Perspectives March 2021∣Youth Hong Kong
Virtual internships l Two young professionals offer views on the transformation of today's internships.
l 兩位青協青年創研庫成員，具備專業背景，分 享他們對實習的看法。
l Their insight comes from personal experience and working on an HKFYG survey on this topic.
l 透過自身經驗，以及總結香港青年協會的研究 結果，他們帶出了對這個課題更深層的理解。
l Upbeat about the growth of virtual internship, they foresee this mode taking the lead in shaping job skills to come.
l 他們認為虛擬實習將成為主流，並主導未來工 作技能的轉變。
An opportunity to treasure COVID-19 has changed the landscape of a traditional internship. The old model has become unviable and a shift to the virtual or hybrid mode has taken place while companies accelerated digitalization. Meanwhile, the downturn in the economy has created even more difficulties for students who wanted to find internships. In such an environment, virtual internship allowed flexibility. It meant that employers who could change their mode of operating could still offer internships and prospective employees could gain valuable work experience. Nevertheless, according to statistics from JIJIS,* there was a sharp decrease in positions available in the first four months of 2020 with 30% fewer internships being offered compared to previous years. Opportunities for internship should be treasured as an important element of education and acquaint themselves with a work environment. According to our report, the motivation of about half of all university students who wanted to be interns last year rested on the chance to understand workspace culture, enrich their CVs or apply what they had learned to a job. Internship is an important learning milestone that connects the campus world of student life to the external world of industry. Nevertheless professions such as nursing that require a direct and frequent human touch as well as hands-on practical experience, virtual internship has marked shortcomings. According to speech therapists who took part in our survey, the virtual mode of the internship is less suitable. If there is only online interaction it can be very difficult to calm down and teach a child. 24
Dan Cheung
…an important learning milestone that connects the campus world of student life to the external world of industry … However, in spite of such limitations, I think virtual internships are here to stay. They mean there is still a feasible option and I believe that the hybrid model of a combined offline + online internship will be the trend in the future workplace and giving students who want an overseas internship the chance to do one without travelling. Dan Cheung is a social innovation consultant. He has been an intern in a Hong Kong museum and a global youth organization. These positions involved international marketing, guest coordination and programme development. The experience he gained during the internships empowered him to connect with the global community. * JIJIS (Joint Institutions Job Information System) is a platform for employers and university students that is offered jointly by University Grants Committee-funded universities in Hong Kong.
