A bit of context just in case: I am currently doing my Bachelor of Commerce (double major in accounting and finance). I really wanted an internship during the last summer holiday and applied at a few companies. You may be thinking why i would wanna do an internship when it's only my first year, and i should be making use of my holiday to have fun. But i know that i wouldn't have time for internship in year two since i wanted to join the mission trip + i have travel plans. And at year three, i would be graduating so i should be looking for a job instead of an internship. So i only have my year one summer holiday to do an internship. The main reason why i wanted an internship was because i didn't want to graduate without having any experience because i know most fresh graduates prolly have some (especially since it's compulsory for some poly and uni students to do their internship).
But just because i want an internship doesn't mean i will get one. I was told by people not to get my hopes high because companies don't usually accept first year students. I decided to give a go and prayed about it.
By God's grace, EY responded to my application and I was shortlisted for the interview. Since I was in Brisbane, I could not be in Singapore for the interview so they arranged a phone interview with me. I don't think i fared very well for the phone interview but the interviewer was really nice.
Awhile later, i received a phone call from EY when i was out for dinner and my phone battery only had 1% left so i didn't manage to find out why they called me but they said they will send me an email. After dinner, I went home to check my email and i remember being really excited and told my housemate that i got accepted by EY!!!!!
I never expected that because EY is one of the big 4 firms and i thought i would not be good enough. But God is so good. He blessed me with this amazing opportunity.
First day of internship I was a bit shocked because i saw so many interns. I didn't expect to be the only interns but I didn't expect 150 interns. Even though there were many interns, I didn't meet a single intern who was in year one of uni. So i honestly do not know why i got accepted (but praise the Lord, i did).
I was so scared I couldn't catch up. But I am thankful for the trainers, seniors, assistants and fellow interns who have taught me so much. I was assigned to different engagements and was exposed to different industries (retail, hotel and technology distribution). On different engagements, i had a different team. And through that, I saw how different people lead and how it affected the team members. I also met different kinds of client and was treated differently depending on who the client was. The best part was that I had a true idea of how auditing was like. Unlike some internships, I was tasked to do actual audit work (those simpler ones of course) instead of admin work where i won't learn much.
But having a true view also meant that I saw how hard it was to stay on. The working hours were soooooo long, the working environment was stressful and unpredictable (if you get a bad client, you don't get working papers/ get mistreated/ etc). I also didn't like travelling to so many different places (mostly ulu industrial areas) as it was so inconvenient (but thank you dad for always sending me and picking me up, really appreciate it).
I was there for more than 2 months only but I already felt so tired (mentally and physically). I asked myself if it was worth it investing so much time and energy, sacrificing spending time with friends and family, just to earn money. I really hope and pray that I will be able to find a job that I love in future. And that I will be able to have work life balance. To give my best at work, leave on time, then go home and spend time with family/ have dinner with friends instead of working overtime and having no time or energy for anything else once i end work.
Anyway, I just wanted to share how God has blessed me with this wonderful opportunity and also some honest thoughts.
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