#18: In pursuit of internships or interests
Are summer internships the only way for students to figure out their interests or future career?
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📌 Is it okay to not have a summer internship?💼 Redefining Work
Redefining Work explores how and why Gen Zs across Southeast Asia are redefining the conventional approach to work and seeking alternatives.Is it okay to not have a summer internship?
It’s June, and Singapore’s annual university summer internship season is now in full swing.
Every year, we’re told the value of securing an internship through career fairs and preparation classes in school. They can range from gaining real-life work experience to securing a full-time position after graduation.
And occasionally, there’re schoolmates amongst us who had done their third internship within their first year, while others took a leave of absence to do an internship in a coveted firm during the school semester.
A Statista survey conducted in March 2023 found that about 19.3% out of 11,596 Singaporean tertiary students and graduates have taken two or more internships during their time in school, while at least 36.4% have completed one internship.
With a significant proportion of students taking up one or more internships, it certainly feels weird or even wrong if we didn’t secure one over the summer break, as shared by this Reddit user.
We’d then begin to search career portals for internship opportunities, apply for multiple roles, and wonder how much internship experience is enough to have that perfect resume for a future job.
Some of us would also go onto Reddit forums or social media groups to ask for help and advice, while others try to seek wisdom from the answers provided by “the experts”.
And anxiety kicks in when we fail to secure an internship before the start of the summer break, especially when it seems that everyone else has managed to secure one.
But is it really okay to not have a summer internship?
An opportunity to explore
Leon Saint Claire, 22, feels that it’s absolutely fine, as long as students make full use of the time to either enjoy themselves or explore alternative opportunities.
The third-year business major announced on LinkedIn some time ago that he does not have a summer internship. It attracted more than 1,800 likes, with a follow-up comment: “internships come and go, but you’re only 22 once in your life”.
Leon applied for a few internships, but he didn’t manage to receive an offer. He admits that he lacked diligence when doing so as compared to his peers, as he placed more emphasis on a theater apprenticeship with a local theater production company in the past year alongside his university studies.
“I thought of it as like a trade-off. If you go for an internship, you’d probably forsake stuff that you really want to do.”
Leon feels that while it is fine to secure as many internships as possible to climb up the corporate ladder, it comes at the price of “slaving away”, or working very hard without finding out their interest or passion.
“I respect if some people want that, but there’s an option of making full use of your 20s to grow holistically by exploring multiple interests and finding your purpose in life. People who find their passion early in life are very blessed.”
Leon’s argument might sound contentious for some, because there are students who found their passion through internships. For example, this Singaporean found her passion in jewelry-making through her internship in Bangkok.
But one cannot discount the fact that different life experiences can lead to different views on finding one’s passion. For Leon, theater is something that he has been exploring since high school.
And he decided to continue exploring his interest in theater by acting in a play as a main cast, while being part of the apprenticeship. To him, it is a good opportunity to explore the arts and showbiz industry, which he believes that he wouldn’t have been able to do if he had been on an internship.
But it doesn't mean that it is not important to secure an internship. Leon feels that there are plenty of opportunities for students to secure one throughout their time in university, but students should not be discouraged from exploring alternative opportunities if they fail to secure a summer internship at any time.
“Use it as an opportunity to do stuff you’ve always wanted to do,” he said.
Echoing Leon’s thoughts is Gabriel Ong, a second-year computing and law undergraduate.
The 21-year-old will be pursuing an internship in a startup focusing on computational law, where he will develop software that supports legal work.
The catch? He’s not doing it to meet school requirements.
Gabriel wanted to have some fun and learn more about the specifics of computing and law at the same time. However, he found that many of his schoolmates are stressed over finding an internship just to fulfill their graduation requirements.
“It is okay to not secure a summer internship, because university is just a place to learn what you’re interested in before you go to work.”
With that, Gabriel strongly believes that students should spend their time in the most fulfilling way at any point in time. He feels that it is important to learn with joy, and students should not feel that internships are a must just because everyone else is doing it.
Internships still a necessity for some
Meanwhile, Tianyuan Zhang, a third-year Economics undergraduate, feels that while it is okay to not secure a summer internship, the need and importance of securing one still depends on the industry that students aim to enter upon graduation.
The 21-year-old was once told in a career advisory session that the finance sector typically looks for interns as early as six months before the summer internship season, and they prefer fresh graduates who have prior experience.
She feels that most students would also take up internships before graduating to get a headstart into their industry of choice, before deciding to commit to it full-time.
Apart from that, she realized that peer influence has pressured many of her friends to search for an internship. They have no idea what to do during the summer break, and they could feel guilty if they decide to do nothing.
“In fact, I would say that only 5% of my friends in school are attending summer programs, 10% would be traveling and working consecutively, while the rest would be doing internships,” she added.
When asked if anything can be done to lessen the guilt if students decide to take a break, Tianyuan feels that a mindset shift is needed. More can be done to help students realize that there’s more than one way to spend their summer, by having more community-based volunteer programs to allow students to apply what they have learned in school. Leadership programs can also be enhanced to help students pick up soft skills.
Charting our own path
So, is it okay to not have a summer internship?
One thing is clear – it is okay if you fail to secure one this time, as it presents new opportunities for you to discover yourself.
It could be in the form of traveling, learning a new skill online, or volunteering in the many non-profit organizations where you can gain relevant skill sets too.
In fact, it seems that skills-based hiring is starting to gain traction in Southeast Asia.
LinkedIn’s Future of Recruiting report 2024 found that about 67% of recruiters in Southeast Asia are beginning to assess a candidate’s skills and talent, thanks to the rise of artificial intelligence.
In Singapore, about 100 companies from various industries have also pledged to consider an applicant’s skillsets when recruiting tech talent, given the rise of the digital economy.
While internships will continue to remain important and useful for us to gain the necessary experience in the workplace, it is not the only avenue for us to learn new skills and explore our passion and interests.
By exploring opportunities beyond a traditional summer internship, we’d offer ourselves another chance to explore our interests and learn new skill sets. It will put us in an advantageous position upon graduation and enable us to chart our unique path toward our future.
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