Meet Makoto, Makoto Suwanphatthana, a senior year Industrial Engineering student from Chulalongkorn University, who joined MONIX as an intern twice. He started out at MONIX in his junior year and decided to come back again in his senior year where he worked in the Risk Team as a Data Scientist Intern.
What encouraged him to come back again and what has changed during the time he was an intern twice? Let’s discover his enjoyable moments at MONIX down below! 👇🏻
What inspired you to join MONIX which is a new-born fintech start-up, apart from other renowned companies?
“When I was searching for places to intern, I found out about MONIX. I feel like it’s a place where I would get the chance to learn a lot and do a lot. Also, I could have lots of experience working with people in a start-up culture. I believe that working in a relatively small-sized company or a start-up would provide me the chance to oversee the whole company’s operations. As well as I could and see the big picture rather than just within the team. Apart from that, it is a data-driven company and the roles seemed to fit my skills well.”
Any prior knowledge or experiences required before joining?
“Basic coding knowledge like Python is a plus. However, personally, I feel that it is not necessary to know or remember everything. What is necessary for this role is logical thinking. The coding language or method can be looked up online, but what you should have is a good logical sense.”
What about those without any coding experience?
“I feel that it would be hard if you don’t know anything at all. But, with the willingness to learn the basics, you can search for free online courses to get you started. Then, upon joining, you would get a chance to work on real projects, with the help of the team which would eventually help develop your personal skills.”
Tell us more about the project you were involved, and how did you like it?
“For the first time I interned, I was involved in making model predictions with real customer data. It was an eye-opening experience as I never worked in this field before. It was different from class projects that I’ve done because the database was huge and was from real customers. I definitely could not search the internet to try on these types of projects. The second time I was here, I got to work on an alternative data to enhance the overall user experience. It was then implemented as a real feature on the app. I enjoy working on it as well as seeing it getting implemented is one of the highlights of my internship.”
You mentioned that you were an intern here twice. Can you share what have led your decision to come back and what are the changes you felt?
“One of the things I enjoy here at MONIX was the working culture. It wasreally flexible. The team gave me the freedom to explore new things and work on projects at my own pace. The working time is negotiable as long as the work can be delivered on time. So, I decided to come back here again as I feel like there is more to learn and explore. It also works with my schedule as the second time I’m here is in between the semester. The first time I was here, the overall experience was more like adapting to the culture and people, as well as learning about how to deal with data. But for the second time, I got more ownership and responsibilities. I was able to understand more and see how the data can be put to use more clearly and more to the point.”
What have you gained since working here?
“I feel like I’m getting better at coding. I have a better understanding of the codes to be used and have a better sense of coding from what the team has taught me. I also gained this sense through studying and observing how the team works. Apart from that, from working with the team, I gained better presentation skills and was able to clearly work on structure report for others to understand the team’s work.”
Can you tell us more about the team?
“The team was really nice and supportive. They have taught me a lot without forcing or putting lots of pressure on me. If I don’t understand or don’t know anything, I could ask for help easily and the team is more than willing to help. Also, they’ve given me a reasonable amount and scope of work. I never had to do dull, boring day jobs.”
Any advice for those who hesitate to join MONIX for an internship?
“If you have basic skills and are eager to learn more and improve, don’t hesitate to join. You will gain a lot of things working here and lots of opportunities to try out different projects.”
