Nikki Lim

My time spent in Hong Kong as a full-time MBA student was rather unconventional and it came as no surprise that the summer internship with an international financial institution based in Hong Kong would be one too. The duration of the internship was shortened to half and has turn into virtual mode by working in a remote professional setting like how most of the colleagues within the organisation have adopted due to the COVID 19 pandemic.

The first week of the internship started out with comprehensive training specially curated for the incoming summer interns within the region. This includes fireside chats with senior management, business etiquettes, and learning the overall organisation’s culture, values and invested industry.

In the following weeks, the summer interns from the Asia Pacific region were tasked to collaborate in a scrum on four main topics given the virtual structure. Through the sprint project, the interns were able to share their culture, business, and knowledge with each other to generate creative, relevant, and realistic ideas on their assigned project.

To gather a better understanding of the business within Hong Kong, an in-country project was assigned to 4 different groups with 4-5 interns each. These groups were tasked to undertake projects that portray real-life issues faced within the organisation. Throughout the project, we were assisted and mentored by the business experts within the department. Once completion, the project was presented to the senior management for evaluation of innovation, value for the customer, and fulfilment of systematic risk.

Throughout the duration of the internship, I was fortunate to be part of this summer 2020 cohort that has given me a truly humbling and enriching experience. I have been able to build and connect to a global network and learning from my peers based in different regions. It has allowed me to gain career and global skills from an international work environment, exploring different professional skills and gain cross-cultural competence. By partaking in the myriad of projects, it provided the opportunity to exercise the professional skills obtained in providing solutions to current issues faced by the organisation and recognising my efforts and suggestions might assist in shaping the organisation’s future.

Furthermore, the senior management and project mentor were utmost generous with their commitment and time towards the projects and answering the queries of the interns. As this was the first virtual internship held within the organisation, HR was gracious and helpful in guiding the interns and went above and beyond to ensure interns were welcomed and a part of the organisation.

As I reflect on my learnings with the HKU MBA program, the networking skills acquired throughout the semester has helped me build a network among my peers and ease my nerves in the coffee chats scheduled with the senior management. The team at HKU has conducted various sessions throughout the semester to enhance and improve our social and communication skills. Furthermore, HKU has been able to translate the onsite experience to the in-class session that has allowed me to apply my skill sets such as collaboration, critical thinking, and interpersonal communication into my summer internship.

The projects that I have participated in during my internship strongly resemble the marketing assignment from the core marketing elective in my first semester and the regular team assignment with the diverse cohort has honed my skills as a critical team player. The virtual summer internship program had been a great stepping stone in building confidence and hands-on experiences in my industry of interest.