Internships are a fantastic opportunity for students to develop their professional aptitude. Numerous GHRM MBA students recently completed their internships at leading companies in Taiwan. Today, we share the internship experience of Susan, a 2nd-year student from GHRM MBA.

Susan is from New Taipei City and has a bachelor’s degree in international business from Chung Yuan Christian University. After graduation, she worked for a securities company where she was responsible for training. After discovering her interest in human resource management, Susan decided to study HRM and hence applied for GHRM MBA.

Susan did her internship at DBS Bank (Taiwan) Ltd., one of Asia's largest financial services groups with a market presence in over 18 markets. DBS Bank (Taiwan) was honored as World’s Best Bank and World’s Best Digital Bank in Euromoney’s Global Awards for Excellence 2021. Before her summer vacation, she used the 104 and 111 job platforms to search for internship opportunities. One day, she received a call from a headhunter about the internship opportunity at DBS Bank (Taiwan). After completing an interview, she was offered the job.

As for the work culture at DBS Bank, Susan related it to the acronym PRIDE. According to the official website of DBS Bank:

“P means Purpose-driven, we believe the impact we create goes beyond banking... because what we do touches real people, real businesses and real lives. We strive to be a long-term Asian partner, committed to making banking joyful and trustworthy, and transforming Asia for the better.

R means Relationship-led; we build long-lasting relationships and strong teams. We collaborate by working together to find better solutions. We treat each other and our partners with respect.

I means Innovation, we embrace change and we are not afraid to do things differently. We are encouraged to challenge the status quo and find innovative ways to serve our customers well and create delightful experiences.

D means Decisive, ours is a workplace where people walk in confidence knowing that it’s not about who you are, or where you come from... but about what you can do. People thrive here as they are given the freedom to decide, take ownership and make things happen.

E means Everything fun, people are excited and energised about being part of a great team. We have fun and celebrate together!”

For about two months, Susan had to work from home and she considers that to be her biggest challenge during her internship. She had to communicate with her supervisor and colleagues through ‘MS Teams’, and as a result, it was difficult to get closer to her colleagues. However, she’s thankful that her supervisor and colleagues taught her a lot, not just about work but also about career.

As for her most memorable moment during her internship, Susan shares:

“One of my main jobs was arranging the interview with candidates, recruiters or supervisors. I did not expect that the request for an interview arrangement would be so much. In three months, I arranged about 180 interviews and the highest record I contacted with candidate one day is about 10 candidates. In fact, the quantity of interview arrangement is fewer because of Covid-19, it was still a lot. These three months is the time which I talk the most and it is a memorable experience to communicate between candidates and recruiters. It make me learn a lot communication skill.”

Susan says that the most valuable thing she learned during her internship is that it's okay to make mistakes, but the more important thing is to learn from it and not commit the same mistake again. “When we did some mistakes, we should have more positive attitude to face it and make it, and I believe we will grow up after that. Try to tell ourselves that we are the best!” says Susan.

For students that want to do internships in the future, Susan also has some wonderful advice. She says:

“I strongly encourage students to try everything that you are interested in. Only try it, you will know if you are still like it or suitable or not. Also, I think that students who want to find internship opportunities, they can find some job description which they are interested in, and try to make themselves have some related experience. These related experiences will become an additional bonus and improve the chance of recruiting. Anyway, just try it!”

GHRM MBA is delighted that Susan's internship experience was so fruitful, and we are sure she will succeed in whatever field she chooses to foray into.