Mistakes interns make have consequences, but are also learning opportunities
The TL;DR: Students on internship can make mistakes that affect their confidence and impact the company. Career advisers encourage them to own up and treat missteps as learning opportunities in this final instalment of a three-part series on navigating internships.
A career counsellor said the key is to find the root cause of the problem, so that the interns can reflect on it and do better from there.
It is not surprising that interns make mistakes when they join a company, given that they have little to no work experience.
But committing a blunder might cause frustration and add to the workload of other employees.
During his final-year polytechnic internship in the creative industry, Andre was tasked with setting up a website – a month-long project on which he worked on his own.
The 20-year-old, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: 'The website creation software was a new software (the company) was trying, so I had to figure everything out myself.
'The only help I got was from a full-timer who fine-tuned my project towards the end.'
Andre created the website, but his work was rejected due to 'content errors, typos and technical mistakes'.
'As it was past the deadline already, my producer had to (work) overtime with me,' Andre recalled. 'In the end, we stayed in the office until ( midnight ) before we were done.'
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Ms Clarice Chan, director of Aureus Consulting, a firm providing education, career and life coaching services, said interns in such situations should 'own up to their mistakes fully and immediately' and offer a proper apology.
'When you apologise to your colleagues, acknowledge the impact of your errors, such as stress and extra work for others. Thank them for their patience in helping you fix the problem, and do not make up excuses – such as it happened because you were rushing,' she said.
In fact, some bosses tend to be more understanding toward interns.
'I was very lucky to have a nice producer,' said Andre. 'She didn't blame me and said that I was in the intern role to learn from my mistakes.'
Mr Gerald Tan, a career counsellor and projects director at Avodah People Solutions, said it is important for interns to process their mistakes.
'The key is to find the root cause of the problem, whether it is competency or not understanding certain instructions, so that the students can reflect and do better from there,' he said.
Mr Tan, whose company offers career guidance and job transitioning support to individuals and organisation employees, added: 'Saying 'sorry' would definitely help the situation, but I always tell my student clients not to say sorry too much, or else it becomes insincere.'
Not all interns encounter understanding supervisors and might lose the trust of their employers.
Stanley (not his real name), a 23-year-old who will soon start his university studies , had to repeat a week-long experiment as a research facility intern, severely delaying his report submissions.
'It was very easy to mistake one (experiment) parameter for another; after looking at numbers the whole day, they eventually lose meaning. In that state of mind, I picked the wrong number to set for the experiment,' he said, speaking on condition of anonymity, fearful that his future work prospects might be hampered.
'I remember my supervisor telling me: 'Go see the big boss and explain yourself'. In the end, my fellow full-time co-workers lost trust in me, as some of them were appointed to supervise me while I performed my experiments even though they were supposed to focus on their own projects,' he added.
While Stanley was initially frustrated at his mistake, he decided to make use of the extra scrutiny.
'I ran all my plans through my supervisor, explaining the rationale behind every step. More than a month later, I managed to regain their trust and was allowed to run my tasks independently,' he said.
He added that his improvement was even apparent in conversations with his colleagues.
'Though it was subtle, when they spoke about me (a month later), they implied that I knew what I was doing,' he said.
Mr Jeremiah Wong, lead career developer in career counselling and coaching at Avodah People Solutions, said that students with appointed supervisors 'may not necessarily need to see (making a mistake) as a bad thing', as learning from mentors could be a more 'enriching experience'.
Mr Tan added that lost trust could be slowly regained.
He said: 'Supervisors may even give you more autonomy, when they see that you can better manage your work independently.'
Mr Tan said that students may be pursuing internships for different reasons, with some feeling the need to stack internships to appear more ready for their first job.
He added that this does not honour the learning and growth intent of the internship process.
He said: 'Internships are created to help students learn about work and work culture, learn about themselves, get acquainted with making mistakes and building skills for the future.
'The most important thing is to be open to absorbing new knowledge and gaining new experiences.'
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Straits Times
44 minutes ago
- Straits Times
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Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Mr Stanley Ng (left), secretary-general of the Huang Clan Association's youth committee, and his father, Mr Ng Poh Wah, the clan's former chairman. SINGAPORE – For 78 years, the Huang Clan Association was housed in Jiangxia Tang, a two-storey bungalow with distinctive yellow shutters and red grille gates in Lorong 35 Geylang. The clan was established in 1924 following a merger of several clans whose members had the surname 'Huang' or its variants. Today, its headquarters are spread over a two-storey space in Sixteen35 Residences, an eight-storey condominium that was completed three years ago on the 2,220 sq m site of the original clan house. The association's name runs down a street-facing wall in seven silver Chinese characters beside a private entrance to the clan house, complete with its own private lift. The association occupies three levels of a dedicated section of the building. On level 2 are lushly carpeted air-conditioned rooms, a multi-purpose hall, library, meeting rooms and an office. A climate-controlled cultural and heritage exhibition room houses antique furniture and artworks from the original bungalow. The transformation of the Huang Clan's premises was three decades in the making. 'Since the 1990s, we were already discussing the deteriorating state of the building and ageing membership,' says Mr Ng Poh Wah, 67, the clan's former chairman. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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An opportunity emerged amid the condo development boom in Geylang in the 2010s. In 2013, Mr Ng – then the association chairman – established a task force to bring about the building of a new clan house. In 2018, the clan sold a 99-year leasehold estate to Oxley Holdings, while retaining ownership of the land. As part of the deal, the property developer would transfer a portion of the units back to the Huang Clan to form part of the new clan house. The old clan premises and an adjacent house made way for the new condominium, which now sits on a 23,800 sq ft plot of land. 'People have told us it doesn't look like a clan house at all, but we think of it as an entirely new model of the clan house. So there's not much regret over losing the old clan house, because we've gained something,' says Mr Ng . 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The younger Mr Ng says: 'The old building was reminiscent of an old men's club, it was difficult to attract young people… It's so much better now – it's more comfortable, and there's a more conducive space for our youth wing activities. ' 'With the renovation, Huang Clan has fortunately transcended the issues of lack of funds, due to the sustainability of the premises and its attractiveness to our youth members.' Opposition to the redevelopment The redevelopment was not without its difficulties. 'Normally, you see mixed residential and commercial developments , but this was the first time anyone wanted to mix clan associations with residential use,' says Mr Stanley Ng. The unique nature of the deal saw his father engaging in extensive talks with potential developers, legal advisers, and clan members. 'We are the first clan in Singapore to have done anything like this. Originally, our lawyers thought that it wouldn't even have been possible,' says Mr Ng Poh Wah. 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Mr Stanley Ng adds: 'If it was gazetted for preservation, then who would take on the cost of making the building safe and revamping the building? We had to think of what was in the best interest of the clan.' His father recalls: 'At the end of the day, the clan had a lot of cash flow problems. My committee members and I had to donate our own money to keep the clan running. When I was the chairman, I think I donated more than $100,000 of my own money for things like scholarships and banquets. If we continued, it would not be sustainable.' To obtain zoning approval for the redevelopment of the site, it had to give up the traditional practice of burning incense and paper offerings during the Chinese New Year and Hungry Ghost Festival. Moreover, as the entire clan house is now indoors, the clan's lion dance troupe had to disband as the noise would affect condo residents. But Mr Ng Poh Wah adds: 'It would have happened sooner or later, because more condominiums are popping up in the area.' 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Straits Times
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Straits Times
4 hours ago
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