I can still remember those days when I was struggling to land an internship. Emailing people all around LinkedIn and other job-finding websites must have been the most hectic thing. My classmates already started their internships while I anxiously wait for one month. But cliché quotes are true, patience is a virtue, and some things are just worth waiting for. If I knew from the very beginning that I will eventually land the best internship ever, I would not have wasted those sleepless nights finding one. But again, some things are just worth waiting for.
Right off the bat, I can see how our internship program was well-prepared. The management and our OJT advisor really put an effort when it came to the different sets of learnings that we had to undergo. Aside from the learnings, one thing that I really looked forward to in this internship was the company culture. And true enough, SilVer provided a culture that I admired the most. My colleagues were very kind to me and really treated me as if I were part of a family. Here at SilVer, they valued camaraderie and character development aside from technical skills. At first, I had difficulty calling people by their first names, but along the way, I was able to communicate with them easily since the concepts of authority and hierarchy were minimized.
The technical skills that were taught were tremendously well thought out and detailed. Each of our teachers who were also our colleagues provided us with top-level information and knowledge that we were able to apply in our exercises. What’s good about the teaching of technical skills was the clarity of how they were taught. Our colleagues were able to teach them concepts that we would understand and really enabled us to think critically. Aside from that, what I really found amazing in this company is how we are able to practice the soft skills that are needed when you go to work. Professionalism, camaraderie, and confidentiality among other things were practiced at maximum.
Although SilVer, taught me how to think critically and take work with excellence and seriousness, I will never forget the hallway talks between me and my colleagues, the lunch out together, and the extracurricular activities that SilVer promotes: work-life balance. These are just simple activities that no one else can teach you. Just like what our managing director said, “At the end of the day, work is just like a gig.” You need to have a life after work. And fair enough, SilVer has created a worker-friendly atmosphere. Even though the tasks may seem hectic and could really drain you, I felt otherwise. The light atmosphere made me feel like I’m doing work with people I can rely on. At the end of the day, SilVer provided me with the best internship that I could ask for and I believe that students should be able to experience this too.