Internships are today becoming de rigeur for students seeking to accelerate their chances of landing full-time employment in a tight labour market. Interestingly, instead of gunning for blue chip companies or fast-growing tech unicorns, 38 undergraduates from Singapore Management University (SMU) in April 2019 chose to pursue stints with organisations with a social mission under the SMU-Tan Chin Tuan Foundation Summer Attachment and Industry Learning (SAIL) Programme at Social Service Agencies (SSA) and the DBS Business for Good Internship programme.

Both programmes, launched this year by SMU’s Lien Centre for Social Innovation (LCSI), were highly sought after. The results of a digital survey conducted by LCSI to assess students’ awareness and knowledge of the non-profit sector showed a large number being keen to undertake meaningful internships with SSAs and social enterprises. This was further affirmed by the significantly higher number of applications compared to roles available, where LCSI received more than 150 student applications in all, for the 38 spots available under the programmes.

According to the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise’s report (raiSE) titled The State Of Social Enterprise In Singapore, social enterprises are defined as “businesses that are set up with clear social goals”. Social goals could include uplifting the lives of vulnerable people through training and employment, or tackling entrenched as well as emerging social problems through innovative solutions.

To be sustainable in the business of doing good and creating a better world, however, it is imperative for mission-driven social enterprises to grow and develop their operations as financially viable entities. In this vein, the 10-week, purpose-driven internships under the SAIL and the DBS Business for Good Internship programmes gave students opportunities to implement initiatives aimed at enhancing the work of an SSA or social enterprise.

Students were tasked to develop practical suggestions for business improvement in areas such as finance, marketing, business development and operations. In the process, they gained hands-on experience and a realistic understanding of what a career with a social enterprise or SSA could entail, as well as developed their problem-solving and interpersonal skills. As a bonus, students saw this as a chance to make meaningful impact for a cause they believe in and to drive positive change.

Saranya Khanna, presently a second-year undergraduate at SMU’s School of Economics, took up a Business Development & Marketing internship with Edible Garden City in June 2019. Prior to this, Saranya completed an internship last summer with a global leader in insurance broking and risk management as a client relationship analyst. Saranya is majoring in Economics, with a second major in Health Economics and Management.

Charmaine Song, presently a second-year undergraduate at SMU’s School of Accounting, took up a finance internship with AWWA Ltd in April 2019. Charmaine shared that this was her first accounting related internship. She is open to taking up internships with different job scopes, to find out what she truly enjoys doing.

Celine Mandampal, presently a second-year undergraduate at SMU’s School of Social Sciences who took up a marketing internship with Daughters of Tomorrow, described the experience as “eye-opening”. Daughters of Tomorrow is an SSA which aims to empower and enable women from low-income families.

SMU caught up with Saranya, Charmaine and Celine to find out more.

Q: What was it like working for a social enterprise/SSA?

Saranya: It was a really fun experience working at a farm. Since Edible Garden City (EGC) is a small social enterprise, my colleagues and I helped each other out in times of need, just like a family. I was lucky enough to gain hands-on experience in various departments like operations, marketing and events. Working on multiple projects simultaneously really helped pump up my knowledge and experience.

Charmaine: I heard that working for social service agencies are very different from corporations, so I wanted to try it out. As I got to work with colleagues in the finance department who had previously been employed in large corporations and organisations, I learnt that in SSAs, rules and regulations are more rigid. Instead of following the Singapore Financial Reporting Standard (SFRS), one must also be aware of the Charities Accounting Standard.

Everyone I worked with in AWWA were extremely kind, friendly and helpful. Work-life balance was also there, even though I was assigned to one of the busiest departments in the organisation (from what I’ve heard). Instead of focusing on sales, I heard that SSAs are also focused more on funding. This is why one has to be extra careful and meticulous when handling accounts in SSAs.

Celine: Daughters of Tomorrow (DOT) works with women from low-income families to empower them through its various programmes. My internship helped me to better understand their situations through the stories shared by my colleagues and the various workshops that I attended. For example, I had previously believed that with education, women and their children could escape the poverty cycle. After attending a poverty sensitisation workshop, I realised it may not be so easy as there are myriad factors to consider. Perhaps children from low-income families are unable to go to school because they cannot pay for the transport fare, or women are often absent from work because they struggle to take care of their sick children, who in turn fall sick frequently due to poor nutrition.

Q: What motivated you to take up an internship with a social enterprise/SSA?

Saranya: I was looking for something different. Not a usual corporate sector job in which I might have had to sit at my desk the entire day. Since EGC is run by a rather small team, I expected to learn from different departments, not just the one I was assigned to. 

Charmaine: I was keen to know more about the social service industry and being able to find a finance internship in a charity and healthcare sector industry was a bonus, as I could clear my accounting internship requirement as well.  Since my company, AWWA, was in charge of helping those with special needs from young to old, I wanted to learn how they managed and financed such a huge range of services.

Celine: I thought that this would be a different experience for me and I could see if I would like to work in an SSA when I graduate. I kept an open mind as this was my first internship and my first time working in an SSA.

Q. Tell us about some of the projects you worked on during the internship.

Saranya: I helped EGC develop their customer and plants database, which really helped them in both sales and marketing. I also designed a product catalogue for the citizen chefs (our B2B clients) and citizen box (a weekly subscription box for our B2C clients). This was a further gain for the EGC sales team. Besides this, I also helped the farmers in the harvesting and packaging of the produce.

Charmaine: Under the Finance Department, I was attached to the payment team, so work was important and you had to be highly alert every day. This team ensured that every supplier and client was paid on time, as well as the salaries of staff for over 22 different services under AWWA. The organisation is large and working at the headquarters ensured that we were aware of every service and centre under AWWA. Some services include the Early Intervention Centre (3 branches), Dementia Day Care Centre (2 branches) and Rehab and Day Care Centre.

Celine: My main project was to create a fundraising model on a digital platform. After initial research, we came up with ideas for fundraising such as a Resource Recycling and Inclusive Table.

• Resource Recycling is about looking at corporate partners who no longer use their display items such as computers from IT shows and sell these items to their staff at a discounted price. We planned to reach out to them to donate the proceeds from this sale to DOT.

• Inclusive Table is about DOT women and their families experiencing a meal at a restaurant. The restaurants reach out to their diners to sponsor a family to eat in their restaurant whereby the donations come to DOT. This is about expanding horizons through food. It is about the idea that for children from low-income families, they may miss out on social participation and cultural exposure as they cannot afford to visit common dining spots.

Q: What is your key takeaway from this internship?

Saranya: The most important thing I learnt at EGC is that we should never restrict ourselves from doing what we want to do. The farmers here at EGC are so passionate about what they do, it hardly seems like they are on the job.

Charmaine: One has to be passionate about what they are doing, and understand how their role contributes to an organisation as a whole. It is important to work well with all your teammates and other departments as well so life in the office can be enjoyable and rewarding. AWWA also hires adults with disabilities and some I have worked with seemed to be the most hardworking in their department. This solidified my belief that no one should be judged by their external appearance or disability.

Moreover, when I understand clients that AWWA have worked with, I started to become more grateful for the simple things I have in life - and just being able to wake up or get on the bus to work every day.

Celine: I realised that communications and outreach is very different for SSAs in terms of how we phrase what we say to our beneficiaries, volunteers, donors or employer partners.

Q: What advice do you have for your peers embarking on an internship with a social enterprise/SSA?

Saranya: Go for this internship with an open mind. Try to experience and learn as much as you can by working with people from different departments. Choose to be uncomfortable and don’t be scared to get your hands dirty!

Charmaine: Working with a SSA will be extremely rewarding. Not only will you gain an experience unlike regular internships, you will be able to appreciate so much more in life! You will be inspired many times at work, and meet many like-minded, caring peers.

If you’re not sure what you want to do now, hopefully working at a SSA will give you more purpose and perseverance to strive on. Go in with a BIG heart and an open mind, and you’ll learn so much more than expected!

Celine: Be open to learning more about the organisation, even if it is about different departments as it gives a clearer idea as to how the SSA functions. It is good to go for events organised by SSAs for beneficiaries, employer partners and for raising awareness about the cause. These will help you to understand the overall impact that the SSA creates for its beneficiaries and partners.