Competitive job market pushing more Singapore undergraduates to pursue multiple internships

SINGAPORE: Computer science undergraduate Justin Teo is in the middle of his second internship – and he is far from alone.

He has noticed more of his peers pursuing multiple internships, even though their universities only require students to complete one before graduation.

The Singapore Management University (SMU) third-year student attributes this to a desire to stand out in an increasingly competitive job market, as well as wanting to have diverse experiences before finishing their degrees.

More than half of university students who graduated last year also took on several internships, according to statistics from the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), SMU and NUS Business School.

About 80 per cent of students in the latter two schools completed more than one internship last year, while 58 per cent did so in SUSS.

As for Mr Teo, he has primarily taken up software engineering roles through his internships, focusing on designing and developing software solutions – including at his current stint at Mavericks Consulting.

His 20-week work-study elective programme is designed to blend classroom learning with real-world experience. After work, he often spends his nights catching up on school projects.

“I think what motivated me to take on multiple internships is the desire to gain hands-on experience in different industries and across different roles, though it can be tiring at times to balance both school and work,” the 23-year-old told CNA.

Students may also not know what they want to do in the future, he noted.

“Each internship offers a unique learning opportunity for students to explore what they like to do before joining the workforce.”

MORE INQUISITIVE THAN BEFORE

Human resource experts whom CNA spoke to similarly expressed their belief that students want to gain a variety of work experiences before graduating. The job market has also become more volatile.

Mr Nilay Khandelwal, managing director of Michael Page Singapore & Indonesia, pointed out that students today “have a lot more inquisitiveness than what we used to have”.

They also want to be associated with something they believe in and look for “purpose-led jobs”, he added.

“They want to see what exactly fits the bill … and they want to try it out through internships, because that's the only way as a graduate or a student you can do that. So they really want to maximise it,” he noted. 

“You'll see quite a few doing mid-summer break internships, not going for holidays or whatever or not. They are spending that time between semesters trying to find an internship.”

BUILD CONNECTIONS, SOCIAL SKILLS

Mr Khandelwal added that amid tough market conditions, students with credible internships under their belt will also be able to differentiate themselves from other graduates – and even those with job experience.

He also said internships allow students to build social skills and connections, which could help them to secure future employment.

“(You will not) always end up getting a job in the same company that you had interned with,” he added.

“However, if you continue to create that network and relationship with those individuals that you worked with during internships, chances are, through that network, you might end up with a job in a similar area – whether in the same organisation for a period of time or a different organisation.”

That was the case for Mr Teo, who said he was able to connect with professionals and senior engineers across different departments.

“I think the open and collaborative environment in internships has also helped me learn more from my mentors,” he said.

Nevertheless, a career coach from SMU cautioned that beyond internship experiences, employers also look for well-rounded individuals in the hiring process.

Co-curricular and leadership activities help to build soft skills, which are what employers look out for, said Ms Corrine Ong, director of career and employability services at SMU’s Dato' Kho Hui Meng Career Centre.

"It's very important that the students actually look at a holistic development of themselves through all the student life activities, and not just go for internship and as well as grades,” she added.

“If they were to look at internships, then very importantly, (they have to) look at the quality of the internships - not just chasing the numbers game.”