Internship is like a food tasting session. It was a place for you to get a taste of the real world.
I was extremely excited for internship. I started looking around and submitted my application to all of the big agencies but unfortunately their internship spot has been filled.
Frustrated, I went to see my course supervisor to ask for help. She told me she had a handful of companies who had written to her asking for interns.
She gave me details of a company and said I should send my application letter a.s.a.p. I look at the piece of paper she gave and couldn’t hide my underwhelm feeling. I’ve never heard of them before and their office was in Ampang.
I asked her if I can browse through the companies and choose something im familiar with.
“Beggars cannot be choosers” she said.
I told her I have problems travelling as I don’t own a car, and travelling to Ampang (from Shah Alam) is without a doubt crazy!
“Who’s asking you to stay in Shah Alam? If you need to move to Ampang, by all means move!. Think bout it, When you graduate, are you going to apply for job that is convenient to you?”
Well, she got a point. And since Internship is all about tasting the real deal, I shall solve my transportation issues myself. Its not like anyone else care how difficult it is for me to travel. They only want me at the office on time.
So, I went to Ampang to check out the office. And since I was there, I went around the area looking for room to rent. I found a house near an LRT station. It was RM450 per month, which was pretty pricey for me.
I have no other choice but to take the house and start looking for people to rent the other room.
Once I got all of that sorted, the only other thing to do is to shop for office attire. Boy, it was rather depressing at that point of time because I had to spend on so much thing. Budget was a big issue.
I kept telling myself “You gotta get use to all this”.
The Reality of My Internship
What was supposed to be the launch of my real job experience turned out to be one hell of a disaster. The company had a couple of job and just like me, they are pretty clueless about PR.
I was in charge of doing menial task. I also had to go out buy lunch for the bosses and drive them around. Yes, I was a driver.
My internship was entirely unpaid, including any reimbursement for my expenses. I called my friends to check if they are going through the same thing and all of them were assigned to do more-or-less work that are related to PR and having a lot of fun.
I was pretty depressed. I have invested so much for this “experience” and truly it has taught me nothing.
I called my supervisor to complain. She told me it is possible for me to change internship place but I would have to start everything all over again. It has to be 4 consecutive months. Failing to complete the program would not allow me to proceed to my final semester. And obviously I wasn’t too thrilled about that.
As if these factors weren’t bad enough, at the end of the month, I didn’t get my cheque as promised. I didn’t bother to voice it out because at that point of time, I only cared about my marks. The company will be evaluating my performance and that is more valuable.
My aim was to complete the internship so I can graduate and move on with my life.
Although my experience was pretty bad, I don’t have any regrets. People say we have to look for the silver lining and I certainly saw it.
I learned several valuable lessons from the awful experience. The single most important thing I learnt was not to be like the people who work at that company. They were unethical and extremely not professional. I never want to be like them.
Since then, I made a point to ensure interns are treated accordingly. Thus far I kept a good working relationship with all of my interns.
I was extremely excited for internship. I started looking around and submitted my application to all of the big agencies but unfortunately their internship spot has been filled.
Frustrated, I went to see my course supervisor to ask for help. She told me she had a handful of companies who had written to her asking for interns.
She gave me details of a company and said I should send my application letter a.s.a.p. I look at the piece of paper she gave and couldn’t hide my underwhelm feeling. I’ve never heard of them before and their office was in Ampang.
I asked her if I can browse through the companies and choose something im familiar with.
“Beggars cannot be choosers” she said.
I told her I have problems travelling as I don’t own a car, and travelling to Ampang (from Shah Alam) is without a doubt crazy!
“Who’s asking you to stay in Shah Alam? If you need to move to Ampang, by all means move!. Think bout it, When you graduate, are you going to apply for job that is convenient to you?”
Well, she got a point. And since Internship is all about tasting the real deal, I shall solve my transportation issues myself. Its not like anyone else care how difficult it is for me to travel. They only want me at the office on time.
So, I went to Ampang to check out the office. And since I was there, I went around the area looking for room to rent. I found a house near an LRT station. It was RM450 per month, which was pretty pricey for me.
I have no other choice but to take the house and start looking for people to rent the other room.
Once I got all of that sorted, the only other thing to do is to shop for office attire. Boy, it was rather depressing at that point of time because I had to spend on so much thing. Budget was a big issue.
I kept telling myself “You gotta get use to all this”.
The Reality of My Internship
What was supposed to be the launch of my real job experience turned out to be one hell of a disaster. The company had a couple of job and just like me, they are pretty clueless about PR.
I was in charge of doing menial task. I also had to go out buy lunch for the bosses and drive them around. Yes, I was a driver.
My internship was entirely unpaid, including any reimbursement for my expenses. I called my friends to check if they are going through the same thing and all of them were assigned to do more-or-less work that are related to PR and having a lot of fun.
I was pretty depressed. I have invested so much for this “experience” and truly it has taught me nothing.
I called my supervisor to complain. She told me it is possible for me to change internship place but I would have to start everything all over again. It has to be 4 consecutive months. Failing to complete the program would not allow me to proceed to my final semester. And obviously I wasn’t too thrilled about that.
As if these factors weren’t bad enough, at the end of the month, I didn’t get my cheque as promised. I didn’t bother to voice it out because at that point of time, I only cared about my marks. The company will be evaluating my performance and that is more valuable.
My aim was to complete the internship so I can graduate and move on with my life.
***
Although my experience was pretty bad, I don’t have any regrets. People say we have to look for the silver lining and I certainly saw it.
I learned several valuable lessons from the awful experience. The single most important thing I learnt was not to be like the people who work at that company. They were unethical and extremely not professional. I never want to be like them.
Since then, I made a point to ensure interns are treated accordingly. Thus far I kept a good working relationship with all of my interns.
***
Since we are on the subject I also would like to write something about internships.
- Internship is a platform for you to learn. Not to kill time. Its a serious thing
- Don’t expect to make money because you are learning. You have no experience, therefore, don’t expect lavish payment. Don demand!
- Figure out your own transportation and accommodation.
- Photocopying, faxing, making calls are basic. Don’t feel you are being bullied because that’s where you start.
- Learn as much as you can, as fast as you can.
- Show initiatives. That will take you a long way.
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