5 minute read
Dan Cheung & Kiu Cheng
Virtual internships
l Two young professionals offer views on the transformation of today's internships. l Their insight comes from personal experience and working on an HKFYG survey on this topic. l Upbeat about the growth of virtual internship, they foresee this mode taking the lead in shaping job skills to come. 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 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 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。
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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. 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.
The flexibility quotient
Youth unemployment is a worldwide phenomenon and many youngsters find it difficult to make the transition from school to work. As technological advancement has taken place, the labour market has been reshaped into one which is more cost-conscious and more volatile than in the past. It is knowledge-based and constantly changing. Young people, especially the underprivileged who have less work experience, job skills and access to career advice, are most vulnerable.
Internship experience is of paramount importance to them. It provides invaluable opportunities to gain practical work experience. As interns, they will also equip themselves with the necessary transferable skills, build and extend professional networks and achieve selfactualization by exploring their talents and potential.
The most important outcomes of an internship for careers are dependent on a number of factors. First, their effectiveness in giving youngsters the chance to explore their real interests and talents. Second, the level to which they enable an understanding of working culture. Third, how well they allow young people to develop important skills that will be relevant to their future career paths or options.
Most youngsters are usually concerned that virtual internships will offer less chance to experience workplace conditions, that they are ineffective as a way to communicate, and that they involve fewer resources which in turn lead to fewer learning opportunities. However, I believe that their experience will not necessarily be seriously affected by the mode of an internship.
On the other hand, I think that virtual internships mean greater flexibility which in turn means that students can balance school work and job-related duties irrespective of where they are or the time of day. As a result, young people can consider overseas internships regardless of geographical and physical barriers. In fact, virtual internship will become a new norm in future.
To make a virtual internship a good experience, it is important that corporate employers provide mentorship or buddy schemes, that they maintain regular contact with interns and work according to a detailed schedule and plan. With these parameters in place, youngsters can also gain excellent realworld training to no less an extent than they would through conventional internships. During my work* on a virtual internship programme, I have seen this mode gaining in popularity as a great alternative. It not only motivates youngsters to face new challenges by equipping themselves future skills but also empowers employers to nurture and recruit young talents.”
Kiu Cheng is a barrister, and a member of the Commission on Children and HKFYG’s Youth Service Advisory Committee. As an intern, she learned to apply technical legal knowledge to practical situations. She works with Foster Worldwide on a virtual global internship programme that helps thousands of young people intern with companies in over 60 countries.
These two writers contributed to HKFYG’s Youth I.D.E.A.S recent report on internship. Dan is the convenor of the think tank’s Education Group. Details on page 48 and at yrc.hkfyg.org.hk/2020/11/30/yi055/
