SINGAPORE: “They say, ‘comparison is the thief of joy,’ but seeing how most university peers have secured at least three internships makes me question: is it truly necessary to have so many internships to land a good job after graduation?”
This was the opening line of a post by a Singaporean on Tuesday (Nov 19) who took to an online forum to ask Singaporeans for advice on the topic of “the internship race” in Singapore.
“Forgive my simplistic view, but with everyone racing to secure internships, it’s clear employers hold significant power in the market,” he wrote.
“This dynamic seems to have driven allowances down—most internship stipends now hover around S$1,000.
Ironically, back when I was in polytechnic a few years ago, university seniors were fetching higher allowances, typically ranging at least S$1,300.
One would expect these figures to rise with time, yet the opposite appears to be happening. Again, this is just based on a small sample size of the people I know and observed, so definitely not a good observation.”
Singaporeans shared their different views on the matter, with one saying, “It depends on what you want. ‘Good job’ is very subjective.
Some people are happy to get into the UOB grad program, and those who consider anything less than MBB roles to be the end of the world.”
“I agree that having some internship experience is valuable and even necessary, especially since many schools have made internships mandatory,” another shared.
“Personally, I believe that having two internships is sufficient. However, it gets excessive when someone takes on more than three. I know someone who completed five internships, even juggling them during the semester.”
According to an article by Channel News Asia, it has become quite popular for university students to deal with more than one internship, with many even taking some time off the academe to gain industry experience.