Why Singaporean students are racing for internships

Singapore The pressure to find a job or build a personal brand on social media has turned internships into a race among students.

Channel NewsAsia reported on July 25 that Jervis Chan, an excellent graduate of Computer Science at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), completed 8 consecutive internships in 4.5 years of university.

In a volatile job market, Chan and many Singaporean students are rushing to do internships, even in multiple places at once, in the hope of finding good jobs.

However, this pressure is also influenced by a number of reasons:

LinkedIn changes the job search game

Singaporean universities have long valued the importance of internships as a way for students to gain insights into the outside world and gain real-world experience.

Singapore Management University, Nanyang Technological University considers internship as a compulsory requirement for all undergraduate students.

However, the pressure to get internships and gain experience at large companies partly comes from LinkedIn - a social network with more than 930 million users. Recruiters and human resource managers are using LinkedIn as a tool to find talent.

Search for “internship” and you’ll see people showing off by writing thank-you notes to former mentors or colleagues. This is normal, as it’s a great place to showcase your experience, and the more the merrier. Colleges even teach students how to best market themselves on LinkedIn, providing templates and guides for students to follow.

It can be said that LinkedIn is gradually changing the way people search for jobs and making building a professional personal brand more important.

National University of Singapore students on graduation day. Photo: Lionel Lin — National University of Singapore students on graduation day. Photo: *Lionel Lin*

Fear of Inferiority

Comparing themselves to the achievements of others is also a cause of anxiety for young people. In addition to the "fear of failure" syndrome, they also worry about falling behind when seeing others succeed.

This pushes many people into internship races with the pressure to have as many working connections as possible.

Quantity over quality

Internships help students hone their skills, explore different roles, and better plan their careers. They also connect with career counselors and like-minded people. Those who excel in their internships are often offered full-time employment.

Not all companies are enthusiastic about mentoring students, however. In some places, students are asked to make coffee rather than learn skills for future jobs. Many are fine with it, as long as it is something to put on their resumes. They believe that in the competitive job market, any certification gives an individual an edge over others.

This is not something that HR professionals appreciate. When students do multiple internships at once, it shows that they do not see it as a learning experience. Therefore, students should demonstrate their proficiency in industry-related skills, rather than listing long internship experiences on their resume.

Phuong Anh (According to CNA )

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