‘It was like hell’: NUS student burnt out after five internships, fears full-time work

SINGAPORE: Internships are meant to be a gentle warm-up to adult life. A test run. A sneak peek. For one Singaporean undergraduate, however, they felt less like a stepping stone and more like a long, slow horror trailer for working life.

In a post on a local online forum, the NUS student, who is nearing graduation, shared that he has already clocked about five internships. Four were with small and medium-sized enterprises, one with a multinational corporation. 

“Every single internship was like hell,” he wrote in a post on the r/CareersSingapore subreddit. 

“[There were] gloomy faces, eyes glued to the screens, lunches with coworkers where you queue for 30-40 minutes for a plate of chicken rice and fight for seats in a sea of well dressed workers (Tanjong Pagar).”

“I normally experience burnout as early as the first week and definitely by the second month (can’t get out of bed in the morning, thoughts on how I would rather d** then do another day in the office, terror, headache and fatigue, constant stress before and after work).”

Although he generally got along with colleagues and even made friends and work buddies along the way, he said the experiences still left a sour taste. At one internship, he was scolded repeatedly and eventually issued a severe warning for “talking to another department where there was no need to”.

“I’ve tried my best to be the perfect worker bee,” he wrote. Ironically, the burnout and fear ended up forcing some uncomfortable self-reflection.

Looking beyond work, he realised he had become “an empty shell”, someone who only cared about making friends for the sake of networking rather than genuine connection.

After his internships ended, he tried to piece his life back together. He attended art workshops, spent more time with loved ones and friends, and made a conscious effort to reconnect with himself. Still, the fear lingered that starting full-time work would undo all that progress in a matter of weeks.

He wrote, “I’m scared starting work will strip my efforts away, because I tend to throw myself into what I do and give 150% (imagine me staring at the screen for the full workday in fear of my bosses seeing me not working). I’m also a ‘yes’ man, so I often take more than I can handle (bad at rejection).”

He continued, “I’m considering to switch my career from business to teaching (special education) to avoid offices and live a more active life, and also because I believe this path can lead me to my desired personality change (Patient/ Kind/ Lovable/ Someone who makes the world, not stakeholders, better). But I worry that all my efforts in university is now for naught.”

Unsure if he was simply jaded beyond reason, the student ended his post with a question: “Am I being overly cynical from my burnout?”

“Nothing wrong with trying out different things.”

In the comments, some Singaporean Redditors were quick to suggest that the student’s disillusionment might have more to do with where he worked, rather than work itself.

“I think it was just the companies you worked in,” one user wrote. “Try a different kind of company with a different work environment. Instead of queuing for more than 30 mins, try packing your own lunch from home or buying takeaway and eating in the office instead. Or order food in with colleagues and split delivery costs.”

Another wrote, “Yep, it’s great that you got to experience adult corporate work by life through your internships. You could try to adapt to this, or seek other more flexible form of employment.”

A third reminded the student that there was no need to have everything figured out so early, “You are still young! Nothing wrong with trying out different things and testing the waters in different terrains. Some people get their ‘aha’ moments early,Int while others get them later in their lives. As long as you keep moving, all is good. Cheers!”

In other news, a foreign woman has turned to social media for advice after realising that the Singaporean man she has been seeing for three years may not be as emotionally or practically invested in their relationship as she is.

In a post on the r/sgdatingscene Reddit forum on Tuesday (Jan 6), the woman shared that the imbalance has become increasingly difficult to ignore. Whenever they go out together, expenses are typically split “50/50,” and on some occasions, she ends up paying entirely.

Read more: ‘When we go out, it’s mostly 50/50, or I pay’: Foreign woman says her relationship with Singaporean BF feels one-sided