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Interning is Brutal Business. Your
pampered college life of textbooks and examinations is no help in the workplace if you do not know how to apply that knowledge. JC LEE explains why we do it.
H
INTERNSHIP
ave you ever chanced upon feeding time for the Tasmanian Devils at its native Australian zoos? An unblemished, white hare would be lowered into the display. Animals know when they are being served as chow: to no surprise, it darts into the shrubbery just as its feet touch the exhibition floor. Seconds later several black streaks burst through the foliage: the Tasmanian devil with its small beady eyes, bared pink tongue, and sharp incisors. The rest is left to imagination. What does this have to do with internships? You connect the dots: as a young college student entering the workplace. You get a hands-on look of just how the working-life draws parallels to the animal kingdom. Cubicles replace plants, and plants are plastic excuses to make the office look more organic. The watering holes are bottled into water coolers, and the furry pelts of its animals exchanged for black khaki pants, a Carrefour buttoned-up shirt, and a cheap tie with a cartoon motif. The only exception is that everyone is not inclined to
defecate just anywhere, but the same rules apply. Beat your chest and remind everyone who is the Alpha Male in your gorilla world, and like the Tasmanian Devil: take out the weak links. As an intern, you are the man behind the glass watching as all of this passes you by. One day, you are going to be the hare and you get lowered into the glass yourself. So give yourself a head start. Here’s why: Internships are more often than not expected of in a resume: when an employer looks
INTIInsiderNewsletter
BY J.C. LEE
through the candidates, they see those with previous workplace experience as an intern a potential employee. Chong Ley-Lynn, 22, is a Mass Communications student at University College Sedaya International. She spent two months as an intern at Fly FM, one of the leading English radio stations in Malaysia. “Being able to work in a radio station in Malaysia is considered a golden opportunity. When I was working there, people asked how I manage to get in and told me that they have friends