“We get to do different things everyday and it never gets boring at work”
I'm Danica Herrera, the only Filipino in the Welhunt Documentation Team.
I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business management at the University of the Philippines. I have working experiences in supply chain and operations, mainly dealing with different suppliers locally and internationally. I’ve been with Welhunt for more than a year and I could say the working environment is very different but in a good and interesting way.
What I like most about this job is it's not routinary. Everyday, we are doing different things depending on the status of each shipment we are handling. At Welhunt, we're being trained to be versatile or flexible from contract reviewing, to communicating with the traders, to discussing with the banks about the LC, to having the need to understand marine terms, and to working with surveyors and other relevant parties. The job itself is called "shipping and documentation", but if you dig deep into it, this team is responsible for bridging almost all communications, internally and externally, from start to finish of each shipment.
Although my work has many stressful tasks and challenges, what I have learned after all is much more valuable in my professional skills. I know how to communicate effectively with the traders, the bank and our clients to reach the target goal and be confident to work in a multicultural environment.
I had a lot of fun with my team, mostly when we work together. Sometimes, there are several shipments happening at the same time and we need to put all our effort into getting the task done. It's very challenging but also fun.
What do you like most about your job?
What I like most about this job is it's not routinary. Everyday, we are doing different things depending on the status of each shipment we are handling. There are days wherein we need to review contracts, or just prepare LC and chase the traders; there are also days wherein we are just waiting for other counterparties to provide our requested documents for checking. We get to do different things everyday and it never gets boring.
Another thing that I like about this job is we're being trained to be versatile or flexible. From contract reviewing, to communicating with the traders, to discussing with the banks about the LC, to having the need to understand marine terms, and to working with surveyors and other relevant parties. The job itself is called "shipping and documentation", but if you'll dig deep into it, this team is responsible for bridging almost all communications, internally and externally, from start to finish of each shipment.
What are some of the challenges that you are facing? How do you develop your skills?
One of the challenges, i think, is the prompt shipment (or even not prompt shipments), with no buyer's details provided immediately. It’s quite difficult to proceed further if no firm details from the buyer side, as all our documents will be based on this. I usually develop my skills by first, observing how the previous shipment was executed; second, always asking the senior members what better ways to proceed with the shipment; and third, chase the traders closely and learn how to communicate with them effectively to get the necessary answers I want.
Another challenge is communication with the traders. We always want to be concise and precise when we are discussing with them as they are always busy and they just need relevant details. But sometimes, we still cannot avoid misunderstandings, so we cannot get their exact confirmation. To develop the skills for this, I usually ask senior members on how they dealt with it before and how to get the trader's answers promptly.
And sometimes it’s also quite challenging discussing with some banks. Since most of our responsibilities involve interactions with different banks in Taiwan, language barriers are inevitable. What I’ll do is ask someone from our team to help me talk to the bank. But I’m still missing the opportunity to directly discuss with the bank and ask further about Letter of credits.
What inspires you to succeed every day?
To get better at what I do and gain more knowledge that will help me work more efficiently in different situations; and to have that sense of accomplishment, be it on small things or big things.
When do you have the most fun at work?
When there are several shipments happening at the same time, it's very challenging but fun at the same time. It tests our abilities to improve time management and organizational skills.
And one more thing is getting to interact with different people with different nationalities and cultures on a daily basis. I think it’s a really great and fun experience and opportunity to work in an international company. We have our differences and similarities but at the end of the day, we’re still a team and we’ll want what’s good for the company.
