I. The book I chose to read for this assignment was The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People by Steven R. Covey. Outlined in the book are holistic approaches to solving personal and professional problems. Rather than define each of the seven habits in one page, I will focus on the one most relevant to my internship at Reef. Habit One in the book is called Be Proactive; Principles of Personal Vision. The reason I will focus on this habit is because the term proactive is one I heard said on numerous occasions by the Director of International Sales at Reef, Aaron Behle. The marketing plan and goals for Reefs is to transform from a reactive state to a proactive state. By reading this book I was able to understand what Aaron was calling for.
Being proactive means more than merely taking the initiative. Behavior is a result of the decisions, being proactive means taking responsibility for these decisions. Blaming our behavior on our circumstances, condition, or conditioning of our behavior is being in a reactive state of mind. By choosing to empower these things we become reactive. Reactive people allow surroundings or their social and physical environment to affect their mood and emotions. The environment does not affect a proactive person; rather he or she is driven by value. Taking the initiative, accepting responsibility, acting instead of being acted upon, and reflecting positive energy are some of the lessons I learned from this book and carried over to my internship at Reef.
Covey, Stephen R. The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People,
Simon and Schuster, New York, 1989.

II. My internship at Reef was in the International Sales Department as the International Credit Intern. Not only is the company global in their business dealings, but culturally as well. Many employees, as well as the company founders come from different parts of the world. My initial contact with Reef was with the Human Resources Manager, Kelli Clear. Kelli is very friendly and immediately put me at ease, helping me to get over my nervousness during the interview process. My supervisor at Reef was Melanie Enriquez, a very self-possessed hard working individual who taught me a tremendous amount about the position. Throughout the internship, I was impressed with her intelligence, organizational skills, and patience with teaching me the very complex aspects of her job. Melanie, who has been with Reef for three years, is well liked and recognized as a very important part of the company operations. During my two months as an intern with Reef, I met many friendly and interesting people.
In summary, the International Credit Representative’s job is to process a high volume of payments for international/domestic sales orders primarily through the use of Letters of Credit. There are three types of Letters of Credit (L/C) to be processed: the Export L/C, the Transfer L/C, and the Import L/C. In processing the three types of L/Cs, it is required to communicate within the different departments at Reef as well as outside the company with banks, distributors, and factories. Reef shoes and sandals are produced in Brazil, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, and Spain. Recently the company began selling logo hats and apparel which are produced in China, Italy, and domestically. Reef products are distributed and sold in nearly one hundred countries.
A Letter of Credit is a promise of payment by one party to another. The credit is issued by the buyer’s bank based on their credit with that bank. The beneficiary of the Letter of credit is the seller, whose bank is also included in the Letter of Credit in order that the L/C can be negotiated.
During my time at Reef, I most often dealt with Export and Transfer L/Cs. An Export L/C is a form of payment by the international distributors for an order of shoes and/or sandals. Melanie, my supervisor, often recommends to the distributor to combine as many orders as possible on one L/C. This reduces cost to the distributor (opening an L/C can cost a few hundred dollars) and reduces time and paperwork for Reef. First we require that the distributor send us their L/C application for review. This prevents and reduces any possibilities of discrepancies, which require costly, time-consuming amendments. Reviewing an L/C application requires tremendous attention to detail. In some cases, the L/C application is written in another language, requiring more time in the review process. I was grateful for my Spanish skills when reviewing L/C applications from Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries. If upon review of an application there are any discrepancies, it is necessary to request the appropriate amendments via email to the distributor. It is beneficial to the distributor to make these amendments prior to submitting the application due to substantial fees charged by the bank for amendments to an L/C already in process.
Once any amendments have been made and the L/C is in process, the order can be confirmed and shipments can be released to the international distributors. At this point, the documents required in the L/C must be collected and sent to the bank. Since the shoes are produced overseas, the factory and freight forwarder will have prepared most of these documents. One document we are responsible for is the commercial invoice, a substitute for the factory commercial invoice. Obviously we aren’t going to send the distributor an invoice with the wholesale prices charged by the factory, so we create a commercial invoice on Reef’s company letterhead stating the agreed upon prices by Reef and the distributor at the time the order was initially placed. This document is sent to Reef’s bank for negotiation of the L/C. The shipment and receipt of the documents must be tracked for purpose of determining when the shipments of product will be sent and received and when the L/C will be processed and payment received by Reef. Once payment is received the bank sends Reef a payment advice, which will be passed on to the accounting department.
The transfer L/C is the method of payment to the factory for most orders that are paid by the distributor with an export L/C. After the export L/C has been opened, we arrange to transfer the L/C to the factory based upon the amount charged by the factory. We apply for the transfer L/C six weeks prior to the out of factory date on the order. This ensures enough time for the L/C to be processed so that the order can be sent to the distributor as scheduled. The difference in amount of the two L/Cs is the profit gained by Reef in the sale. Reef’s bank has specific application forms for transferring an L/C, which we fill out and FedEx to the bank. In some cases, there are necessary amendments to a transfer L/C that we will make. Once a transfer L/C is in process the factory is assured of payment for the product produced and they will proceed with shipping and preparation of the necessary documents.
The last type of L/C I learned how to deal with is the import L/C. This type of letter of credit is payment to the factory for prepaid international orders and orders for domestic inventory. Melanie will combine as many orders as she can in one import L/C to reduce fees charged by the bank. This process is similar to the export L/Cs issued by the distributors. Often the factory advises Reef of any necessary amendments to the L/C. Another task to complete is approving received shipping documents from Reef’s bank and approve payment to the factory. Again, it is necessary to create a commercial invoice reflecting the prices charged the distributors to substitute the factory commercial invoice. This commercial invoice will be combined with the other shipping documents required by the bank and either sent to the distributor for international orders or to the Traffic and Logistics department for domestic sales orders.
From the time we receive an order to the time it is shipped and payment is confirmed, it is necessary to maintain a status log for all orders for each factory. Using this log, Melanie is able to create a factory order summary and a summary report on LCs for managers on a weekly and monthly basis.
As mentioned earlier, daily communication with the distributors, banks and factories is necessary. On a daily basis, Melanie and I corresponded with the people from all over the world regarding L/C issues, document status, and payments. We also communicated with coworkers in Reef’s production and accounting departments. Communication within the international sales department was also key to communicating the needs and concerns of the distributors and factories between Melanie, the director of international sales, the sales representatives, and the correspondents. This communication was important to ensure synchronicity in the maintenance of good relationships with distributors and factories and overall smooth business operation.
III. I was absolutely thrilled that this internship position allowed me to apply my education in international business. Basic business courses in accounting and finance proved extremely relevant as well. Although I didn’t understand the complexities of Letter of Credit processing, I was familiar with the term and its relevance in international trade from my international finance class. My global marketing class proved to be very useful as well. During the regular Monday morning department meeting, the director of international sales, Aaron, discussed topics related to Reef’s marketing plan. I was able to follow the discussion and was very interested in the company’s plan and goals. I was truly relieved to see that all my studying for Professor Saghafi’s class really paid off.
IV. The perfect person for this internship is someone who is highly organized and able to focus attention on detail. Project management and communication skills are key to excelling at this position. This person must be able to handle multiple tasks at once and similar tasks in different phases of completion. Basic computer skills are a must. This position requires experience with windows and many Microsoft applications. Efficiency working with Excel, Word, and email is a requirement for this job. Familiarity with Unitrade or Optima, software used in banking and production and inventory tracking, is a major plus. Knowledge of accounting (accounts receivables and accounts payables) and international finance is a major advantage to a person training for this job. Communication skills, both written and verbal, are very important to this position. The job requires emailing and calling various people on a daily basis.
Language skills are a major benefit to a person working in this company. More than half of the staff at Reef speaks Spanish. Walking through the halls and hanging out in the office, one constantly hears conversations in Spanish. I was able to practice my Spanish on many occasions. In the international sales department, every employee speaks or understands Spanish. Some even speak Italian, French, and some Portuguese. The company has hired a new sales representative who is fluent in Japanese. My supervisor Melanie and Mari, the international sales analyst and an SDSU IB grad, are attending Japanese classes with enthusiastic support from Reef. I was impressed with the company’s support of employee growth and education.
As far as personality is concerned, a person working in this company should be open-minded, friendly, organized, and hardworking. This person should be social (company parties are so fun!) and have a good sense of humor (practical jokes are not uncommon in the office). Ambition is key, as internal hire and promotion are not uncommon. A team-oriented attitude is also very important to work at Reef. Everyone helps each other out and the focus is on the success of the team, rather than solely the individual. This is not to say that the company doesn’t support and celebrate individual success. Reefers, as they call themselves are a family. This is one thing I really liked about the company.
V. Throughout my internship with Reef, I asked about long-term employment opportunities. Everyone I spoke with told me that if you work hard and prove yourself, you are very likely to be offered a position. The longer I worked with Reef, the more I hoped to be offered a position with the company. The company always posts open positions internally first. The hope is to promote from within. Kelli, the Human Resources manager told me that she is always happy when they are able to promote from within. In some cases the qualifications can’t be found within the company, and they must look outside the firm. Thankfully, in my case this was not so. On my last week as an intern with Reef, Melanie asked me to return to meet with her again. At our meeting I was informally offered the position of international credit representative. Melanie was sincere in her approach, stating she saw great opportunities for me with Reef. She also acknowledged that I might have doubts or concerns to think over. She answered all my questions and I was given the chance to think the offer over for a few days. I returned two days later to receive the formal offer from Aaron (the Director of International Sales), Melanie, and Kelli. The benefits package offered at Reef is very good and the base salary is competitive with those currently offered in San Diego. In the end, I accepted the position and I am very excited to begin my employment later this summer. My advice to anyone trying to get a job in this industry or in the company where they have an internship is make sure to show interest, show interest, show interest. Just as you were flattered when they showed interest in you by hiring you for the internship, the people at the company will be equally as flattered when you openly express a desire to work with them. Of course you must also work hard, learn as much as you can, and display professional behavior. I am grateful for the learning experience I had with Reef and I look forward to the career opportunities with this company.