#imagine thinking you can tell the organisers of the course how big the workload is!!!

[watchmakermori]

just dealt with an absolute wanker at work lads. I don't understand what compels people to be The Customer. like what do you gain out of being rude. everyone's just going to complain about you behind your back forevermore

[english-ext-2]

Work Experience and Internships

Most of us go to university with the expectation that we’re positioning ourselves for a better starting salary, improved social mobility, and the chance to do our best work, live our best lives, and retire comfortably. But you probably know by now that a piece of paper isn’t going to cut it in the real world™, and employers expect more than good grades.

Work experience is one of the many ways to distinguish yourself from the crowd. (For more on maximising your graduate employability, check out this post on the boredofstudies forum) Internships, and unpaid internships especially, are an increasingly popular source of work experience to spruce up the CV. Considering how intense competition in the graduate market is these days, students are seeking out unpaid internships from as early as first year.

This post is supposed to be an introduction to internships, with a particular focus on unpaid internships and their accompanying risks and pitfalls.      

What’s an internship?

“Internship” is a bit of a nebulous term to which we’ve attached certain expectations and ideas; in popular culture, interns are akin to coffee runners and menial office workers, or the ones we jokingly blame for misfired tweets, but the reality (as it tends to be) is far more complex.   

You can think of internships as a bridge between academic theory and practical workplace experience - they’re a learning (and often networking) opportunity to give you a taste of what it’d be like to work at a particular organisation or in a particular sector.  

An internship can be structured or unstructured, paid or unpaid, and can last anywhere from a few weeks to twenty four months. They can be arranged through your university for academic credit, or you can seek them out yourself. The content of an internship is highly variable and dependent on the industry and organisation. You may be assigned a project or task, made to shadow senior executives, rotated through several divisions, or even invited to attend networking events and receive professional development.  

The pros and cons of unpaid internships

Pros

Gaining experience in your academic field, or a field related to what you intend to pursue as a career;

Taking on or refining transferable skills that will enhance your employability;

Getting a sense of an organisation’s day-to-day rhythm and a feel for their workplace culture;

If doing an internship for credit, your work and study time overlap;

In some cases, being provided with mentoring, training, career coaching and/or professional development;

The opportunity to form connections and grow your network.

Cons

You are not reimbursed for travel or meals, which means paying out of pocket for what can be lengthy commutes to your workplace;

Employers who don’t respect your boundaries or provide flexibility;

Doing work that is used but not credited to you;

Managing paid work, study and other commitments on top of the unpaid internship;

Being given boring and trivial tasks that don’t challenge you or help you learn, conversely;

Being given a heavy and unrealistic workload for an intern, i.e. doing the work a normal employee would but without pay (this ABC Online report  and Pedestrian TV article cover the pitfalls of unpaid internships). 

This Junkee article also looks at the social implications of unpaid internships, e.g. widening the gap between privileged and underprivileged students. 

Know your rights

Students are often treated as free labour because you don’t have the requisite work experience or skills to justify being paid. That means you aren’t afforded the same workplace protections and rights as paid employees. This makes unpaid internships ripe for exploitation, and frankly, you deserve better. 

According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, an you might be in an employment relationship rather than interning if:

You are doing more productive work than observational;

The work you are doing is normally done by paid employees, and/or is necessary to the organisation’s or company’s daily operations;  

You are expected or required by the organisation to come work or do productive activities;

The company is benefiting more from the the arrangement than you.

Apart from reporting to the Fair Work Ombudsman, you can reach out to Interns Australia, which advocates for fairer and more transparent rules surrounding internships. It also recently launched the National Fair Internship Pledge to help employers and interns identify fair and high quality internship programs.

Searching for internships

Depending on your field of study, internships can be in huge or limited supply. My undergrad was in International Studies, which wasn’t something that had a neat and direct equivalent in the workplace like a Commerce or Business degree. However, communications, media and law internships are practically booming (the problem’s in the amount and quality of competition). So the big question is, where do you start looking?

University careers boards

These should really be your first stop. Get into the habit of regularly checking the careers board; if you know you’ll forget to, subscribe for weekly updates. The big upside of uni job boards is that you’ll see internship ads for small, obscure-sounding companies or organisations that you wouldn’t find when browsing big sites like GradAustralia (see below).  

Also a friendly reminder that your careers centre has resources beyond job boards -- self-assessment tools, fact sheets on just about every aspect of jobseeking, industry news and updates, drop-in career advice and resume-polishing sessions, and careers workshops. Use these! 

Online job boards  

Career One, SEEK, gumtree and Indeed are popular for obvious reasons, but because of their scale, you’re bound to spend most of your time weeding out shifty ads from the legitimate ones.  

I’d advise starting with these websites:  

Grad Australia

GradConnection

Graduate Careers Australia, which manages Graduate Opportunities

Australian Internships

If you’re doing a generalist degree and not entirely sure what companies are suitable, fear not -- the first three sites have an “Arts and Humanities” filter in their search engines. 

Careers fairs

There’s nothing like spending a half-day at the careers fair picking up freebies and chatting to recruiters. They’re a good next step if you’re serious about an internship with a big name company and have done some preliminary research into their internship or graduate programs. 

Meeting representatives and recruiters allows you to get answers from real people, rather than answers from the other side of a screen. It’ll help you get a feel for what kinds of people the company is looking for, and even make some basic connections. (Of course, don’t forget to ask them for tips on what makes a successful application!)    

Applying for internships

It’s always worth checking the credibility of any organisation you want to intern with -- have people mentioned good or bad experiences, is the work they do legitimate, are your roles and duties as an intern clearly laid out? Once you’ve narrowed your search down to a couple of internships, it’s time to do further research.    

You need to be able to articulate why you want to intern at any organisation or company, and that requires knowledge of the organisation or company beyond “your brand is great” and “I want work experience”. What do you hope to gain from interning? How do you fit the company’s values? Make sure your applications are targeted, that you’re not just throwing yourself at any internship in your industry and hoping to land one. Consider your own personality, strengths and skills, and try to apply for internships that match them. If you know you don’t meet half the desired criteria of an advertised internship, then it’s probably best not to apply.    

Which isn’t to discourage you from limiting your options. When you’re starting out, it’s okay to apply to as many places as possible just to get a feel for the entire application process. You need the experience of writing up cover letters and attending interviews, because it’ll serve you well when you start looking for a proper job post-graduation.  

It’s a very, very good idea to ask for help and feedback on your application. Again, remember that your university’s careers centre pretty much exists for this reason. They can provide personalised advice on your resume and cover letter, and if fronting up to staff isn’t your cup of tea, there’s always the online resources.  

International internships

International internships are the logical escalation of everyone and their hamster doing an internship. The “international” part adds a lot of value in soft skills (your independence, organisation, intercultural awareness, etc.) along with experience in your industry/field. Business is global now, and demonstrating your willingness to seek out international experience is a huge plus for employers. But as you can imagine, there’s a lot of preparation involved. 

Finding an appropriate overseas internship

You can look for internships independently on sites like GoinGlobal, browse your university careers board, or apply through an organisation like The Intern Group. The last option is easier in the sense that the organisation will match you to a company, and may offer stipends or cover certain costs. Depending on the organisation, you might be able to access a range of other benefits like networking and social opportunities, professional development, and career training.

Regardless of how you look for an overseas internship, you want something that relates to what you’re studying. That’s also where applying through an organisation can help -- you tell them what you’re studying, and they fit you with one of their partner companies.      

Affording the many costs

Many overseas internships tend to be unpaid, yet you have to fork out a lot of expenses for airfares, accommodation, visa fees, and daily living expenses (e.g. food, transport, leisure), not all of which will be covered by your sponsoring organisation. Many countries will require that you be able to show proof of available funds when applying for a visa, because they need to know you can financially support yourself for the duration of your stay.

You can finance your studies with OS-HELP, which is a loan available to students enrolled in a Commonwealth supported place who want to undertake some of their study overseas. You can access a maximum of two (2) OS-HELP loans over your lifetime. 

Option two is applying for scholarships or grants that might cover part of your expenses. You can contact your university’s study abroad office for a better idea of what’s available and to determine if you’re eligible.  

The complexity of visa application and work permit processes

Don’t underestimate how long it can take to acquire the correct documentation. Every country has different procedures, and some will take longer than others, but you should factor in a few months at most. Some types of visa need an in-person interview, and you have to travel to your city’s embassy or consulate for that. Be aware too that immigration requirements can and do change at short notice, and that you need to be on top of any changes to ensure you’ll be legally working in the country of your internship.

Allowing enough time to prepare

Travelling overseas to work isn’t something you can organise on short notice. You need to book airfares and arrange accommodation well in advance, make a list of all the things you need to pack, and if applicable, allow enough time to apply for and hear back from scholarship/grant providers. Between your organisation, you’ve got all the other minor inconveniences and hassles of student life to manage. So if you truly want an overseas internship experience, start preparing early.  

Work Integrated Learning (WIL)

WIL simply refers to work experience that’s part of your university course, including internships, clinical and fieldwork. It’s good on a couple of levels:

Applying your university-acquired skills to the workplace;

Further developing your soft/transferable skills;

It’s part of your study, meaning that you’re doing work and study at same time, as opposed to fitting odd part-time hours around your timetable;

Your workplace rights are protected by arrangements with the university;

Your learning is structured in such a way that you benefit most;

Networking opportunities with reputable and even high-profile organisations like the Commonwealth Bank, the NSW Government, and various consulting firms (can depend on the university), leading to…

A ‘foot in the door’ for when you do graduate (I have a friend who did so well in one of Deloitte’s vacation programs that they were invited to return once they’d graduated.)

Universities are already moving towards a model of work integrated learning -- Usyd’s new Bachelor of Arts and Advanced Studies includes a fourth-year industry project that has you working on real-life problems and solutions, while the combined Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation at UTS includes a compulsory internship. Some universities have been using WIL for well over a decade, see the University of Newcastle and Macquarie University.

[supervidyavinay]

By Avik ChandaThe discussion published here is part of a series of interviews with industry and thought leaders, in the ongoing Positive Psychology-based study being conducted by NUVAH ELINT LLP and BIASINC.What are some of the immediate and longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Banking and Financial Services sector?The immediate term impact would be the business and people impact, and the sense of disorientation all around in terms of the way ahead. Many businesses will face the prospects of delinquency, need for financial accommodation and disruptions in payment pipelines.In my opinion, all businesses will be revisiting their models and their sustainability. Payment Solutions will be altered substantially and the adoption of Digital will be accelerated. The world of fintech will come alive but I think the offerings will have to be more composite and stitch together the entire ecosystem. For example, if we want food security, the world of finance, credit availability, supply chains, warehousing, price discovery, farmer crop allocations and technology etc. will have to be seen together. The need for multi-sectoral expertise and collaboration will be essential for the new world.Is there a silver lining in this otherwise totally bleak scenario? Are there any opportunities, at a strategic level, that leaders in the sector are discovering in this crisis?Of course, there are – the opportunities are many. Certain industries will have to find new stories to tell. Some will have to imagine newer models to adapt to. Some will continue to survive because change will be slow when people will feel comforted and stay with the status quo e.g. by the discovery of a vaccine. But that will be short-sighted. The world will change and people who see the change coming and prepare for it will succeed in future.Sectors like Fintech, Healthcare, Education, Public Distribution, Agricultural Services, E-commerce, Home Delivery services, Data and Analytics, Technology infrastructure, Telecom, Home entertainment are all areas where tremendous growth will happen. People and corporates who figure out smart ways to deliver value and access will win.There is also the stark discovery of how our natural infrastructure needs protection. Forests are natural infrastructure that supply clean air, water, carbon sinks etc. Why would we destroy this infrastructure to replace it by expensive alternates? Country leadership should recognise this precious opportunity and take a strategic view of all the natural infrastructure we have and the huge economic benefits associated with those assets.In COVID times, Work-From-Home is the dominant mode of operations. The big concern in the financial sector is that the data is all sensitive in nature – so Work-From-Home is fraught with the danger of hacking and security breach. There’s another question: can we fully trust our employees to work with integrity, when they operate from home? How do you weigh in on this?WFH will have huge advantages to cost structures in the near term. Some of the lost profitability from COVID will be offset by gains in savings from many new shifts in the existing paradigms. However, I believe security and monitoring will be only initial challenges and technology will soon resolve them. Already the Bring Your Own Device concept has found wide acceptance and security overlays are in place.However, there are many issues that will crop up as a consequence of an altered work culture. For example, issues of gender and inequality that will be thrown up. How will women in the workforce be facilitated? They will be drawn back into managing children and home. Will organisations create enabling circumstances? Also issues of equality will crop up. What if staff don’t have the capacity to have adequate bandwidth at home to operate efficiently? Last mile issues are all too well known in India. What happens if I don’t have a space where I can sit and work in peace? What if these disparities cause insecurities and stress in employees to expose themselves? HR departments will have their work cut out in terms of having a sense of the home circumstances. HR will have to create mobility and marketability for the workforce. Given that Work-From-Home is being adapted, at least partially, what are some of the key activities of business that are still being conducted in this mode? What has been the overall experience for your employees?Employees in Banking have by and large had to continue work having been classified as essential services. However, it was predominantly the branch banking staff. Most other parts ended up working from home. Some like Global Markets had to work from office, as enabling them to work from home is a big challenge but going forward even they need to figure out how to work in distributed conditions.The initial few weeks were a period of great disorientation. But now, people have fallen into a routine and found some coping strategies to balance daily existence. Business has been impacted somewhat as sales channels find it inefficient to sell remotely. Despite all of the above, people are learning to cope and a steady state is emerging. Building from those levels will be the challenge and working with new models in a digital construct will be the institutional dilemma.Through the rest of the year, we are likely to see cycles of surging economic activity, alternating with lockdown situations. What are the key operational challenges in such a paradigm, and how do leaders like yourself address them? The whole concept of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery has become so real – it’s scary. It’s not the typical two or three-day outage. It’s a multi-month outage. And who knows how much more. The whole thing has been unsettling to say the least. But now working patterns have stabilised. There are plans in place to return to work and to leave at short notice and go back to the WFH model. Procedures and templates are being put into place. They may not yet be optimal but they enable substantive continuity.The economic backlash of the pandemic often belies the equally telling psychological impact on everyone in the workplace, from CXOs to the junior-most employees. At a time like this, how can leaders prepare themselves, to transition from a mode of survival–to coping–to success?Leaders need to be cognisant of the workloads when people are trying to navigate complexity on their own. Not having a colleague to walk across to for support is a huge vacuum. Leaders need to develop a sense of empathy especially with communities who find themselves unable to cope with remote working e.g. senior citizens or the more senior staff. They may not have basics like laptops. Is there a process we can put in place that facilitates them? Leaders need to communicate regularly, maybe set up live chats with groups, checking on well-being and seeking feedback on needs of the employees.This is the time to be inspirational and not critical. To be vulnerable and empathetic, not the numbers-driven CXO who drives only the pursuit of profits ruthlessly. We should not lose sight of our market metrics and numerical barometers of success – but also be acutely conscious of the needs of the people who drive the businesses.We have to address how to flatten hierarchies and enable quick decision-making. Can we move from verticals to cross functional teams that get formed and disbanded with urgency and re configure work teams? Many organisations have discovered that they have been able to do away with so many unnecessary steps in processes. Leaders must prepare to invest in new capabilities either by building or finding partners through whom to deliver services: Telemedicine consult services for health issues that come up regularly; Mental health support systems that help cope with the issues of staying at home for prolonged periods; Subscription services to Entertainment channels/ Sports channels/ Food channels/ exercise Channels. Charity or social outreach work e.g. volunteer with an NGO, teach a child, instilling the sense of doing good and feeling useful to society while one is at home.Some of the compensation components might change e.g. pay subscription fees for high bandwidth and maybe do away with some like transport reimbursements. Medical budgets must be enhanced to build trust and confidence. In other situations where physical attendance is a must you might have to pay car allowances because they would previously come by cheaper public transports option like trains.What would you say are the top three things that employees are looking for, from their leaders, to help them through this period of ongoing crisis?Employees look for security, empathy and role clarity. Too much is changing around us and to expect everyone to respond with alacrity and be sanguine is unfair. Letting people go is one of the worst responses at this time. Re-skilling, revising targets to more realistic levels, creating conditions for the workforce that takes into account the new reality are all issues that the CEO and HR will need to grapple with. It’s a period to build trust and confidence.What are the top three behavioural skills that professionals at all levels need to build?Professionals need to learn to adapt, invest to re skill and learn to work with ecosystems that can’t be accessed very easily.What in your view does the Post-COVID workplace look like? What practices are likely to go away, and what is likely to replace them? And how do you see the role of emergent technologies, such as process automation and Artificial Intelligence?Many changes will come. Workplaces changes, technology changes, security concerns, distributed processing, extra monitoring. Predictive technologies and machine language will proliferate. AI will start making client responses sharper and more interactive, and maybe less people dependent. Lot of activities which were not seen as lending themselves to automating will now be so. That means much displacement in people and working equations. Technology will underpin many basic and complex activities. Knowing how to navigate the new world will make you indispensable and not knowing it will make you dispensable.The author is a business advisor, researcher, columnist and entrepreneur. He is the author of “From Command To Empathy: Using EQ in the Age of Disruption”. from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2AAojAZ

[supervidyavinay]

By Avik ChandaThe discussion published here is part of a series of interviews with industry and thought leaders, in the ongoing Positive Psychology-based study being conducted by NUVAH ELINT LLP and BIASINC.What are some of the immediate and longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Banking and Financial Services sector?The immediate term impact would be the business and people impact, and the sense of disorientation all around in terms of the way ahead. Many businesses will face the prospects of delinquency, need for financial accommodation and disruptions in payment pipelines.In my opinion, all businesses will be revisiting their models and their sustainability. Payment Solutions will be altered substantially and the adoption of Digital will be accelerated. The world of fintech will come alive but I think the offerings will have to be more composite and stitch together the entire ecosystem. For example, if we want food security, the world of finance, credit availability, supply chains, warehousing, price discovery, farmer crop allocations and technology etc. will have to be seen together. The need for multi-sectoral expertise and collaboration will be essential for the new world.Is there a silver lining in this otherwise totally bleak scenario? Are there any opportunities, at a strategic level, that leaders in the sector are discovering in this crisis?Of course, there are – the opportunities are many. Certain industries will have to find new stories to tell. Some will have to imagine newer models to adapt to. Some will continue to survive because change will be slow when people will feel comforted and stay with the status quo e.g. by the discovery of a vaccine. But that will be short-sighted. The world will change and people who see the change coming and prepare for it will succeed in future.Sectors like Fintech, Healthcare, Education, Public Distribution, Agricultural Services, E-commerce, Home Delivery services, Data and Analytics, Technology infrastructure, Telecom, Home entertainment are all areas where tremendous growth will happen. People and corporates who figure out smart ways to deliver value and access will win.There is also the stark discovery of how our natural infrastructure needs protection. Forests are natural infrastructure that supply clean air, water, carbon sinks etc. Why would we destroy this infrastructure to replace it by expensive alternates? Country leadership should recognise this precious opportunity and take a strategic view of all the natural infrastructure we have and the huge economic benefits associated with those assets.In COVID times, Work-From-Home is the dominant mode of operations. The big concern in the financial sector is that the data is all sensitive in nature – so Work-From-Home is fraught with the danger of hacking and security breach. There’s another question: can we fully trust our employees to work with integrity, when they operate from home? How do you weigh in on this?WFH will have huge advantages to cost structures in the near term. Some of the lost profitability from COVID will be offset by gains in savings from many new shifts in the existing paradigms. However, I believe security and monitoring will be only initial challenges and technology will soon resolve them. Already the Bring Your Own Device concept has found wide acceptance and security overlays are in place.However, there are many issues that will crop up as a consequence of an altered work culture. For example, issues of gender and inequality that will be thrown up. How will women in the workforce be facilitated? They will be drawn back into managing children and home. Will organisations create enabling circumstances? Also issues of equality will crop up. What if staff don’t have the capacity to have adequate bandwidth at home to operate efficiently? Last mile issues are all too well known in India. What happens if I don’t have a space where I can sit and work in peace? What if these disparities cause insecurities and stress in employees to expose themselves? HR departments will have their work cut out in terms of having a sense of the home circumstances. HR will have to create mobility and marketability for the workforce. Given that Work-From-Home is being adapted, at least partially, what are some of the key activities of business that are still being conducted in this mode? What has been the overall experience for your employees?Employees in Banking have by and large had to continue work having been classified as essential services. However, it was predominantly the branch banking staff. Most other parts ended up working from home. Some like Global Markets had to work from office, as enabling them to work from home is a big challenge but going forward even they need to figure out how to work in distributed conditions.The initial few weeks were a period of great disorientation. But now, people have fallen into a routine and found some coping strategies to balance daily existence. Business has been impacted somewhat as sales channels find it inefficient to sell remotely. Despite all of the above, people are learning to cope and a steady state is emerging. Building from those levels will be the challenge and working with new models in a digital construct will be the institutional dilemma.Through the rest of the year, we are likely to see cycles of surging economic activity, alternating with lockdown situations. What are the key operational challenges in such a paradigm, and how do leaders like yourself address them? The whole concept of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery has become so real – it’s scary. It’s not the typical two or three-day outage. It’s a multi-month outage. And who knows how much more. The whole thing has been unsettling to say the least. But now working patterns have stabilised. There are plans in place to return to work and to leave at short notice and go back to the WFH model. Procedures and templates are being put into place. They may not yet be optimal but they enable substantive continuity.The economic backlash of the pandemic often belies the equally telling psychological impact on everyone in the workplace, from CXOs to the junior-most employees. At a time like this, how can leaders prepare themselves, to transition from a mode of survival–to coping–to success?Leaders need to be cognisant of the workloads when people are trying to navigate complexity on their own. Not having a colleague to walk across to for support is a huge vacuum. Leaders need to develop a sense of empathy especially with communities who find themselves unable to cope with remote working e.g. senior citizens or the more senior staff. They may not have basics like laptops. Is there a process we can put in place that facilitates them? Leaders need to communicate regularly, maybe set up live chats with groups, checking on well-being and seeking feedback on needs of the employees.This is the time to be inspirational and not critical. To be vulnerable and empathetic, not the numbers-driven CXO who drives only the pursuit of profits ruthlessly. We should not lose sight of our market metrics and numerical barometers of success – but also be acutely conscious of the needs of the people who drive the businesses.We have to address how to flatten hierarchies and enable quick decision-making. Can we move from verticals to cross functional teams that get formed and disbanded with urgency and re configure work teams? Many organisations have discovered that they have been able to do away with so many unnecessary steps in processes. Leaders must prepare to invest in new capabilities either by building or finding partners through whom to deliver services: Telemedicine consult services for health issues that come up regularly; Mental health support systems that help cope with the issues of staying at home for prolonged periods; Subscription services to Entertainment channels/ Sports channels/ Food channels/ exercise Channels. Charity or social outreach work e.g. volunteer with an NGO, teach a child, instilling the sense of doing good and feeling useful to society while one is at home.Some of the compensation components might change e.g. pay subscription fees for high bandwidth and maybe do away with some like transport reimbursements. Medical budgets must be enhanced to build trust and confidence. In other situations where physical attendance is a must you might have to pay car allowances because they would previously come by cheaper public transports option like trains.What would you say are the top three things that employees are looking for, from their leaders, to help them through this period of ongoing crisis?Employees look for security, empathy and role clarity. Too much is changing around us and to expect everyone to respond with alacrity and be sanguine is unfair. Letting people go is one of the worst responses at this time. Re-skilling, revising targets to more realistic levels, creating conditions for the workforce that takes into account the new reality are all issues that the CEO and HR will need to grapple with. It’s a period to build trust and confidence.What are the top three behavioural skills that professionals at all levels need to build?Professionals need to learn to adapt, invest to re skill and learn to work with ecosystems that can’t be accessed very easily.What in your view does the Post-COVID workplace look like? What practices are likely to go away, and what is likely to replace them? And how do you see the role of emergent technologies, such as process automation and Artificial Intelligence?Many changes will come. Workplaces changes, technology changes, security concerns, distributed processing, extra monitoring. Predictive technologies and machine language will proliferate. AI will start making client responses sharper and more interactive, and maybe less people dependent. Lot of activities which were not seen as lending themselves to automating will now be so. That means much displacement in people and working equations. Technology will underpin many basic and complex activities. Knowing how to navigate the new world will make you indispensable and not knowing it will make you dispensable.The author is a business advisor, researcher, columnist and entrepreneur. He is the author of “From Command To Empathy: Using EQ in the Age of Disruption”. from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2AAojAZ