In this blog post, we will introduce how to effectively showcase your practical skills in a food and beverage job application letter based on the communication skills and operational understanding you gained through your franchise management internship.
Growth
“A simple person who loves to eat”
I grew up in a place that was literally a “poor village.” My neighborhood was in the middle of the countryside, and it was mostly inhabited by elderly people. There weren’t many young couples or children, so it was difficult to find friends my age. That’s why I had to go to elementary school in a town far away, and when I entered junior high school, I had to attend a boarding school because there were no schools nearby.
When I was young, I loved the neighborhood I lived in without knowing why. Although there were no large supermarkets or places to play, it was a good place to spend time with my few friends. My close friends and I would go to the river to play in the stream or climb mountains, enjoying nature. There were lots of fruits and vegetables in the mountains and fields, so we would pick them and eat them. I grew up in a very free environment. Growing up surrounded by nature, I didn’t think about anything else but eating delicious food and filling my stomach.
I had a simple childhood, thinking that it was great to live in a neighborhood with lots of food and that my parents were wonderful for cooking delicious meals. Even in middle and high school, I was more interested in food than studying, so I went to college to major in food distribution. In college, I went further away to study food distribution in Seoul. From college, I began to focus on studies that I had not been interested in before, and I took various liberal arts courses, psychology courses, and reading workshops to build up my general knowledge and culture. At the same time, I worked hard on my major and prepared in various ways to find a job in the food distribution field.
Strengths and weaknesses
“Think simply and make decisions easily.”
My motto in life is “Think simply.” Thinking simply means, literally, not making things too complicated for myself. People often work hard but make their lives difficult by taking in too much information and stressing themselves out. There is even a term for stress addiction, and many people find themselves stuck in a cycle of work, relationships, and self-improvement.
However, I don’t think a complicated life is good. I believe that the obsession with always having to do everything well makes you suffer, and that the habit of overthinking things makes you sick. That’s why I decided to always think simply and make decisions easily. For example, when I was going to college, I heard a lot of advice to consider my aptitude, career path, and job outlook, but I didn’t want to make a difficult decision. Instead, I was interested in the food industry and thought it would be fun to work at a company that manages and distributes food ingredients, so I applied to a related department.
You might think that making such simple decisions would lead to regret, but that wasn’t the case for me. On the contrary, I enjoyed studying and wanted to learn more, so I was able to enjoy my major at university. When taking exams or preparing for employment, rather than working hard to build up my resume, I tried to think about what I needed most to do my job and focused on that. My ability to make decisions easily and act simply is one of my strengths.
School life
“Solidifying ideas in a startup club.”
During college, I was active in a venture start-up club in my department. I actually wanted to work for a food distribution company, but ultimately, I also wanted to start my own business in that field. So, I joined the venture start-up club to gain experience in turning my business ideas into reality. The most common activity in the club was meetings with my colleagues, where we shared ideas.
The ideas we shared in the meetings gradually took shape, and eventually we even wrote a business plan. It was interesting that ideas that didn’t seem very realistic when I thought about them alone developed further once they were presented and several people worked on them. For example, I like fruit, so I came up with the idea of selling vegetable juice. I then thought of a way to easily do business with a fruit and vegetable distribution company for my business, and we finalized the plan through meetings. It was a simple idea, but my colleagues added various ideas to it, and we were able to write a final plan and start our start-up project.
It wasn’t possible to just go ahead with the project; we needed basic funding, time, and manpower to actually get it off the ground. So we decided to systematically write up our business plan and submit it to a start-up competition. There are start-up competitions not only for young people but also for university students, so we compiled our business plan and reference materials and submitted them. In the end, our idea was selected, and we were able to obtain the funding and sponsorship we needed to actually get started.
Job skills
“Managing merchant accounts at a credit card company.”
While majoring in food distribution, I worked at a credit card company during my college breaks. I worked as an intern for three months during the summer break, managing merchant accounts. Merchant management mainly involved directly investigating merchants affiliated with food companies, franchise companies, and large café chains. I researched the systems and events operated by each merchant and compiled data on any new marketing strategies I found. Once the data was compiled, I compared it with the card company’s events and marketing strategies, applied any applicable parts, and revised any parts that needed to be revised.
I also worked on franchise contracts, which required creativity and drive. I looked for new franchisees, came up with strategies to bring them on board, and then applied those strategies to communicate with them. Basically, I had to find franchisees based on our card company’s image, advertising strategy, and customer characteristics, so it was a job that required comprehensive skills. I worked on this as part of a team, so communication skills were super important. When a new affiliate was created, I continued to manage it and perform ongoing tasks. My work performance was recognized, and I was able to take a leave of absence from school and work for more than three months.
Reason for applying and aspirations
“An employee who leads a global organizational culture”
Your company is renowned for its professional customer management system and sharing management activities. Cheonho Food is particularly highly regarded in the areas of advertising strategy and brand image. I am familiar with your company’s customer-friendly image and have learned about your systematic customer management system, which is why I decided to apply for this position. Although your company’s sales activities are limited to the Korean market, I believe that it has great potential to grow into a global company in the future.
Therefore, I am prepared to work hard to establish a global organizational culture. I will not only work hard myself, but also become an employee who leads the team and has a positive impact on the organization and the company. As a result, I will make various efforts to ensure that your company has the cultural environment necessary to advance into the global market. Specifically, I plan to work in global customer management, particularly in the food distribution field, managing franchisees and partners. Please invest in my plans and my drive. Thank you very much.
