Millennium Cars Mindanao Incorporated (Ford Davao) – quite big, huh? The common thing I hear from people when I get to know how they see the company (in a third person point of view) is that they think it is really difficult to work, it is Ford Motors, after all. Even I, myself, had this perception about the company. It is an international car company, after all, so I think all these perceptions people about Ford’s high ideals and standards and good compensation is quite normal. Actually, when I knew I was going to be assigned in Ford for my industrial rotation, I got quite excited. It came to me like I was going to learn a lot form the company, and who knows, maybe if a do well at internship and decided on not proceeding to medical school anymore, I could work there after my graduation. So I prepared myself so that I could present myself well.
At my first day at Ford, Tin and I were to make certificates, arrange test materials and got introduced to the dreaded 201 files, which felt good because I thought at that point, “I could really feel being an intern here”. The next day, I was set to go to BIR to run some errands for the company – yes, another good thing for my industry exposure. It felt like if I were to do things like that for the rest of my internship, I was really going to age prematurely because of the heat and pollution. And alas! I think I was right; the week didn’t end without me set for another field work – three banks in one day. I was asked to wire money at one bank, and deposit money on two other banks.
I learned to act in an adult-ish manner, I guess. Since, honestly, I am quite immature, it was something I had to adjust to. In the corporate world, I really had to act respectable, evn with dealing with people from banks and BIR and all. People in the business world would not treat you fairly if you don’t act business-like, if you know what I mean – sad but true. It is not enough that I wear corporate attire everyday in order to be treated well by people; I had to actually deserve the business treatment. But honestly, our intern uniform does have its perks. Sometimes, I get mistaken as a manager or at least someone who’s a regular at a company, which in turn made them treat me as if I were 25 or something. I’m not complaining, though. At least that’s a well-enough compensation for enduring the temperature when I get out for field task is my industrial uniforms, which trust me, is not the best wardrobe for hot summer days.
So what did I learn at Ford? Since I have to be honest, what I learned were not really a lot about the to-do’s of the industry, because if that were the case, I’d just say going to banks, photocopying and arranging documents and encoding stuff, which pretty much isn’t a lot for me to say that’d I’ve learned enough in my 3-week internship at the company. But what I really learned is that when I graduate college, I have to make the right choices. In the environment at Ford, it was as if the people there aren’t happy where they’re at, like they’re just there for the money. I could be wrong though, but at that point, that was how I felt about the working environment there. I didn’t really feel that the employees were one family. During lunch breaks, I hear some employees talk about other employees negatively. Well I know it’s quite normal in offices to have little arguments and misunderstanding s from time to time, but to do it everyday?! Seriously?! And I hear employees always whine and rant about the work load, the work environment and about their colleagues. It makes me feel sad for them that it’s really obvious that they’re not happy and a little disappointed at Ford because, like I said, in a third-person point-of-view it seems so amazing to work in the company, but being able to experience working there, I was proven wrong.
Well, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Ford Davao isn’t a good company here. I’m just saying that I think Ford could do something to improve the work environment there. I can’t say for sure where all the employee rants are streaming from.
Plus, I also notices that “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” is applicable for Ford. I really though, before my internship began, that everyone always works in the office. I had a summer internship experience last year, and I notice that in where I interned in, majority of the employees’ duty hours was spent on work, so I kind of had that perception applied to all companies. But again, I was proven wrong. I am not criticizing them, but some employees at Ford, at certain days, I emphasize, only at certain days, majority of duty hours is spent on non-work related activities like movie marathons. It’s frustration to know really. It not that I just want everyone to work all the time, but it’s just that I want to learn things about the industry and the people at Ford are definitely displaying a good example to their interns, at least that’s how I see it. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s as if they’re not happy with their job and are only there for the salary.
In my short stay at Ford, about three employees resigned. I don’t know it this was the resignation trend on a regular basis or if I just happened to be there when employees were on a resignation peak (whatever that’s really called), but if the case was the former option, then it’s really sad, and I can say that I’m not alone about my perception about the company. I even heard an employee wanting to resign say, “Humot kayo ang Ford sa labas, pero sa sulod, ambot lang”, something like that. And it’s just a shame, really, because, Ford is a really looked-up-to company.
I also learned about myself better. I realized that I am not the office type. I cannot stand routine tasks. I want to be able to do things proactively, not just wait for orders about getting a photocopy from the other offices or distribute memoranda to other departments. The tasks I pretty much enjoyed during my industrial internship were the field ones. But who am I to complain, though? I always and to remind myself that stapling documents is pretty much what interns do, well almost always.
I was also inspired to really plan out my future. I barely have a year of college left and I don’t want to work just for the heck of it. I want to do something I actually love doing. Okay, honestly, I don’t want to be in the same situation like some people at Ford who don’t love their jobs and in effect, come to office late, consume every possible leave credit, never willing to go on overtime to finish a job, leave immediately when the clock ticks 5:30. In short, I don’t want to spend a pointless work-life. I want to continue on growing with the career choice that I make.
Okay, I think all those stuff I said were quite harsh, and as an intern I’m not really in the position the company, but I just can’t feel healthy environment exist in Ford, at least with the offices I got the chance to get exposed to. Plus, hearing employee rants and whines everyday kind of strengthens my point. So there…..
Anyway, my time at Ford isn’t all negative, you know. I somehow enjoyed myself also. The people in the Human Resource Department were nice to us, in all fairness to them. Although we aren’t close like how some my classmates describe their relationship with their workmates are, the people at Ford are nice and accommodating. They help Tin and I out when we are confused about some tasks and they maintain to be approachable. That’s why no matter how dysfunctional (or is it really just normal?) the work environment is at Ford, I cannot really criticize people directly because in our internship period there, we were treated really, really well.
Overall, I had have to rate my Ford experience, I’m going to give it a six. More than a passing remark, yes, but not a high one. I can’t tell for sure if it’s because I’m just not the office girl or if I just didn’t really enjoy my industrial rotation as much as I could have, or as much as some of my classmates have. Although I learned stuff, I don’t really think I learned enough. Or have I just set too high of an expectations about this? I do not know, really.
Because of this summer internship, I somehow already have an idea about what I want after college, actually, my desire to pursue medical school intensified, just so I could avoid having to work in an office setting. It somehow helped me see things and plan out my future – whatever that is. J
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