I have been interning in Estee Lauder Companies now for 7 weeks now.  This time has given me a taste of what it will be like when I am out in the working world in one semester’s time.

This is not the first time I am on an internship.  It certainly isn’t the longest internship I have been on either.

I previously did a 7 month stint in SUTL Group managing their branding exercise.  But I guess each internship or job brings its own learning points and questions.

At the end of SUTL, I came out having learnt much about how to manage a projection – talking and handling agencies, sourcing for vendors, juggling expectations of the management vs. the perceived ‘greater good’ of the project.

I learnt how to see things from different perspectives, and literally spoke to EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. in the company to make sure that we were all aligned before the new brand was launched.

I was blessed enough to have a great boss who gave me good feedback about areas for improvement, and I felt I learnt a lot of on-the-job skills that I would be able to apply to any job that I would undertake in the future.

If SUTL was my practice ground, Estee Lauder would prove to be the mental preparation room before I head out to the Arena of Real Work.

The thoughts that run through my mind are vastly different from those I had when in SUTL.

Gaining exposure to an MNC like Estee Lauder has sparked off more thoughts about what kind of job I want to get into as a career.

I am suddenly keenly aware that I am able to do quite a number of different things, and that the market offers much more options that I previously thought about in my narrow varsity view.

It is not just the different possibilities of industry and function.  It is the different job scopes that exist even within the same industry and the same function.  And what of the things that I would never see in a Singaporean firm?

The product development that happens in the U.S., Japan and China.  The strategic thought that is birthed in the global headquarters.  The consumer research that would only happen in bigger markets.  What am I missing out on?  What do I really want to do for good?

These are questions that I never asked myself before, but have come up to the fore probavly because I am going to graduate in no time.  And probably also because most of the people I know have already begun their working lives.

After mulling over this for a long time, I realise that I have no answers.  I can only leave it up to God to show me what opportunities will open up in the coming 6 months, and which companies find me attractive enough to want to hire me.

Until then, I will do my best in everything I do, like I always do.

 

(Photo Credit: Dakiraun)