An internship that fuels my ‘why’

Hi! I’m Justin Wong, a final year student majoring in Finance and Strategy at Singapore Management University.

I applied for an internship at Accenture because I wanted to do things that make an impact on society. Since the company is known for helping many public sector clients to solve their toughest challenges, I knew that I would find the work meaningful and fulfilling. In fact, during my interview, I learned from my hiring managers that Accenture helped create many of Singapore’s citizen touchpoints, including the National Service (NS) portal.  This doubled my excitement to join the company!

Real-world experience from the get-go

As an intern, I was assigned to Accenture Consulting’s Health and Public Service operating group. I worked on a proof-of-concept project that explored the use of a new technology for a government client. This entailed understanding the client’s requirements and translating them for our technology team. My day-to-day involved working with tech developers to make sure the requirements were met and the project was on track.

Initially, I thought my lack of knowledge in tech would be an obstacle to my work, but I was wrong. My team equipped me with all the resources that I needed to learn on the job. In addition, I had a chance to meet domain experts who generously gave me tips and advice.

Even if I was an intern, my superiors trusted me with opportunities to stretch myself. One memorable experience I had was facilitating a client workshop. At first, the idea of speaking to a large group of clients made me really nervous. But my superiors reassured me that I could do it and gave me constant guidance. In the end, I nailed it! That was certainly an epic learning experience.

I also got to practice some of the skills I learned in business school. For instance, I was able to create an Excel-based tool that made work more efficient for my team. My knowledge of Design Thinking also made it easier for me to map out and analyse our client’s complex problems.

A culture that makes you grow

My four-month internship taught me three reasons why people thrive at Accenture:

1. The collaborative culture. Even as interns with limited work experience, we were encouraged to voice our thoughts and give alternative viewpoints, if any. Discussing different ideas helps the team identify the best way forward.
2. The warm and welcoming vibe. You’ll see colleagues from different teams chat in the common areas and share about the work they do. I remember one time when an Associate Director, who’s not part of our team, invited us for a get-together. It’s easy to feel at home at Accenture because people make a conscious effort to get to know each other.
3. People care about you and your growth. Throughout my internship, my reporting manager frequently checked in on me to make sure I was well, physically and mentally. My manager also asked me about what I wanted to learn and experience during my internship and helped me find those opportunities.

Return to awesome

I was fortunate that my internship started as Singapore relaxed its safety measures. That meant I had more time to build better bonds with my colleagues in the office.

We had a fun event called Intern Appreciation Day, where I got to talk about my internship experience along with interns from other Southeast Asia offices. We shared about the similarities and differences across countries, discussed our challenges and how we surmounted them. The event was a good chance to celebrate our diversity and recognise the intern cohorts’ achievements.

Our team also had an intern farewell party where we bonded over a night of food, drinks and laughter! Such a big group gathering felt really special as we all missed having it in the last three years.

In all, my internship at Accenture was a challenging yet enriching experience. My biggest takeaway is that teams succeed when effective collaboration, communication and project management are embedded into the work culture. I will surely bring along all the lessons that I learned and apply them in my final year in school and thereafter.

If you’re looking for an internship where you’ll bring your A-game, work with a supportive team and do things that matter, I strongly recommend that you apply at Accenture. The experience has certainly pushed me to do greater things than I could imagine.

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