Have internship experience to be accepted for... internship
David Ji, a college student who will graduate next year, has been actively applying for internships at major tech companies in China. David passed the internship interview at a prestigious company, but did not receive an official offer. When David contacted the company’s human resources department, they said his application had been rejected in the final round.
David is majoring in communications at a lesser-known university in China. This may be why his internship application was rejected. The student was disappointed: "Without internship experience at a large company, it will be very difficult for me to find a good job after graduation."
Internships are an opportunity for students to gain practical work experience before graduating. Internship experience is now considered a "golden ticket" to help improve Chinese students' employment opportunities after graduation. The job market in the country of a billion people is currently very competitive, and the harshness appears right from the time students apply for internships.
Internships at large companies are a top priority for graduating students. These companies often have offices in major cities and offer good salaries and benefits for interns.
However, competition for internships at these companies is fierce. According to David, currently, first-year students have to apply for internships at small and medium-sized companies early to gain experience. This will make it easier for them to get internships at large companies later.
A tricky loop emerges: students who want to be given internship opportunities need to have... internship experience (Illustration photo: SCMP).
Internship competition is just as fierce as job competition.
"Big companies now set high standards for interns. Students need to have previous work experience in similar positions at small and medium-sized companies to have the opportunity to intern at a big company," said Duan Yongxue, a recruitment specialist at a job agency.
Mr. Duan said that large companies now tightly control resources, including resources for training employees. Many large companies do not want to spend resources on "hand-holding" and require interns to have experience before they can start working.
Therefore, many Chinese students now have no concept of summer vacation. As soon as the school year is about to end, they send their resumes to companies to apply for summer internships.
Qin, a student at the Communication University of China, said she had trouble sleeping while waiting for responses from companies. Some companies receive so many internship applications that they don't have time to respond to each student.
Qin has had 5 internships at different companies, she said that the current intern selection process is as strict as the official recruitment process. Interns also have to go through a profile selection round, a knowledge test round, an interview...
David and Qin both went through 2-3 hour tests given by companies to evaluate interns' professional qualifications, IQ, EQ...
Only students with high scores after the test rounds will proceed to the interview round. At this point, students must demonstrate a thorough understanding of the company and the job they want to intern for.
Students' previous experience is very important, because companies want to accept interns who already have work experience so they can get started quickly. Thus, a difficult loop appears: students who want to be given internship opportunities need to have... internship experience. This causes difficulties for many students.
For Chinese students today, summer vacation is a luxury (Illustration photo: SCMP).
Summer vacation becomes a luxury for Chinese students
Currently, many large companies in China are not interested in giving internship opportunities to students without experience. The increasingly high requirements for interns force Chinese students to work hard and endure a lot of work pressure even before they graduate.
"After a long period of trying to get diverse internship experiences, when I applied for an internship at a large company, I found out that my previous internship experiences were not valuable to them. I felt like it was a big shock. Nowadays, even internship opportunities are very competitive," said Richard Chan, a communications major.
Many candidates even find themselves in situations where the company has selected a number of interns but does not officially announce them, because they want to temporarily retain the remaining candidates, in case of personnel changes. This behavior makes many students wait anxiously, but the final answer causes great disappointment.
Having had to wait for a long time and then endure disappointment, Richard confided: "I just applied for an internship, why do they have to create so many challenges? I felt mentally affected during the internship application process. I had to wait for a long time and then endure disappointing rejections."
Even students who are given internship opportunities face difficulties. Some internships last too long and affect students’ studies.
David had an extended internship at a large technology company. Even though the new school year had already started, David had to continue his internship as promised.
"That semester was really chaotic, I felt exhausted, stressed, and still feel haunted when I think about it. At that time, because the company offered me an impressive position, I didn't want to miss the opportunity," David shared.
However, this summer, David's internship application encountered difficulties. He was repeatedly rejected by companies and could not intern in the desired position - game operations specialist. David was only accepted to intern in the human resources department of a technology company.
Even though this internship experience did not help David's career direction, he still accepted the internship because at least he had more experience working at a large company.
David couldn’t bear to let a summer vacation pass without gaining some internship experience that would enhance his resume. For Chinese students today, summer vacation is a luxury, and the pressure to find a job begins the moment they become students.
According to SCMP
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/muon-thuc-tap-phai-co-kinh-nghiem-thuc-tap-sinh-vien-soc-lo-that-nghiep-20240912131256258.htm
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