All Reviews

8 weeks

RM 500

I helped other associates with their projects - they were not really outlined to me beforehand. Everything was flexible and in flux. I could have ownership over some parts of the project as instructed by my supervisors. Job scope changed day by day depending on where help was needed. Aside from that, I did market research, competitor analysis, data analysis and communication via presentations (Powerpoint), problem-solving and strategy brainstorming for projects depending on industry.

Consulting requires a lot of out-of-the-box thinking, with ability to structure thoughts and ideas. Ethos & Company had a very entrepreneurial culture - by virtue of it being a smaller firm - so a lot of ownership and initiative is appreciated and encouraged.

Actively involved me. Mostly attentive, and ensured I gained from the internship. Made up for lack of structure with active improvisation.

I expected it to be more structured. Though this could have been a temporary one-off flaw and not necessarily representative of all internships with Ethos - I joined the company when it was undergoing some internal changes. Above this, however, my supervisor was really keen to ensure that I got a good learning experience.

People interested in management/strategy consulting, and people interested in working for boutique consulting firms. Any background or course of study is welcome but should have basic skill sets i.e. thinking analytically and logically, ability to structure thoughts and express them effectively, and creativity in thinking of solutions. Or, anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit who enjoys having ownership over their work - instead of just being told what to do day by day. People who like a smaller firm where you get to meet and get to know everyone personally.  

8 weeks

RM 1000

I was willing to take whatever job that is given by EY, since I am still a first year undergraduate student with lesser knowledge compared to other interns. Assigned to Tax department, my work included doing admin jobs (printing, scanning, etc), translating letters, calling the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), sending documents to clients, preparing IRB documents and mostly engaging with tax computation (sort of like a company's account for tax). They were mostly very repetitive, according to different companies.

Since different departments have different scopes of work, it was the peak period for the tax people to meet their deadlines by the IRB. I would say the internship didn't really fulfill my expectations in learning something new at EY. It was very hectic for them to even manage their work, so they have very little time for the interns. However, I have improved my communication and computer skills, and I pushed myself with my ability to be efficient. I did many things that I dislike doing, which surely is the best platform to learn. The internship also has taught me to work things fast, with minimum careless mistakes. No one can wait if you are being slow with your work, when everybody is moving forward speedily. Other than that, I have acquired some knowledge on tax.

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This internship is most suited for anyone who is up for something new and willing to expand their knowledge on an uncommon field of work i.e. tax. Also to anyone who have learned tax as their subject for degree, it might be fascinating to apply any of their learnings in the real working world, not just on exam papers.

11 weeks

RM 1000

Although the scope was outlined beforehand, from my experience, it is just to make you feel better. At EY they expect you to work like permanents, which is good for learning's sake but it can be a shock for certain people because of the workload and stress that they have to handle. However, the workload depends on some factors such as which department are you in, time (peak/off peak period) etc. For example, you will not be as busy as the interns in audit department if you are in tax or advisory.

Being an accountant is not a walk in a park. It needs discipline, hard work and patience to get to the top.

My mentor actively involved me.

I wish the firm would appreciate interns as much as they appreciate other employees. Sometimes interns feel like they are being treated like 'corporate servants' to be working as hard as permanent staff but with a much lower pay/benefits.

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8 weeks

RM 1000

I applied for an Audit role in the firm. They did outline the task that you as an intern will experience. The main task that you will be exposed to is vouching a basic account check with the client and other basic intern roles such as preparing copies and filling in the office.

Expectations are usually based on your conversations with the seniors or current staff who work in the office. You could meet them at career events or an in-sight career trip to the company. My expectation interning with EY was exactly what I expected as an intern under the Audit department. You will be assigned to a manager whom will allocate you to a senior associate and he/she will guide you along the way of your working experience. There will also be a good opportunity for you to learn how to deal with clients and also excellent training with Excel spreadsheets.

My mentor actively involved me, was mostly attentive and ensured I gained from the internship.

The internship will be monotonous especially if you intern during peak period where senior associates will be busy. In this time the best way to ensure that the interns grab the most out of the limited time is to allocate a special task for the interns under the supervision of senior associates which could involve interns to audit small clients.

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32 weeks

RM 800

You were treated like a real Engineer and you were expected to behave like an engineer (even though you are actually an intern and may know nothing). During my internship period, I was given tasks ranging from preparing tender documents for bidding, selling products to customers, and also hands-on work at sites. From time to time, we meet our customers to discuss about certain projects. I was also entrusted to organize the company trip. During my stay at Dyna Segmen, I went for holiday twice with them. I was also invited for the company trip even after I ended my intership. (free holiday. cool right??). The most difficult task given to me was when I was instructed to go offshore onboard customer's FPSO for a major engine overhaul. It was difficult because I didn't have any experience going offshore and I had to lead a team of foreman at that time. The jobscope is to perform major engine overhaul for one of the ship generator engines. It was tough, but made it. After all the hustle onboard that FPSO, we raked in RM80000 for that job and it was satisfaction. Satisfaction for being able to complete a difficult task and also satisfaction for bringing in money for the company.

My internship exceeded my expectations by a huge margin! This is the moment where you break away from your comfort zone and learn new things and acquire new skills. All those tasks indirectly made me a better person with a positive mindset. On the technical side, I did learn a lot about Polyurea coating and also offshore painting system. I also learn a few things about pipeline repair technology and products. But all these knowledge are not such a big deal because we can read about it. What I'm grateful for is the soft skills I acquired over the 8 months period. Just imagine, on a daily basis we needed to interact with so many people such as customers, colleagues, suppliers, our boss and other people I met along the way. All these in a way helped me to polish my communication skills. Not to mention my negotiation and persuasion skills when we met suppliers and asked for the best deals.The task given also indirectly taught me how to seize opportunity. I used to sell stuff with huge profit margins and bring in lot of cash for the company when I realized there were no competitors. I also learned a lot about friendship and networking.

My mentor ensured I gained from the internship, actively involved me and made up for lack of structure with active improvisation. My supervisor was the best mentor I had so far. He is dynamic, on top of his game, and very cool in handling difficult situation. He wasn't very involved in my tasks, but when I needed advise and help, he was sure to be there.

There is nothing to be improved. The environment is great, the people is great and there are so much energy within this organisation. Well, maybe the company needs to buy more computers/laptops.  

Any Engineering students and IT students will definitely benefit from this company. Anybody with social skills problem is encouraged to join this group. Anybody with low self esteem will definitely want to join this group. Anybody who loves adventure and get satisfaction from solving difficult problems will surely enjoy being in this group.

10 weeks

RM 500

Some of the things I did include: - design and develop interior design concept for commercial projects - design and produce full sets of detail construction drawings - produce material boards and presentation drawings - supervise and monitor construction site to meet project aim and schedule - design and develop graphic design for logo, banner and signage for retail projects - projects involved: Velocity Mall, Sunway Graduate School, Sunway Convention Centre, Fonterra Corporate Office, Secret Recipe Cafe

Some of the things I learned: - gained knowledge about the process from design to construction phase - developed my software skills (AutoCAD, 3D Studio Max with Vray Render, Photoshop) - learnt how to produce detailed drawings - learnt about project documentations - got to see my own design being built in real life

My mentor ensured I gained from the internship. When I was interning there 2 years ago, the company only had 10 staff altogether (which has now grown to a larger group). So, I obtained lots of guidance from every single one of them. Tasks would be given with clear instructions.

The phone line there is kind of bad. I had to put my phone close to the pantry area to get signal. And, I had to bring my own laptop to work, as the computer there are very limited.

Interior design students look no further!

9 weeks

RM 500

Some of the things I did include discussing, researching and drafting questions for the State Assembly Meeting, drafting speeches for YB Yeo, various constituency works and visiting government office and learning more on bureaucracy in their services.

I didn't put any expectations on this internship because it was my first experience working with a politician and at the end, I was satisfied with the stint. My mentor made me eager to join the political party and serve the rakyat. I also learnt how to handle commitments, politics (in terms of liberal, conservative and mature politics) and how to work with the rakyat especially when we are on the opposition side. The focus was on how to correct the negative stigma that some sections of the Malay community may have on DAP. The rakyat (especially in the rural areas) also still did not know the functions of the government, democracy, public servants and their services clearly.

My mentor actively involved me, was mostly attentive and ensured I gained from the internship.

Personally, it is a great program and DAP should promote it well so more people would know about it. Try to involve more people from the Malay community too. Maybe this program could also be recognized by the government (putting aside political ideologies) as it could be useful to interns and students in the future.

A person who is interested in politics, who wants to create something different in the political scene and who is interested to know the other side of the opposition party. Also, a person who has negative stigma towards DAP so they can correct their misconceptions of the party. Anyone else who is interested despite having different ideologies as this is a platform for learning.

16 weeks

RM 500

1. Organising fund raising dinners, research, drafting press statements, various constituency work. Work was not outlined to me beforehand. 2. Organised the CNY 2012 Fund Raising Dinner and Sarawak Fund Raising Dinner, attended Parliament 2012 session.

It takes a lot of personal drive and commitment to devote your life into politics, especially when you are an opposition member and one with so much intelligence and potential to do amazingly well in any field.

My mentor's ongoing support has very much contributed to my self-confidence and personal development. In fact, he was the driving factor I chose the university I am in today.

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1. Students interested in politics, the political process, or those passionate about making a difference in Malaysia. 2. Anyone would benefit from this, in different ways. Only choose your internship period wisely, as different times would imply different responsibilities.

12 weeks

RM 800

Throughout the 3 months, I was mentored by different ‘buddies’, assigned to me by the functions of their roles. I was attached to a consultant for the first month, who taught me the strings and ropes of a headhunter. I learnt what making cold calls amounts to, how to approach potential candidates, how to engage potential clients and whatnot. The following month, I was assigned to shadow a researcher who showed me how to source for candidates, prescreening them and mapping out their requirements. In the final month, the Practice Leader himself took me under his wing and I got to observe and learn what a managerial role entails.

  The exposure to the many different people I’ve come to meet in a business environment was worlds apart from anything I’ve known as a student. Managing clients’ and superiors’ expectations is something I’ve learnt to practice through my time at CnetG.

My mentor actively involved me and ensured I gained from the internship. Worked closely with my mentor daily. I was in a position where I had responsibilities to uphold but with the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them.

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Those who choose wish to venture into jobs pertaining to HR, recruitment and executive search should consider spending a few weeks here. You should have strong communication skills, able to articulate your thoughts and the determination to complete objectives.

10 weeks

RM 500

The department I was sent to (regulatory) would probably benefit law students best or those who love reading. You will learn how this department functions and about a telco's relationship with the MCMC (or SKMM). One of the task I had to do was to compare the percentage a firm would be considered as dominant in Asia Pacific and Europe. As an intern I had to do massive research job and I had the opportunity to learn about the telecommunication industry as a whole. But to be honest, 10 weeks is a bit too long, 6-8 weeks would suffice. Would ideally recommend 8 weeks.

Honestly, the internship has been rewarding. But as I said again, 10 weeks is slightly long. 6-8 weeks would suffice. My three mentors always kept me busy with either research job or reading tasks. Although my mentors were mostly busy, they would always take their time to explain to me about the technicalities involved in their field. They will also try their best not to make me feel left out and get me involved in their work. Biggest take-away? You will learn the telecommunication industry as a whole, not just Celcom. The regulatory department deals with other industry players such as Maxis and Digi so you will come to learn how they come up with an agreement and work around their differences. You will also come to learn the definition of the terms USP funds, DEL, ISDN, SSNIP test, HHI, HSBB, and many others. There will be random days where they don't have any work or reading to give you, which I quite honestly find it a bit of fresh air. During those times, I would work on other projects (outside work scope) that I am involved in. The whole experience has been genuinely interesting as well. Not just work wise but those random experiences such as having breakfast or lunch with your colleagues (read: average age in this department is roughly 30), random chitchats and advice they pass on, work ethics, the manner in which you have to write an official letter, etc.

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Law students, curious students who enjoy doing general reading and research, book addicts. Notice that I've listed down those who enjoy reading because you'd have to face a massive reading task. But of course even if you don't, this is not a bad place to start. Besides, you're reading something you've probably never read before such as the Telecommunications Act, or a research paper. This experience would be rewarding to those who genuinely wants to learn something new because you will come out from the internship with fresh knowledge. Will have to warn you that if your idea of work is walking around rather than stay put, do not apply here. In this department you basically face your desktop on a daily basis.

9 weeks

RM 1110

I had a very interesting overall experience from BritishIndia. On my first week I met with the CEO and she gave me a pet project that I was expected to work on throughout my 9 weeks in BritishIndia. My project involves building a marketing communications strategy playbook. I was expected to understand where BritishIndia's brand position is viz-a-viz competitor and then to build a marketing strategy base on that understanding where I had to plan the resources and come up with an execution timeline for them. I had another fellow intern who was working on his pet project which was to build the Customer Loyalty Program and E-Commerce website for BritishIndia. Throughout my 9 weeks here, I had weekly meetings with the CEO to update on my progress with my pet project. On my 2nd week, I was placed in-store in BSC for a week, where I was challenged to understand how retail works. I basically folded and ironed clothes, fixed the hangers and "attempted" to serve customers. Retail is not as easy as you imagine it to be, that I can assure you. The remaining 7 weeks after, aside from my project, I had opportunities to learn about our products (the fabrication and sales analysis), attended photo shoots, worked backstage in the Miss Universe Malaysia fashion show and even helped the designers to work on their one-of-a-kind pieces.

In numerous occasions I was given ownership on a lot of the projects I was working on. For example, one of my project was to set up an in-house photo shoot studio for BritishIndia and I was basically given the opportunity to see through the whole process- from writing up the proposal, presenting it to our CEO, preparing quotations and executing it. I was also expected to present my proposals on some of the Advertising and Promotion ideas I had to the head of departments. However, I expected to be drowned in work but there are days where I literally had nothing to do; then again those were the days where I got to help out with the merchandising team where the designers are. My mentor played a crucial role throughout my whole internship program. From day one she was very attentive and very supportive. She guided me with my project and ensured that I was on the right track and now, 9 weeks later, she has become a very good friend of mine. My biggest take-away from this internship is that it is never too late to learn and in order for you to learn, you will need to build the courage to ask questions.

My mentor actively involved me, was mostly attentive and ensured I gained from the internship.

My internship didn't allow me to take any off-days, so I had to replace my off-day with a working Saturday. But apart from that, being able to drown myself with work would have been nice.

My colleagues in BritishIndia comes from a wide range of backgrounds - one with an Engineering degree from MIT as well! So you don't necessarily need to be a graduate from a fashion school to enjoy the work in BritishIndia, so long as you appreciate fashion, you like challenges and you want to have something you can call your own, BritishIndia will have something to offer you.

9 weeks

RM 1350

I was in charge of preparing the local and international business news daily, identifying the interesting and significant pieces of news, and providing some analysis and talking points for the presenters. I also had to help the producers to prepare for The Breakfast Grille, which happened daily at 8am.This involved doing research on the numerous companies and the respective CEOs who were to be interviewed, generating questions for the interviewers. On top of that, I was given a long term project on Education Reform, where I had to examine BFM's current coverage of education reform, read up on the existing reform efforts and the Malaysian Education Blueprint, and do up a report and presentation to help BFM better plan its future education-related programmes.

This internship far exceeded my expectations as not only did I manage to learn how to analyse businesses, it taught me journalism skills like how to structure and ask questions in order to obtain the most informative responses, and gave me greater knowledge of finance and markets, even sending me on a course on how to use a Bloomberg terminal. I learnt the importance of creativity and thinking out of the box, spontaneity in being able to react to different people and situations while on air, and resourcefulness and discernment in filtering through the endless articles from so many different newspapers daily.

My mentors ensured I gained from the internship. They were always there for me to ask them questions whenever any doubts arose. They were always friendly and actively told me to ask them questions when I had any. For my long term project, my mentor met with me at least once a week to check on my progress and point me back in the right direction whenever needed. What I valued the most was that they always made me feel responsible for the work I was given, always being there to offer advice when needed, but also always giving me the freedom to do as I deemed fit and ensuring that I was actively learning from the tasks I was assigned.

I thought that there should have been a more structured system of mentorship for my daily activities as the learning curve was rather steep in the beginning and more concentrated guidance would have been good.

1. Anyone who likes to, or thinks he/she can, think critically and be creative. 2. Someone who is interested in learning more about businesses and how well they are, or could be, performing 3. A person who loves to be in an environment of vibrant, diverse, and opinionated people

6 weeks

RM 750

My tasks: 1) Contribute to the banking survey, which will be published in the annual Financial Stability Report. 2) Publish a departmental bulletin on the analysis of an issue relevant to financial surveillance. 3) Prepare, and present on a pertinent event to the whole department. Note that this is wholly your task, and you are to take full responsibility of it. Assessment method: It was never discussed, so I assume it was on how I conducted myself throughout the internship, the quality of my presentation and bulletin plus the feedback from colleagues.

The biggest takeaway from the stint is the importance of sound and well-evidenced research. Regardless of the task I was on - collating data for the survey, drafting the bulletin and preparing my analysis for the presentation - it was constantly drilled that the data should match the analysis. Because it can form the basis of policy-making, the analysis needs to be derived from actual happenings and well-linked to the data. I learnt that you have to be prepared to be questioned on the legitimacy of your analysis on the data, and on how such-and-such an event arose. Insights: It's an organisation that prides itself on being knowledge-based and knowledge-sharing is emphasized. The work environment differs between departments and so does the stress level. As a central bank, the work they do is unique and is from a different angle. It is essentially public service, but the Bank is regarded as one of the top central banks (Dr Zeti has been ranked as an A-grade central banker on a consistent basis). So it's none too shabby and personally I feel it is rewarding and satisfying.

My mentors ensured I gained from the internship and made up for lack of structure with active improvisation. They were really supportive and accommodating, but as they have a lot to do as well, it is expected that you are proactive in asking for help/clarification. I dealt mostly with junior-level executives. The general guidance structure: Explain the task at the onset, and they'll leave you to your devices, with the exception when you meet them to troubleshoot. I certainly had ownership and assumed full responsibility over the presentation. They helped brainstorm possible questions and we had a mock-presentation, but it was understood that this is my task alone. I liked it, because it gave me a sense of ownership and made me put in much more into my work.

1) Structure - Perhaps it was unfortunate timing (the week before Raya, so mentally and physically people were absent) but the logistics was severely affected (I couldn't proceed with my work on the banking survey because other parties were slow/unresponsive to requests for the required data). 2) Personalising the internship experience - While providing an insight into the work they do is sufficient, interns would benefit more if their tasks are aligned with their own goals, be it soft skills or technical abilities. Periodic sessions to discuss objectives and assessment methods would have been greatly beneficial.

Essential skills: Seeing the big picture, and verifying it by means of analysis data at a micro-level. Good communication skills (Proficient, if not fluent, in English). IT skills you can learn on the job. As with other professions, a genuine interest in the field and for public service really helps. Those who want to contribute to the development of our financial sector/economy in various ways - policy-making, surveillance at the economy level, entity-level supervision. The sentiment of my colleagues: the job is demanding and can require you to clock in extra hours, but the work is interesting.

10 weeks

RM 750

The internship scope was unknown and not outlined to me beforehand. The list of the tasks and projects in which I was involved comprised the following: 1) Data extraction from the CreditEdge website (https://www.creditedge.com/) and from databases with limited access. This formed most of the initial part of the internship, coupled with further analysis on Excel. 2) Assisting my superior with a project whose goal was to improve the benchmark of one of the supervisory frameworks. This, we hoped, would improve the consistency of the opinions amongst supervisors on risk assessment and risk rating given to the banks, without compromising the need for critical judgement from the supervisors. 3) Using Excel to analyze historical data on the observed default rates (ODR) and the probability of default (PD) of internal rating based (IRB) banks in Malaysia based on 3 major asset classes, namely credit card, housing loan and hire purchase. The analysis sought to determine the trend lines of ODR and PD for the past 3 years. 4) Prepared a summary which will be part of pre-workshop reading material for future supervisors. I based it on research done on the evolution of banking regulatory regimes, which comprises Basel I, II and III. 5) Summary written on the comparison between Basel II/III and Solvency II. 6) Data extraction and financial calculation from 2012 financial statements of approximately 40 public listed companies in Malaysia which form part of the top 100 corporate borrowers of IRB banks, to assess the potential impact of the removal of government subsidies and the future imposition of a Goods and Services Tax (GST) on corporate institutions, from the perspective of credit risk.

Not only did the internship meet my expectations, it surpassed them. I picked up quite a lot of things on banking and credit risk along the way. This was helped by the fact that Bank Negara is the regulator of Malaysian banking institutions; it meant that tonnes of guidelines and frameworks were involved. I was assigned to assist my superior with the improvement of one of the supervisory guidelines, and it was quite interesting to know how supervisors assign risk rating to the banks under their respective supervision. Since my main objective was to pick up new knowledge along the way, I was asked to prepare a summary of the evolution of banking regulatory regimes, comprising Basel I, II and III. The 9-page summary will serve as pre-workshop reading material for the incoming supervisors in mid-September 2013. Later on, I was then asked to prepare a summary of the comparison between Basel II/III and Solvency II, which I deemed was slightly more relevant to my course. The research later exposed me to eye-opening insights on the differences between the banking and insurance industries, and how both regulatory frameworks could complement each other to achieve certain similar objectives. My direct mentor was a Deputy Director (DD) and a risk specialist - yet he was so down to earth, humble enough to explain to me, in detail, his answers to questions I have had from time to time throughout the internship period. He actively involved me in various meetings in regard to credit risk with experienced supervisors and other DDs in other departments, particularly from the Banking Supervision Department. The plus point of doing an internship, or even working, with Bank Negara, is that you get to collaborate with colleagues from other departments so closely, as we all share a common objective without personal interest; ensuring the safety, soundness and stability of the financial system. Acknowledging that you have the privilege, through your work, to serve and contribute to the nation and its people brings ultimate working pleasure and satisfaction to your otherwise mundane working life.

Albeit it was a little bit less structured, everything else was pretty commendable!

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Interns who aspire to expose themselves to specialist risk programme and gain insights and knowledge on the banking industry, emphasizing horizontal surveilliance and necessary analysis and inputs to preempt emerging risk in the financial system by utilising technical skills.

10 weeks

RM 500

Before you read about my experience, please note that: 1) The internship experience will definitely be different for each intern because Materialise has an open environment that allows you to dictate your direction and personal growth, which I greatly appreciate. Mine was focused more on breadth rather than depth, so there was little mastery involved. 2) This review might be super biased because people who worked there were really nice to me. What I enjoyed: 1) Learning about the company – Reading the Materialise website alone will inspire you. This company is amazing – from the people to the products to the projects. 2) Writing analysis reports and proposals – I was given the task of analyzing different software testing techniques and their efficiencies. Some time later, I wrote a proposal to implement a new guideline for sorting software bugs. It’s great that there’s always a possibility of implementation if you do your research and come up with plausible alternatives. If not, you get valuable feedback. 3) Document reviews – Because I like reading things. Other stuff I did: participated in daily scrum and occasional sprint meetings (find out more about The Scrum Guide here), created test cases, learnt to use different software products that the company develops – Mimics, 3matic, SurgiCase etc., played around with Visual Studio and Expression Blend (for UI purposes), learnt basic programming in C#, test plan review, risk management charter review, full-feature testing. Don't hesitate to email me if you want to know more! Even if it's about a different department.

Besides all of the above, I learnt: 1) How a software development team works. 2) How the company works. (It’s really one of a kind.) Most importantly, I was reminded about my responsibility towards my goals, education and growth. Throughout my internship, because of the freedom to choose what I wanted to do, I was constantly asking myself ‘why am I doing this’ or ‘how can I do this better’. I learnt about what I liked doing. It felt a bit like college, without exams.

My mentor actively involved me. He taught me a lot. The best part was that he allowed me to explore and learn from many other people as well. He's amazing - a supportive leader who facilitated growth instead of introducing restrictions.

I had quite a lot of free time and I liked that. But the company shouldn't be giving me plenty of free time since they're paying me to be useful! Most feedback received from other interns is about the lack of structure but that was my favorite part.

Consider having an internship here if you're interested in software development!

4 weeks

RM 500

The first meeting with the director is very important as he will ask you what you intend to gain from the internship. He then decides the right department for you. I told him that I wanted to be involved in a macroeconomics policy study, hence he got me involved with building the economic model for GDP forecasting.

It was only fun in the first two weeks as I learned new things. After that, it became routine. I learned quite a few important things. One of them is how to choose the variables to forecast GDP and the tools needed.

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I would advise any economics student that wishes to learn the practical side of the subject to give it a try.

15 weeks

RM 1400

As I was assigned to 2 different units, each unit gave me a few projects on the very first day. I had 3 months' worth of projects, with a few assignments on the side. Other than that, the Special Project team gave the interns a project, which, at the end, they had to present to Idris Jala. Some of the projects involved developing an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), organizing a site visit (I was sent to Miri for this), attending government meetings with the ministers, and doing research & analysis. There was never a boring day! Something new to be done every day.

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The team was very supportive, including the director. The director had one-on-one sessions with me every 2 weeks to keep track of my progress and to give advice. I had 2 mentors, one from each unit - but being a small knitted group, everyone was a mentor to me. Everyone helped a lot with my projects.

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It depends on the unit to which you are assigned. Each unit will provide a different experience. For me, LIH (Low Income Household) would attract those who enjoy being on the ground, doing charity work etc.

6 weeks

RM 1500

We tackled everything from foreign affairs to government policies like the ETP and GTP. The scope of the internship was not outlined beforehand. I came in without knowing what to expect. I had to do a report on the Malaysia-Japan bilateral relations conference. I also had to come up with a policy to improve government administration and deliver it to the Prime Minister and also give a review on the ETP and GTP initiatives by PEMANDU also to the Prime Minister.

This internship certainly met my expectations as I got to mingle around and actually converse with powerful and influential people like the PM himself, Tun Musa Hitam, Mr. Wong Nai Chee, Datuk Kamal Yan, Datuk Paul Low, YB Khairy Jamaluddin, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon and Datuk Khairun. The support wasn't really given to me by my mentor as he was very busy with his portfolio as the Prime Minister of Malaysia. But I was fortunate enough to know Datuk Hardev who is a special officer for media affairs to the PM who really engaged me in the learning process. It's not easy handling such a large bureaucracy. Do your homework, you'll stand out more amongst your peers.

My mentor was unattentive unless prompted. But he made up for the lack of an internship structure with active improvisation.

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Inquisitive people who are very interested as to how the government works. Also, those who are interested to obtain a political leverage for the future.

8 weeks

RM 500

1. Writing 1-3 news articles per day for publication. Most of it was outlined, but I was surprised at how fast I was sent out into the field with relatively little supervision. 2. Among my more memorable assignments was an interview with former premier Mahathir Mohammed and covering the DAP-MCA debate.

Journalism is a challenging, but immensely rewarding job. Plus, everyone is nice to journalists (even interns) because they like seeing their name in print.

Mentor support was important. Was given honest and frank feedback on my work from day one, plenty of advice/rebukes dished out regarding mistakes.

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1. Journalism students obviously. And anyone whose field of study involves current affairs or writing (law, political science). 2. Anyone with an interest in journalism and writing. The internship provides hands on experience in the career of a journalist, and trains interns in the art of news writing (which is more tricky than you might think). Also grants interns interesting encounters with very interesting personalities.

14 weeks

RM 500

The scope of the internship was mostly outlined during the interview stage, and then further detailed when I got started. Basically you're assigned to quite a wide range of possible work - you work in the office when they need you to, you work outside when they need you to/if they trust you to. It boils down to basically office work and outside work, but what you can do under both is pretty varied. When it comes to office work, it's usually processing press releases, i.e. turning the long-winded, badly-written and sometimes incoherent press statements that politicians send out into concise articles that directly convey the main or most interesting points. Or, you could be asked to comb through a study/survey done by so-and-so university and pick out interesting points. Or, if it's a slower day, you could just monitor comments on the site and pick out typos in the articles for correction. Actual news stories can often be done in-office as well. I was asked to do many short phone interviews - e.g. calling a party/politician for their response on a particular event or development, or calling a government person to get more details on an announcement, or calling someone else entirely who wants to get their story published and asking them for details. This can range from routine follow-ups (from which you might get no responses, but are nonetheless obligated to do - like getting a politician's response to a controversial event, or getting a more human-angle story. I had one where I called this person about losing their belongings during a rally only to have a kindhearted person track them down and return their stuff later. It may also be more serious, but relatively unreported, stuff (like a few stories on NCR land disputes I followed up on phone/email). Sometimes it's a little humorous as well (e.g. an odd story about Nizar Jamaluddin walking into an UMNO ceramah I was given). I even got to do a two-part analysis piece after a while. Then there's the 'field work'. This also has a range - you could be attending a routine press conference concerning an event, or you could be covering a specific event itself (a protest, a rally) or you could be given Parliament duty (I never did this). Or you could go for forums and other such things - there isn't a set list, really. Don't expect to be sent to Parliament as an intern, although they may just send you to watch and help out a bit if they don't have anything else for you to do - no solo trips, because it's a day-long assignment over each day that Parliament sits, and given how fast news can come from there, it's only sensible not to risk sending inexperienced people. Expect to travel around KL a fair bit for field work. I went as far as Putrajaya, which is pretty much the limit - only the full-timers go out of town to cover major events (like by-elections or the Lahad Datu invasion). Being familiar with KL is a bonus but as long as you're willing to find your way around yourself, you'll be fine. I used GPS navigation (smartphone) but otherwise, I'd just look up directions beforehand. Most of the places you'll go are quite prominent so they're not hard to find. Lastly, there's picture-taking. You don't have to be a pro photographer, but knowing a bit about composition helps - makes it less of a job for the editors back at the office to edit your pics before putting them up. No fancy camera needed, although a DSLR will obviously get you nicer shots. Much more important is your initiative in chasing down good pictures - getting up close to take nicer shots, taking multiple shots in order to snag a good one, or going out of your way to get profile pics for all the named people in your article.

It went pretty far beyond my expectations, really. I signed up for 3 months because they explained that what you can learn in only one month is limited (although they won't stop you from just doing a month-long one, given most people can only afford that). The internship wasn't specifically structured, and I think that's a big strength in this instance. I expected to only shadow journalists/do office work for the first couple of weeks before gradually moving on to more substantial assignments - but by my 2nd/3rd day I was already out at my first press conference. They literally throw you out there and have you learn on the job, and while it may be pretty daunting for a first-timer, it's really the best way I could have learnt. They don't just put you out there illogically - you're not going to be covering the PM's press conference first time around, and you'll get something that should fit within your experience. My first assignment was a Hindraf press conference, literally a 5-minute walk away from the offices - all I had to do was write/record everything they said, note what was interesting, snap a few pics and report back. It can be a little intimidating but it's nothing exceedingly difficult if you keep your head, and I think it prepared me much better than 2 weeks sitting around an office would have. By the end of my first month, I had done quite a few outside assignments and I'd even been to the Bersih rally that year, so... it definitely exceeded my expectations. In 3 months I did a lot. Mentor support was pretty crucial, because to get more assignments you need whoever's in charge to trust you with bigger stuff. Being mentored here isn't so much about sitting down and taking notes (although expect a few such sit-downs with useful advice, whether in the office or out at lunch) but about being given assignments that train you up and broaden your experience. If your mentor doesn't trust you as much, you won't get to go out as much. It also requires some initiative on your part to ask for advice or get help when you're not sure about what you're doing, and obviously you can turn to your mentor first. So the support is crucial, but you also have to go and get it.

My mentor actively involved me and ensured I gained from the internship.

I'm not naturally the most inquisitive or sociable person, which made it slightly difficult to go out and press people with questions all the time. But that's also why it was a very rewarding experience - it helped me work on some of my weak points. Overall, the ones who'll love this are the ones who are interested in Malaysian politics and likes being around when the news happens - as well as the ones willing to get into it and learn.

Anyone who's interested in Malaysian politics, anyone who wants to be a journalist or who wants to hone their writing skills, and anyone interested in a very active internship. By 'writing skills' I don't mean you'll learn how to write novels or beautiful essays - I mean you'll learn to refine a lot of the basics. Even if you have a good command of English and can speak/write fluently, a local education means that our skills are still pretty crappy - not in terms of grammar, but in terms of economy and argumentation. Working at a news organisation teaches you to be concise, to be clear and to avoid pretentious or bombastic language, and if you learn it does help with your skills overall. Applicants who either love moving around, interacting with people and are interested in good journalistic training - or applicants who are willing to go out of their comfort zone to learn these things.