Twitter and Facebook.
WhatsApp and other
platforms
Change our Facebook cover.

Create our Instagram account.

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 Attend to Fakamali clients.

Week Work Performed and Concepts New Skills Learnt and

covered Comments
7 26 OCTOBER – 31 OCTOBER

Make posters for our Kurima Online I made the poster for
chickens that are now ready for sale. online marketing, but I
still have to do a more
Search for Branding and Signage detailed flyer for printing.
companies and get quotations.
I contacted the Camuchi
Make a documentation for the Kurima company for branding;
Online Platform. they came to do the
measurements and the
Edit the Blue Valley learn document and design.
the Hackathon document to be more
professional and marketable. I drafted the document,
sent it in for corrections
Make quotations for potential clients for and I made the correct
components, and post to them. final Kurima Online Pdf.

Save Fakamali clients at reception.

Student’s signature ………………………………………….

Industrial Supervisor’s Signature……………………………………………..

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Date…………/………………/………………

NOVEMBER

Week Work Performed and New Skills Learnt and Comments

Concepts covered
8 2 NOVEMBER –
7 NOVEMBER

Visit banks and other During this week we were working off the
companies physically for Company premises to seek partnership and
hackathon partnership Funding for our hackathon that will be in
proposal.
December.

We went to Old Mutual, CABS, NMB,

Work on the first trial
hackathon poster using ECOBANK, Telecel, ZB Bank,
Adobe Illustrator. Stewart Bank and PowerTel.

We managed to drop our proposals to the

marketing departments of CABS and

Old Mutual.

Most of the marketing departments of

the companies we visited are not in the

CBD and will have to be visited physically.

We managed to get some contacts of some

marketing departments.

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 Week Work Performed and Concepts New Skills Learnt and
covered Comments
9 9 NOVEMBER – 14 NOVEMBER

Make the first trial hackathon poster The poster did not come out
using Adobe Illustrator. so well and I had to contact
Compile a list of the potential hackathon the design team to help me
partners including embassies and NGOs, with the Illustrator designs.
their contact details and their addresses
so we can visit them physically We managed to visit the
Swedish Embassy, the
Approach the potential hackathon Canadian Embassy, the
partners physically. Women’s Finance bank, an
NGO at the Kopje in Raleigh
Assist the Branding Company that street, among others.
started a part of office branding while The challenge was some only
saving Fakamali customers. accept visits strictly on
appointment, which we did
not have.

Student’s signature ………………………………………….

Industrial Supervisor’s Signature……………………………………………..
Date…………/………………/………………

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DECEMBER

Week Work Performed and Concepts New Skills Learnt and

covered Comments
10 7 DECEMBER – 11 DECEMBER
.
The first week at UK Child Registry I learnt about the organisation
comprised an induction in which I was in general- the organisation
introduced to other employees and I was structure and the services
educated about all the different they offer.
departments of the company and their
functions.

My main area of attachment is the

marketing and sales department, however,
the whole internship program exposes me
to many other arms of the company
through interactions.

Week Work Performed and Concepts New Skills Learnt and

covered Comments
11 14 DECEMBER – 19 DECEMBER

Preparing a proposal plan for the During this week I learnt how
children’s’ Christmas party to be to plan and facilitate events.
scheduled at the end of this week.

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Look up online for groups of children and/
children’s homes to bless with a party and
gifts.
Email them to enquire on what they may
need on their pantry stocks and the
number and ages of children, they have.
Draft estimate costs of each of the groups
according to information acquired, and to
match the costs to our budget for the
occasion.

Choose the groups that almost match our

budget and present in the meeting for
management to make final choice.

Facilitate registration of children at

Hopely who are to attend the event.

Post on social media about the event to

attract volunteers and more donors.

Book an appointment with the hosting

churchwomen who volunteered to
provide catering service at the event; and
to meet and plan with them.

Post feedback on social media after the

event.

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Student’s signature ………………………………………….
Industrial Supervisor’s Signature……………………………………………..
Date…………/………………/………………

JANUARY

Week Work Performed and Concepts covered New Skills Learnt and
Comments
12 11 JANUARY – 15 JANUARY

Preparing informative messages I learnt how to formally

concerning the new development that the present updates on social
ACPF (African Child Prosperity Fund) can media pages.
now be paid using RTGS, as well as the
registration fee. I learnt how to compose and
present messages to clients
Post the update on Twitter, Facebook. on direct mail, and to
respond to clients in the
Direct mail our clients concerning the proper and formal way.
development.

Responding to clients and potential clients’

enquiries concerning the development.

Responding to clients and potential clients’

enquiries concerning the development.

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Week Work Performed and Concepts covered New Skills Learnt and
Comments
13 18 JANUARY – 22 JANUARY

Direct mailing new clients for 2021, taking Learnt how to present
them through the registration process. feedback from clients in a
formal way.
Explaining to new clients about our
organisation and the ACPF. Gained experience on how
to converse with clients in a
Reporting customers’ feedback from direct business language.
mailings.

Week Work Performed and Concepts covered New Skills Learnt and
Comments
14 25 JANUARY – 29 JANUARY

I introduced the culture of consistently Learned how to make the

posting on our social media pages and organisations’ environment
adding a more interesting way of starting more alive and how to keep
Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and social media pages more
Fridays by designing and presenting the active to expose our
first ever Child Registry’s Motivational organisation to the outside
Mondays, Wisdom Wednesdays, audience.
Throwback Thursdays and Fun Fridays

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 Posters I designed using Canva and Pics
Art.
Learned to use design
I was tasked to create a content plan in applications such as PicsArt
advance of two weeks, designing the and Snapseed, and I gained
posters we were going to use as our more experience using
morning culture and social media posts, as Canva.
well as the captions.

Student’s signature ………………………………………….

Industrial Supervisor’s Signature……………………………………………..
Date…………/………………/………………

FEBRUARY
Week Work Performed and Concepts covered New Skills Learnt and
Comments
15 1 FEBRUARY – 5 FEBRUARY
Designing Child Registry Covid-19
regulations posters and messages to post Learned, by looking up
on social media pages. similar organisations’ pages
such as UNICEF, how to
Awareness marketing. post awareness messages on
social platforms.

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Week
Work Performed and Concepts covered New Skills Learnt and
Comments

16
8 FEBRUARY – 12 FEBRUARY

Researching on how covid-19 has been

affecting children;
Here we learned ways of
Start an online discussion about whether or keeping our pages active
not covid-19 is affecting children on our during lockdown, at the
page, to keep it active during lockdown. same time delivering
something of value to clients
Purpose- educational.
through the discussion.

Week Work Performed and Concepts covered New Skills Learnt and
Comments
17 15 FEBRUARY – 19 FEBRUARY
During this week we were being educated
on the new LIFE membership program at I learned about the LIFE
Child Registry in seminars; Membership Portal and how
What it is about, about the hosts, about the we were going to launch and
Mighty Networks Application, how we are market it. It was an exciting
going to train teachers on how to use it, experience being the first
how we are going to document ad market group to start a company
it? project.

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 Week Work Performed and Concepts covered New Skills Learnt and
Comments
18 22 FEBRUARY – 26 FEBRUARY
During this week, we started preparations I acquired planning skills
for the marketing of the LIFE Portal- the during this exercise. I used
posters and documentations. Canva to design the Posters.
Planning of how we are going to spread the
message of the LIFE Portal- the business
pitch, the marketing budgets.

Student’s signature ………………………………………….

Industrial Supervisor’s Signature……………………………………………..
Date…………/………………/………………

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Chapter 7

Conclusions, Recommendations and Suggestions

7.0 Introduction
This chapter draws the recommendations and suggestions to both Blue Valley Enterprises and UK

Child Registry, and then to Harare Institute of Technology and ends with a conclusion.

7.1 Recommendations and suggestions to the Companies

Recommendations to Blue Valley Enterprises:

 I recommend that the company has an on the job Sales and Marketing Department

manager who will be available to assist interns, helping them with the application

of theory to practice, or that at least there is some Sales and Marketing person onsite

to help them.

 I recommend that the company has more than one person at the reception to attend

to walk-in clients when the other person goes out to carry out the company’s off-

the-job errands.

 There is a need to implement flexible payment methods such as RTGS, swipe, and

Eco cash given the current financial situation in the country. There is also need to

have a proper accounting software that has a database backed up on a cloud-

computing server.

Recommendations to UK Child Registry:

 I recommend that the UK management keep in touch with interns and their school

supervisors so they can understand the internship requirements of the institution, as

54 | P a g e
 they are different from the UK curriculum. This may help them to understand the

requests that interns send via their supervisors.

 There is need to increase awareness campaigns to inform the public about the

existence of the organisation, as many are not benefiting from its services because

they do not know about the company.

 There is need to back up company documents so that the preparation does not start

from scratch every time. It will then be easier and faster to process documents since

there will only be need to customise them, and they will be in a uniform format.

7.3 Recommendations and suggestions to the University

The opportunity of an industrial attachment equipped me practically. I came up with the following

suggestions and recommendations:

 My first recommendation is that the institute considers adding a standalone graphics

design module, which will give students an appreciation in the art and design sector,

which is also a major component for web engineering and design. Graphic design can

also be included in the Electronic Marketing module, as students will get an

appreciation on how to design marketing materials.

 I also recommend that the curriculum gives more time to practical lectures, because

there is a huge gap between theory and practice

 E-commerce students need guidance on areas of specialization since the degree

program is broad. A number of specialists can be invited to provide career guidance on

each of the fields of study for example IT and marketing. This strategy will give

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 students an opportunity to choose an area of specialisation at an earlier stage aided by

expert advice as focal points to enhance their future careers.

 I recommend that the Department establishes long-term relationships with the

companies offering internship for Ecommerce students. The university may enter into

contracts with various companies so that students will be trained at these companies.

This would ease the problem of students in finding industrial attachment as most of the

students end up being attached for a period less than one year.

 The department may offer a training programme to students going on attachment that

outlines the areas that a student is expected to go through. This gives a sense of direction

to students and reduces fear of the unknown.

 Finally, I strongly recommend the University to continue with the attachment

programme, as it is vital for skills development to students.

7.4 Conclusion

In conclusion, I was exposed to a hands-on approach to the skills learnt in the University and that

prepared me to the work environment after school. Internship is a good practice and it nurtures one

into a prepared individual when it comes to tackling challenges, performing tasks and interacting

with fellow employees. Therefore, from my experience, the objectives of the industrial attachment

have been fulfilled. The industrial attachment period is indeed a good way of testing one’s

preparedness to undertake the demands of the chosen career. Therefore, every student should

practice the attachment.

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References:
-Jones, G.R., & George, J.M. (2003). Contemporary management. (3rd edn.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Evans, D. (2008). Social Media Marketing.

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 WORK SUPERVISOR’S ASSESSMENT OF THE STUDENT’S REPORT

Having read the student’s report on internship at your establishment, how do you rate the following assessment areas:-

ASSESSMENT AREA 1 2 3 4 5

How do you rate the student’s performance regards identifying and

addressing the relevant issues i.e. the overall structure and coherence of
the report

How do you rate the student’s performance regards evidence of data

collection and analysis e.g. information on the organization/company of
attachment and use of this information within the report.

How would you rate the student’s performance regards communication

skill used in compiling the report.

How do you rate the student’s ability to apply theoretical knowledge in

understanding or solving issues related to the efficient running of the
organization/company.

OVERALL INTERNSHIP PERFORMANCE RATING:

For the period of INTERNSHIP you have had with our student, how do you rate his/her performance on the overall?
Please tick appropriately.

SATISFACTORY
Most job requirements met

HIGHLY COMPETENT
All job requirements met

EXCELLENT
Exceeded all job requirements in a highly efficient manner

OUTSTANDING
All job requirements substantially exceeded

Signature of Work Supervisor ………………………………………. Date …………………….....

Received and Checked at the Department, HIT

Internship Supervisor………………………… Date & Official Stamp………………………………

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