Retail vs Corporate work experience: What’s the difference?
CareerContact spoke to Marketing Intern Sum Yuet about the importance of finding fulfilling work experience after JC…
Work life can be very different from schooling, especially when structure dissolves once you leave formal education. CareerContact’s Marketing Intern, Sum Yuet, shares the highs and lows of her work experiences and internships in Singapore.
What internships have you had? Tell us a bit about it!
I previously interned with a German telecommunications company for six months. I did mostly ad-hoc work, which consisted of creating sales quotations to aid the Conformance Team in landing deals with international clients. I also took charge of translating legal documents from Chinese to English, regarding the use of telecommunication devices in China for the firm’s Research and Development Team in Germany. I even had the opportunity to create a presentation for the Head of Systems when my company was considering the acquisition of a rival company to help abet decision-making processes!
How did you find your internships?
I’m very lucky to have found my internships through my connections. I found my first internship through a connection in my network, and my current one at CareerContact through my good friend from junior college.
When did you start looking for your internships?
I started looking for internships after taking my A levels because I wanted to get as much experience as I could before starting university applications. I was excited to meet new people, or rather, I wanted to ask university seniors for advice on taking winter internships. I started after my exams in order to maximise my time and experience in the company to properly get settled into the professional (remote) environment and to get a grasp of the industry, and of the corporate world.
Did you have any working experience prior to your internship?
I worked as a Sales Assistant selling Chinese New Year cookies for a few months after taking my O levels. While it was a good experience for a first job, I understood that I would need to have more industry-related experience for my future career, which spurred me on to start looking for internships the minute my A levels ended.
How did retail differ from corporate?
I think that time stretches a lot more working in corporate as compared to retail. My retail experience was extremely hectic (imagine Chinese New Year in the heart of Takashimaya). I got to bond with my shift partners and talk to customers about the goods, and when the crowds died down at 8.30pm, I could even talk to the ladies at the stall opposite ours (when the boss wasn’t around, of course!).
Another difference is that of personal connections. Retail was exciting even if I had to sprint to the makeshift warehouse every few hours to get extra stock, and it was more interactive. Once, when I was having lunch by myself in the food court just beside my stall, the ‘big boss’ (we called her Aunty Fann) came to eat with me. At first, quite embarrassingly, I thought that she just couldn’t find a seat, but she took the liberty of explaining to me how she started her family business and even gave me some life advice after I confessed to her that I wasn’t sure of the path I wanted to take after O Levels. It’s actually because of her that I had the courage to apply for my junior college.
What kind of remuneration did you get?
I actually don’t remember how much I was paid for the Sales Assistant job, but I earned around $1000 per month excluding commissions (which depended on the location that I was stationed at as different goals were set for different locations).
How do you juggle work and internship?
That’s a good question; right now I’m taking a degree in Business Administration in NUS while interning at CareerContact as a freelance content writer in their marketing department. For now, I’m managing studies and intern duties on caffeine and motivation (or maybe it’s an adrenaline-fueled craze), but I think a handy tip would be to create an excel spreadsheet of tasks and deadlines! You can also use Notion, but that’s only if you’ve got WiFi 24/7. (Side note: I got these study tips from TikTok; you’d be surprised at how much you can learn from 15-second clips of teenagers dancing and movie scenes.)
What’s some surprising things you learned during your internships?
It’s probably how informal I’m ‘allowed’ to be after I’ve joined the company. I’m not sure if it’s because of the way I was brought up, or because of the SAP secondary school my mother enrolled me in to ensure I was well-rounded in Chinese culture and developed proper manners, but I was taught to always be polite and formal even after you got the job. So I was quite surprised that my superiors actively encouraged me to ‘let loose’ with what I spoke about and how I spoke to them about it, especially during lunchtime. I didn’t quite dare to do so, even after the 6-month internship was up!
What’s the least enjoyable thing about your internships?
I think that the least enjoyable part about my first internship was being assigned menial tasks which I couldn’t see the ‘end goal’ of. There were days when, due to my lack of specialisation, I didn’t get many tasks, so I would just read up on the company’s technical background.
Would you do anything differently?
I think that the only thing I would’ve done differently is to take two months off instead of just a month before university. There’s no proper substitute for rest and recharging.
What’s your dream internship?
My dream internship is one where I can learn different things, and where I can have flexibility in managing my schedule to make sure that I can keep the ‘life’ aspect in my work-life balance.
CareerContact is an ed-tech platform designed to bridge the gap between school and work. We help students develop digital skills and connect them with SMEs in Southeast Asia. Whether you’re a student, educator or enterprise, feel free to reach out to us at info@careercontact.org or CareerContact.app.
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