Bespoke Internship

Every July and August, office workplaces are filled up with the young faces of summer interns, and Link is no exception. In fact, even though Link is strictly controlling spending in these trying times, it has expanded the size of internship programme to help young people during the economic downturn. Children of Link’s or Link’s contractors’ employees and Link Scholars are eligible to apply.

New theme, new you

Apart from the change in size, the internship programme design stands out from internships at comparable organisations by including a number of workshops that broaden and widen interns’ exposure. This means that Link interns spend less time doing mundane office tasks and more time engaged in their own career development.

Links’ Head of Human Resources Rita Chan said, “Our team put a lot of effort in the programme design in a bid to stimulate interns’ thinking. For example, the design deliberately includes elements of self-knowledge and emotional health. This summer, we also planned crossover activities with other major corporates. We hope this exposure inspires our interns to think ahead – where they are heading and what they want to achieve in their careers and in life.”

Looking at the packed schedule, some interns were worried in the beginning but later found the workshops highly rewarding and effective, especially in terms of enhancing their “soft skills” and learning more about themselves.

“We also emphasised creating space for our interns to think. For example, during workshops, we only spent around 10 to 15 minutes introducing the subject matter and the anticipated mode of discussion. For the rest of the time, the interns shared their findings with one another,” Rita explained.

A high-performing team guarantees performance

The two-month internship programme was packed with as many as eight events, including workshops, cross-corporate seminars and visits. A big challenge was having to adapt these events to virtual ones due to the pandemic.

“Technical support was a headache but what concerned us more was whether the interns would feel neglected and whether our managers would be overly burdened,” said Rita. Most colleagues from the Human Resources Department participated, regularly checking in with the interns about any personal or professional difficulties.

Mutual learning via engagement

“In the context of training young people, we see ourselves as enablers who build a safe space for them to express themselves,” said Rita. “For our colleagues, our interns bring an outsider’s perspective to the company’s brand and operation models. This sparks new ideas.”