The Importance of an Internship and How It Transforms To Become Your Future Career

In this day and age, every undergraduate student is looking for internships and part-time opportunities. They hope that by having some work experience before graduation will give them an edge over other applicants when applying for jobs in future. However, most of them understand very little about the importance of an internship and its impact on their future career.

I was no different

My first internship was with Jardine Matheson Limited back in the Summer 2007. I had the opportunity to work at the Group Human Resources department as a Group Human Resources Intern. I just completed my GCSEs and did not know what to expect to be working in a company, let alone working in such a prestigious company that was full of history and played an important role in Hong Kong’s development over the years.

At that time, I only know I did some administrative work, attended meetings and visited different companies under Jardine Matheson Limited. So after the internship, I felt it was an interesting experience. I had a better idea on working in a company. It required discipline, tedious at times, sacrificing part of my summer holiday and how great it was to be a student. I imagined those who had worked as an intern might have the same feeling as I did.

 

However, there is MUCH MORE to it.

After graduating from The University of Nottingham studying Economics, I returned to Hong Kong and started looking for a job. It was not until I came across a job description about a Human Resources role that everything I learned started to make sense!

I then recalled during my internship, I was actually responsible for the first screening of a tea lady. Meetings that I attended involved management and employees and visiting different companies under the Group were in fact part of what the Jardine Executive Trainees would experience. These were all part of what a Human Resources Generalist was made out of. (Recruitment, Employee Relations and Talent Development)

 

So this was how my “HR” journey began.

Whether you are a student, employee, job seeker or employer even, there are many moments in life where you have experienced something and you have no idea how it may have an impact on your future decision making. For me it is from an Internship to a Career. For you it may be a completely different story. The important thing to remember is to make sure you maximise all the learning opportunities, input as much effort as you can into what you do and everything will come together in one piece. Then you will realise how much you already knew before you know it.

 

If you put in the right effort, the reward will come. You have to believe in the long term plan you have but you need the short term goals to motivate and inspire you. – Roger Federer

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