Spring insight Review

I am very thankful that they did not cancel the spring insight programme despite it being timed at the very start of the pandemic. I think it gave me a good idea of the corporate and the work involved for different roles within the department. It also helped me get the idea of what it is like to attend events or work online via Zoom, which was quite a new experience to me at that time.

Yes, they asked if I needed any additional support for disabilities such as colour blindness, ADHD, etc. This made me feel like we can showcase our skills despite the difficulties. When I made a request for food requirements for the casual dinner which was unfortunately cancelled, they made sure that I will get something to eat. The exchange of emails regarding these matter prior to the programme made me feel valued by the corporate. They also made sure that attendees were all ok during the lockdown and to follow the safety guidance.

I do not think there was any advising or mentor scheme available as the programme was only for one week. However I did feel like they cared about the programme attendees as they made sure we were fine during the lockdown and was able to attend the programme remotely and I also know that they offer mentors for summer interns. General support for disabilities etc was also provided, as mentioned in the response to the previous question.

By hearing different people background stories and what they do for the jobs, it gave me an idea of what areas of technology and business I am interested in, what skills I already have for it, and what skills I need to develop before I finish my course at the university. I also got to talk to a few other students during the programme and they have had some interesting projects and experiences which helped me direct my use of time before applying for jobs.

It was quite structured well in a sense that we had timetables provided in advance but also were given time to ask questions. They also had many Q & A sessions so we could discuss things if there was anything unclear as the panel hosts gave us the talks. I think it was good to have a mix of formal and informal seminar like sessions as we did not have much time during a week long spring insight programme.

The programme was fully online so I did not really get to see the "office" culture if there exists any. However I do feel like the corporate values activities outside work as they host events and encourage their employee to commit to something such as charities, environmental activities, etc. I think it helps people to be an interesting person and to keep growing as a person, which may help us get more inspirational hence indirectly help us with work too.

I do not think there was much training during this programme, they were more focused on providing us information about the company, people and their roles. However those talks did give me an idea of what I want to do for work in near future.

They gave us a wide range of information from different people working different kinds of jobs, which I think will help us decide which jobs may suit us the best or what we want to do as jobs. However, in terms of experiences I do not think I got much out of the programme, we never got any coding or project experience. This programme is more focused on providing us information and giving us a chance to ask questions.

I liked the idea that the company provided information on extra-career activities. They have many programmes such as cleaning up the beach, volunteering at animal shelters, planting trees, etc. I think this shows that the corporate cares about giving back to the society and the employees' personal growths and wellneings, which I think are as important as their success in business. I think by encouraging people to be more active outside work, they will be more inspired at work and help them with their productivity.

At the time of the programme I was still thinking whether to get a job straight after finishing my degree or to go on to study master's degree. One of the employees had a similar academic background and gave me very helpful advises on what to consider when making the said career decisions. She was very friendly and was sympathetic. The information about the job prospects gave me a confidence that I will be capable of the job without the master's degree and the personal advice I received confirmed it.

I was not paid for the programme as it did not involve any real work. I was not paid for the reimbursement as I live very close to the office during term time and also it was hosted online. I think they were willing to pay for travel and accommodation costs if you lived far away and requested financial aid as prompted.

There were informal social events planned.

There were going to be lunch and dinner events which I assume were going to be with different sets of people to get to know different jobs and people there. However they both got cancelled due to Covid lockdown and we just had online seminars instead. Having said that there were some informal Q & A sessions which allowed us to ask questions that may be irrelevant to what they have just discussed in the seminars.

Many employees shared their background story such as their university degree, work history and what they do for their job. They also told us about the things they do as part of the corporate programme such as charity works, sports, hobbies, etc. I think it helped us feel close to the employees as people but also a relief in a sense that we will have time to enjoy ourselves outside work if we end up working at the corporate.

Yes I definitely would! This programme gave me a good practice to go through the job application process (apply online, write up CV and cover letter, business email manner, online assessment and interviews, etc.) and taught me a lot about the work culture. It definitely made the idea of working after graduation a more realistic one for me and made me realise that I do not have much time left and think about utilising my time in such a way that I do the things I can only do as a student.