Pleasantville student begins Term Finance internship

One young budding entrepreneur believes there is a lot more room for improvement where customer service is concerned.

Pleasantville Secondary School form six student Yohance Rivas said while some businesses have good customer service, some do not.

Rivas, 17, completed one week of his internship which ran from December 30 to January 3 at Term Finance Holdings Ltd, a web-based credit business, with its base at CIBC Financial Centre, Long Circular Road, Maraval.

He was offered an open one-year internship by the company’s chief executive officer Oliver Sabga during the TecYOUth event on November 12, 2019.

The event was held in collaboration with Youth Business TT (YBTT) and the Telecommunications Services of TT (TSTT) in celebration of global entrepreneurship week (GEW) 2019, at TSTT’s hospitality suite, Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain.

Rivas said, “Customer service is critical and important for the success of any business, regardless of size and type.

“I learnt a lot from Term Finance about the dos and don’ts of customer service and it is definitely something I would employ in my business in the future.

Rivas said during his short time, he worked on the customer service desk and other pertinent areas.

He said, “I was able to learn about loans and bank reconciliations, payments and customer service through the use of digital media."

Rivas also was tasked with presenting a business plan to the Term Finance team within a few hours of his last day at work.

Sabga said, “We wanted him to experience the pressure of having to develop ideas on the spot, present to an audience and handle the questions without much preparation.”

“We were impressed with his bravery as he presented the idea of a gym for the community he lives in.”

Rivas said the feedback from his presentation was a welcomed learning experience and the ideas will be used to better develop the business plan.

Sabga added, “We also made our Think Tank room available to him as a place where he can study and work on his academic assignments without distractions.”

Sabga added that Rivas was thrilled with his first week at the company and will be joining them again during the Easter vacation in April.