The Jublia Internship Experience
Reflections by August Astrom
It was on a sunny day in January of 2020, when I began my journey from Sweden down to Singapore where I was going to spend the next six months studying and doing my Internship with Jublia. Truth is - I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but let me just tell you that whatever expectations I had, were immediately blown away (on the positive side).
So who am I?
My name is August Astrom, and I’m currently headed to my fifth and final year at KTH (Stockholm, Sweden) where I study Engineering and Industrial Management. You might wonder why a Swede like me decided to fly all the way down to Singapore for exchange studies and an Internship with Jublia, and that’s a great question! Turns out, Sweden and Singapore have many similarities: population size is almost identical, people are easy-going and best of all — share the urge for innovative thinking and new ideas.
Although I’d seen some parts of Asia before, this internship was the first time that I felt integrated into a different society and everything else that comes with it. A fun fact is that our founders — believe it or not — went to the exact same university where I come from during their exchange studies, so there was instantly relativeness and inside-jokes happening.
In the early stages of my internship, I was immediately struck with how much responsibility and trust was handed to me. Coming fresh out of university, this required me to really step outside my comfort zone and take matters into my own hands. Was it easy? Not at first. Was it helpful for my personal development? Yes. Was it something I enjoyed doing? ABSOLUTELY!
There’s no question that Jublia adopts quite the Startup culture. I mean — working from a shared office space with plenty of after-works, have chill-corners with sofas and people that are intelligent hard-working. For me personally, it was a breeze to find my spot as the Jublia Team provided me with honest feedback, while also being supportive. You could really feel that everyone wanted what’s best for your personal development and oh boy — so much I’ve learned!
To wrap this up, I would just like to thank the whole Jublia Team for being there as colleagues and also as friends. I’m super grateful for the past six months and would strongly recommend anyone to apply for an internship (or job even) at Jublia. When I come back to Singapore in the future I will make sure to let the Jublia Fam know — you will be missed. Thank you!
