Internships

DISCLAIMER: Everything in this post is honest and unadulterated. I am not getting paid by Adecco or any other entity to write this! Although if anyone is reading this and wants to pay me, you're welcome to do so...

All poly students go through a compulsory Student Internship Programme (SIP) as part of graduation requirements. I did mine at Adecco, a recruitment firm.

It wasn't easy for my school to find an employer for me due to accessibility and mindset restrictions, but when they roped in SG Enable to help, they managed to secure a place in Adecco, which, being a European-based multinational corporation, is a progressive and inclusive workplace. Adecco gamely agreed to take me in and design a job scope that I could manage. They also made a few other arrangements to accommodate my needs.

To land the job, I first had to pass two interviews with the Director of Human Resources (HR) and what I would later discover was two-thirds of the entire HR department, along with some from the marketing team. It was very stressful and intimidating for someone who hadn't seen so many powerful adults in the same room. The first interview consisted of the usual job interview questions, which I answered reasonably comfortably as we had been trained to do so during a module on Professional Communication Skills in school. However, at the end of that session, the director gave me a mini-project to complete. I was to return for a second session to present it.

At that time I was juggling school assignments and projects, and test and exam preparation, but I successfully carried out the project and presented it. To my delight, I was hired.

On my first day, I was a bag of nerves. Never before had I been in an office as a worker. And I had never had a boss. I'll admit, I was terrified of my boss! She was stern and had a serious face.

Or so I thought.

She turned out to be a doting, maternal supervisor. I was showered with gifts including my favourite soft drink Pepsi, plenty of chocolate, cakes and pastries, and even a postcard from her Icelandic getaway which hilariously arrived weeks after she had returned.

The HR department, which I was attached to, consisted of three people plus the director (one more joined later), all of whom were extremely fun-loving and a little bit crazy but in a good way. Thanks to them, I learned how to attend office parties, stuff my face, and even enjoy different flavours of cake which I never quite fancied before. They also gave me my first lot of alcoholic gifts of Somersby cider and threw me a surprise birthday party! I really grew up fast under their tutelage.

I also had a wonderful neighbour. I was given a corner seat near the door so I only had one colleague from another department sitting on my left. She was (and still is!) like the big sister I never had. She also gave me lots of gifts, and helped to pass the time with her incessant chatter. One of my fondest memories of my time there was when all the recruitment consultants in her department would gather around her table and try to cobble together a complete set of title deeds to win a prize during the McDonald's Monopoly promotion. We must have looked like some kind of illegal mahjong operation! I blame them for my newfound addiction to fast food...

Speaking of recruitment consultants, of course I wasn't just there for fun and games. My school would never allow that! I also had a job to do. My role was to assist the HR department in hiring more recruitment consultants to replace losses and help the company grow. This was also the focus of the mini-project I did during my interview stage. I think I did okay. Not to boast or anything (okay, maybe a little bit), but I did receive a Pass with Commendation, the best possible grade, for the SIP.

I greatly enjoyed my first taste of the working world. I'm under no illusions of course. It was a 12-week honeymoon, and not a realistic representation of the real harsh world out there. I was protected and sheltered from all the bad bits due to my status as an intern, a "child". Nonetheless, I can say with confidence that I now am better equipped to adapt and survive in future internships during my university studies, and beyond that, when I get a full-time job.

My university course would probably involve me having to complete a compulsory internship too. I am interested in the field of communications and plan to major in it at NUS. The Communications and New Media major stipulates that students do a stint in a relevant job to gain work experience and apply their classroom knowledge to the real world. This makes a lot of sense as communications is a hands-on industry and knowing abstract theories will only get you so far. It's still a ways off into the future but I'm actually quite excited to find out what's in store for me.

Internships are an indispensable part of modern education, in my opinion. There's a lot of talk about the changing face of the economy, how jobs are evolving, the impact of digital disruption, and so on. Furthermore, increasing globalisation coupled with Singapore's relaxed immigration policy means that local jobseekers face stiff competition from foreigners. As a result, it seems to be getting harder for fresh graduates to find jobs quickly. Unless your degree is in a hot industry, gone are the days when almost everyone started work straight after their commencement ceremony. Nowadays, horror stories abound online about going jobless for months.

Although internships are not the complete answer, they can cushion the blow somewhat. Of course there are the fairytale endings where interns impressed their employers so much that they were offered a job immediately after graduation. I myself know of one of my coursemates in this situation, but this is rare. However, internships help in other ways too. A good internship record demonstrates to potential employers that the applicant has the skills to perform at work and isn't just a paper tiger. By skills, I refer both to job-related skills (like coding if the job is in technology) as well as soft skills like how to get along with colleagues.

Additionally, internships contribute to the strength of the applicant's resume, giving him valuable work experience that he can list on that all-important document. One of the gripes that fresh graduates have with recruiting companies is that even entry-level positions require applicants to have a couple of years of experience. This is a valid complaint. I always wonder why companies and even public sector organisations label their job advertisements as being for entry-level openings and then ask for experienced candidates. It makes no sense at all. If no one wants to hire the guy who has zero experience, how is he supposed to accumulate that experience? This is where internships come in. They do count as experience so students should try to do as many internships as possible, even if their course of study doesn't require it, to give themselves a leg up over their peers who don't do internships at all. It may not make a significant difference but every bit helps, I suppose.

So this is why I have an open mind towards internships and other forms of part-time/temporary work like volunteering. Anything that can add value to your curriculum vitae should be embraced. Many factors are working against us when it comes to career, but we just have to keep swimming and hope.