How important are internships?

Hi! I'm currently an undergraduate at NUS, am considering whether I should go for exchange or intern instead. Which would be a better option? For all those employers out there, do you actually care about internships when looking at a portfolio? Is it a necessity?

Discussion (10)

What are your thoughts?

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Yong Kah Hwee

03 May 2020

Why not both?

However, if you had to choose, then internship would be a better option. Better yet, look for an overseas internship! Or join NUS Overseas College!

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Wilson Nid A Break

02 May 2020

At least 2 internships - Get those recommendation letters / reference contacts

The hiring landscape for graduates had become quite competitive that its a pre-requisite by some HR dept that you had prior internship experience

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Darren

02 May 2020

Business Analytics Undergrad at NUS

By right, you should have 4 summers, so 4 chances to go intern or summer school?

It does make sense to have a balanced mix of at least one each?

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Pascal S

28 Feb 2020

MBA Graduate at Singapore Management University

Do as many as you can.

Local internship. Overseas internship.

And minimum, 3 months.

Assume you can do 5 internships, make sure 3 of them are related to your field of study and 2 of them will help you to build new skillsets outside of your field of study!

Funny thing - I did an environmental audit internship in my early 20s while I was a finance student, no relationship to my course of study back then!

Cheers,

Pascal

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