Internship

Day 1
First day of work, I was late. 0-Kelvin 1-Habit. I didn't check the working hours for my office. That was totally screw up. Besides that, my alarm and clock is set an hour late. Damn... Well, mistake noted and points taken.

I met a guy who is working together as an interns as me. Well, he didn't make it the second day. To me, he just need to put down his ego as what simon said, and everything can be done easily without any challenge. Just put down all the thoughts that he have in his mind, he might be someone who is excellent. Still, I had some nice chat with him.

Another thing is, I was told to finish a power point so that I can present in front all of the student and I need to finish it in ONE night? That was tough. Luckily, I already been through an intensive training with Keng Yin as her part-time power point editor aka robot. So I manage to slip through the challenge that the supervisor gave me. What a RELIEF!!!


Oh ya, my company profile:
copied from the SSCU handbook.

Soft Skills Competency Unit (SSCU)

1. Background
With its holistic vision, the University looks beyond developing the students academically to providing them with competitive skills required in the employment market. Steps are taken to enhance students' skills that are relevant for the transition from the classroom to the working world.

Today, employers expect in the potential employees, a combination of intellectual competence and soft skills for example, communication and interpersonal skills, public speaking, self confidence and the right attitude for the job. Thus, graduates must prepare themselves to "hit the ground running".

2. Establishment of Soft Skills Competency Unit (SSCU)
In view of the above background, the University set up a Soft Skills Competency Unit in October 2005 with the following objectives:

• Identify soft skills that are relevant to the workplace.
  
• Work with training providers to develop programmes.
  
• Promote and market the soft skills programmes among UTAR students.
  
• Conduct evaluation on the effectiveness of the programmes and provide feedback to the University.
  

3. Soft Skills Competency Programmes
The programmes offered focus on the five (5) Main Key Skills as stated below:

• Communication skills - this is the one critical skill mentioned most often by employers and is about the ability to listen, write and speak effectively.
  
• Thinking skills - to stretch students' creative potential and Thinking abilities for them to function effectively in the workplace.
  
• Teambuilding and Leadership skills - the need to work with others from different disciplines as a cohesive team.
  
• Emotional intelligence – a person's ability to deal with his or her own emotions and of others in a constructive manner that will promote teamwork and productivity is becoming an important skill in the workplace.
  
• Entrepreneurial & Innovative Skills - this skill is not only for graduates who want to be self employed. Graduates as employees should be entrepreneur-like in performing their jobs and seeking new business opportunities for their employers.
  

4. Duration of the programme
The duration of the above programmes can range from a few hours to a few weeks. These programmes are not exhaustive and more will be added from time to time with feedback from the employers and graduates.

5. Mode of Learning:
The focus will be on experiential learning where participants are encouraged to acquire the competency skills by participating in activities and drawing in their own experience. Trainers are from the corporate world with working knowledge and skills.

UTAR students are well aware of the importance of soft skills. The unit known as the Soft Skills Competency Unit (SSCU) was set up in October 2005. It started with only one programme – the Intensive Immersion Programme - to enable students to acquire important work-related skills such as Communication skills, Leadership and Team-building skills, Emotional Intelligence, Thinking Skills and Entrepreneurial & Innovative skills. UTAR hopes that graduates equipped with these skills will be able to meet the challenges of the business environment. The skills are designed to help students make the transition from the classroom to the working world.

There are about 100 programmes offering training in soft skills to UTAR students.

That's all for the first day of work.