Hello everyone! I’m Chai Ting, a final year student from UCSI University and I am here to share my experience on being a nutritionist intern in Homey Nutrition with you!
I was interested in working with Homey once I got to know more on the business. I was always wondering what a nutritionist can do except for just being a ''typical'' nutritionist, what other fields can we explore as a nutritionist as well. Therefore, I took the chance to accept the internship offer from Homey and to work in Penang for 4 months.
I was fascinated at first, on the task assigned to me. Not only it requires my nutritional knowledge, but also soft skills such as communication skills, leadership and high adaptability skill. I was assigned to meal plating and customer care team where I learnt a lot of nutrition knowledge for medical conditions while handling customer’s order. However, I was given another task to be in charge of a referral program and lead the team to implement it. Throughout this project, I was more aware of my lacking in certain skills such as leadership and critical and creative thinking. However, I have the opportunity to learn on improving my skills by the support of my colleagues together.
One of the most interesting experiences I had in Homey is that I can expose myself to a different side of nutritionists such as sales and marketing and the corporate world. I had the opportunity to be part of the B2B marketing team and conduct marketing strategy together with the team using the aspect of a nutritionist. I felt fascinated that as a nutritionist, we can excel in so many different fields. We can use our nutritional knowledge to perform in those fields, which can bring different results as well.
Therapeutic Meal Plating - a task that I have never known I would enjoy so much because I brought what I learned in uni days into practice. I get to plate therapeutic meals for clients that I serve every morning and I love how I can ''prepare'' the meal on hand for them. Most of my CDE session presentation content was contributed by this task and I love how it equipped me as a persuasive nutritionist.
Without a deep dive understanding of how the meal is prepared, I cant provide good nutrition counseling.
The biggest achievement I reached in Homey is that I know that I am able to help customers to reach their health goals. Clients actually did remember my name and show appreciation for me. I felt contented when customers feedback to me that their health conditions are improving after my assistance, and that is the motivator that push me to be better everyday!
If you were to ask me, I have zero regret for relocating to Penang during the internship. I am thankful for Homey to allow me to open my eyes to the career opportunities that a nutritionist can have, instead of just being a typical nutritionist in the healthcare field. I had a wonderful time working with Homey and the colleagues here are extremely welcoming. If you are considering an internship position, it will be an amazing opportunity for you to utilize your nutrition knowledge and improve your soft skills!
Written by,
Fung Chai Ting
Nutritionist Intern
UCSI University