Intern Memoirs

"And here my journey started with Land Sterling. I first started helping in some field research like finding ground information on companies, investors etc. Weeks flew by and before I knew it, summer internship was over. The one major thing I gathered was about the great work experience and having experienced the way a professional international company working environment felt was amazing.

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“When the day came and I went to the office, I was trying to stay composed and hide how stressed I was yet it was in vain. “

“And here my journey started with Land Sterling. I first started some field research like finding ground information on companies, investors etc. I also helped with the Marketing department in writing and designing proposals and also worked with the Accounts department.”

“With an expanded team now, we are now able to work on more diverse and interesting assignments ranging across the broad real estate spectrum

Hey! I am Ahmad Al Doulatly, an intern in Land Sterling KSA, and I thought to share with you on my experiences whilst working during my 2 internships periods.

I am 22 years old in my third year at Prince Sultan University, Riyadh studying in the business college. My father was always trying to push me to work and try to gain some experience. I was fully aware that he wanted me to be a successful man like him in the business field, but I am an introverted guy who mostly likes sitting at home and not interacting with many people. At first, upon hearing the idea of working made me shaky and so nervous, but I decided to take the first step and try because interacting with people and making friendships besides learning new skills will be a big part of my job in the future. My father told me that he knows a good company that is specialized in the real estate sector. I was so excited because I have experienced the real estate sector before especially when in college, they only give you something generic about what each sector does. So, taking my father’s advice, I decided to go ahead with this.

The reality is that this pandemic has altered our lives in many ways. The COVID-19 posed several threats to the healthcare sector as well as other facets of life, including education. Children and students of all ages no longer attend colleges and institutions; they no longer socialize in the standard way demanding the system to adapt. Online learning and virtual classes makes it possible for children and adults with special needs to attend school and educate themselves, and it allows them to learn and boost their confidence.

When the day came and I went to the office, I was trying to stay composed and hide how stressed I was yet it was in vain. My face turned yellowish and my hands got so cold! You wouldn’t want to see me then! When for the first time I met Mr. Yousef Betraoui, the CEO of the company, I thought I would get a heart attack as I was shaking the CEO’s hand but surprisingly that was not the case! He turned out to be very friendly and kind but still displayed a sharp and intelligent wit around him. Mr. Yousef later encouraged me to meet the other employees. They were also so friendly and made me feel like one of them. My nervousness disappeared then.

And here my journey started with Land Sterling. I first started helping Mr. Yousef in some field research like finding ground information on companies, investors etc. I also helped with the Marketing dept in writing and designing proposals and also worked with the Accounts dept where I honestly made silly mistakes but the head there just guided and corrected me along the way, which was great. Weeks flew by and before I knew it, summer internship was over. The one major thing I gathered was about the great work experience and having experienced the way a professional international company working environment felt was amazing. Because of this, I told myself I will come back again in the next summer for more.

A year passed and summer came again. Excited about continuing on my internship with Land Sterling, I found out that new staff has joined and the company has grown. When I entered the office on my first day, the first guy I met was Mr. Robin Teh, the new department head for the KSA office. He immediately struck me as someone with that leadership personality which was aspiring to be around. This time, I started working mainly in the Research Dept. Mr Robin taught me the basics on how to gather information about the real estate market and how to assess, understand, and then come up with suitable conclusions and analysis on problems that was identified. Things were starting to be great when after the 2^nd day, I was unfortunately infected with Covid-19. I was so disappointed because I was just started learning new stuffs. For the first few days in home quarantine, I was recovering from the ill effects of the virus hence did not do much. When I felt my energies and health returning, I informed the office that I was able to help out as much as possible. I had a call then with Mr Robin and he agreed to let me help out. From then, we started doing online meeting calls, and let me tell you something, the guys in the company were so professional and efficient! It appeared like nothing had changed! We had daily calls, discussing and working on projects as they appear. The company even gave me the opportunity to do lead research onto a new project where I can safely do from my home whilst recovering from the virus! I was able to create solutions and help complete this project with my supervisor and team later on. After this was completed, Mr Robin then got me involved with a new research project which was for an international client with a much larger scope of work. Excited and slightly awed, I took up the new challenge. All this happened even as I returned back from my quarantine period, I was pleasantly delighted that Land Sterling had in my absence now hired two new female employees which gave a great balance to the company. I was initially a little shy as I’ve never worked with female colleagues (ever!) before but turned out they were just as normal and fun as the next colleague in the office. With that, my initial worries dissipated! With an expanded team now, we are now able to work on more diverse and interesting assignments ranging across the broad real estate spectrum (Sorry guys! Not able to tell more as these are confidential projects!)

As I’m writing this article, I’m actually sadly counting down the days when the internship ends. The overall journey had been short of astonishing for me and I am forever so grateful for being given an opportunity to be part of a special group. Now as I start planning to go back to school, I feel much more focused and having a clear objectives to what I must do to complete my studies…..and that’s all due to Land Sterling. Thank you Land Sterling!