Making the most out of my internship experience

By Melissa Char

Year 3, Communications and New Media major


WORK LIFE: Melissa (front row, second from left) bonding with colleagues My internship with Singapore Condo (SgCondo) started six months ago after I received a call from the company asking if I was still interested in the job. Without hesitation, I agreed readily. In fact, I was excited in embarking on a new learning journey which I thought would be a whole new experience. Indeed, it was a very different one.

As a marketing and communications intern in a budding firm like SgCondo was not easy. With only two interns managing their small marketing department (myself and another of my peer from Communications and New Media), it felt like the entire company's marketing direction and advancement were in our hands. This was especially challenging as everything was very much dependable on my own ability. I had to learn to be independent and be a risk-taker so that I could experience new things. While previous lessons from school were very much confined to a classroom environment, it felt entirely different in the working society. Unexpected situations always cropped up and I was constantly on tight deadlines.

Each day, endless and ever-changing piles of opportunity waited on my desk. The work ranged from designing corporate portfolios, copywriting articles, meeting the publisher, and surfing the net on Twitter and Facebook for hours to find creative ideas for strategizing marketing plans - all this in the hope of seeing the approving smile on my boss' face!

Of course, work was never easy. Though initially I was unaccustomed to the great demands of this job and often felt demoralized, I gradually learnt to see this as a driving force that propelled me forward to accomplish what seemed impossible.

Yes, rejections and disproving looks always sent my morale down to the lowest point, but it was far more gratifying to hear a mere "good job". Each time a simple compliment was given, I felt the adrenaline rush through me and I thought that the hard work and long hours invested were worth it.

In fact, it would be apt to say that these challenges have shaped me into a more competent and open-minded individual. Despite the tedious work assigned to me and the competitive work environment, I would say that I have enjoyed the internship. I became close friends with the fellow interns and have also established friendly relationships with my colleagues. All these made the entire internship a fulfilling fun one.

Through such drilling, I am cultivated to become a more ambitious individual. In fact, by the end of the internship, I felt that I became a perfectionist in whatever I did. I became someone who was never easily satisfied with my work. The thought that "I could have done better" would always come to mind instead. This reminds of the most impressionable comment made by my boss that I couldn't agree more.

"To believe that good is never enough and the best should never be compromised".