Working in organization is easy and relaxed - WRONG!

At least that was not what I experienced during my internship at ICSA (Indonesia Corporate Secretary Association). This does not mean that I had a traumatic experience there - on the contrary, I felt very driven and motivated because of the tight deadlines and all of the multitasking.

ICSA team was small. We only consisted of 4 people. One was our Executive Director, one was finance officer, one was head of liaison officer, and then there was me - assistant to head of liaison officer. During my last days of work, another staff joined us as liaison officer.

ICSA held a minimum of 2 events every month, sometimes 3. The events' goals were to socialize new regulations or to refresh the existing ones, to ensure that corporate secretaries in Indonesia were not in the dark of the many regulations that they must obey. ICSA also held workshops in order to hone corporate secretaries' hard and soft skills.

During my internship at ICSA, my job description was wide. I was responsible for:

1. Administration tasks, such as making Minutes of Meetings during events and internal meetings, handling membership applications, managing office equipment, making and distributing certificates for event attendees, making reports, and many more.

2. Event planning and execution. I was responsible in making and distributing event invitations, preparing the collaterals and documents for the event, publications, and registrations. During the event, I became both an MC and secretary for the event, leading the event as well as taking notes. In light of these events that take place regularly two or three times per month, these were my tasks most of the time.

3. Member engagement. My daily task was to assist with member's questions or problems, in case they experienced one.

It could feel hectic and tiring at times, but it was also exciting and enjoyable. Our small team showed me what a great teamwork really is - willing to do a task that was not in our job descriptions in order to help one another. At the end of this internship, I received very positive feedbacks from my teammates and Executive Director. Though I felt thankful for the compliments, I felt like I wouldn't be able to work as well without the help of my teammates.

I learned a lot of things during my internship at ICSA, including time management, stress management, excelling at multitasking, and many more. However, the one lesson that was very valuable and relatable with our daily life would be: we do not let others suffer alone. In short, ICSA's culture really emphasizes Indonesian culture called gotong royong, and I am really grateful that I was a part of this amazing team.