https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw 1. Were you asked to complete mundane and mind-numbing tasks or did you have to dig into your own pockets during your work placement experience? Do you think interns who are required to do so can still benefit from the experience, improve their prospects and improve their chance of long-term employment after graduation? 2. Imagine you were the owner of a well-established business firm. You had been invited to accommodate university interns in your business firm. Would you welcome such an idea? If so, would you offer to give the interns a salary or certain subsidies? What tasks would you assign to the interns? Justify your decisions with reasons. en-us 2017-11-06 08:41:03 UTC 2017-11-13 11:39:28 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padletuploads.blob.core.windows.net/prod/218275591/23aeef648f764aecdee720e1128296e6/books_for_clip_art_9.jpg https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204650712 Being the owner of well established business firm, I think it is not worth inviting university students to have the internship. Firstly, I may train more workers for my business and to do so, I have to show them how my company can provide them enough opportunities as well as a good working environment. Therefore, instead of just giving them repetitive and dumping tasks, I should give them a try to handle some challenging tasks while providing help for them. Also, inviting more students can allow more people know my business which may lead to more business for me. Moreover, they can bring some new ideas or technology to my firm like creating online shopping.
I would like them to be the assistant of the staff so that they can have chance to face different things such as meeting the clients and writing reports. They can immediately receive help from the staff if they have problem in dealing with their work. This can prevent making them from making mistakes and they can really learn through the internship]]> 2017-11-08 02:10:00 UTC https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204650712 s114133 https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204650738 To be honest, the work I was assigned during the work placement experience was mundane. I just have to transfer some information from a kind of document to another kind of it. At the end I just received feedbacks such as typing one punctuation mark less or some mistakes on the layout.According to the article, Susan did those translation work on her own without any help from her supervisors. I think I have a similar experience . Both of us did our work on my own, and the skills required in the work are what we have known already. I think we as interns can't be benefited because as an intern, we may have lack of working experience, so we need to be assigned works and tasks that are more challenging and are in different aspects, such as handling documents which trains up our organizing skills, designing work which boosts our creativity , or works that requires communication . So that we can know more about our strength and weakness during the attemption of these tasks and have a clearer goal to achieve in our future career path. Compensation , which is one of the main focuses in the article , is not really important in my perspective. but gaining knowledge and expertise by experiencing challenging works is more worth and important for us yo explore ourselves. ]]> 2017-11-08 02:10:11 UTC https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204650738 https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204650755 One of the tasks assigned in my work placement was to jot down notes during a meeting, which lasted for one and a half hours. It was quite a challenge to me as I had to write fast and be an attentive listener, so as not to miss
any important details. 
I think that these internships can improve chances of long term employment after graduation, as it can provide experiences others may not have had, thus it reduces the chances of making mistakes in the future job posts.

]]> 2017-11-08 02:10:17 UTC https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204650755 https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204650995 During my internship in an non-governmental organization, I mostly did mundane and simple tasks such as arranging the library and translating. I believe even students who are doing repetitive and easy taks are able to benefit from the internship. One of the most significant benefit of the programme is that interns can know what it feels like to be a employee in a company and how they should behave in this environment. No matter what sort of assignment was given, all student interns are able to have a taste of the working enironment which will later benefit them when they start working. With such office ettiquttes developed, they are sure to have more advantages than those who are have no prior knowledge of being a office worker. Furthermore, students are able to know whether they are compatible with the nature of work and the environment. If they feel unbearable with such office jobs, they will acknowledge that they are not suitable for these jobs and can look to other outlooks after graduation. This will help reduce the chance of getting into the wrong interest of work and end up working themselves off in discontent. Also, finding the right direction can help ensure that they can stay in the same working field for a longer time. Therefore, I believe thag the difficulty or category of work students interns are ordered to do will not affect their benefits gained from the programme. ]]> 2017-11-08 02:12:10 UTC https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204650995 s114011 https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651110 Most of the work assigned were quite meaningful as I really learnt more about the work in that field but some of them are very boring. I was told to amend the printing mistake on the materials by rubbing them with thinner which was worse than the tasks mentioned in the passage. Even though we weren't paid, the things we learned may benefit us in the future like workplace communication skills and time management when given a lot of work. It will improve our chance of getting long term employment after graduate as we will need less time to get adapted to the workplace and use the time to do something which may impress our supervisors and be employed in long term.]]> 2017-11-08 02:12:46 UTC https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651110 https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651127 I am grateful to say that I had a very fruitful experience at my workplace during my internship.I worked in a NGO which focused on education and art. There were a few interns in my department except from me,they were mostly university students who would be there for half a year. It was great that my supervisors were experienced in coaching and tending to interns. Instead of doing mundane tasks like copying and printing,my supervisors took to teaching me different skills like managing the store or letting me do stuff on my own.They allowed me to take the front desk as a receptionist and I learnt a lot while interacting with guests .Living in a rather remote area,it was quite displeasing that I had to dig in my own pockets for the bus fare which was$21.7 per ride🤦🏾‍♀🤦🏽‍🤦🏽‍♀️But I guess it was worth it as I would only be there for 4 days and it was a once in a lifetime experience.
I think that interns that have to complete mundane tasks would still be anle to benefit from the internship,because they were able to experience and see how their colleagues worked so it could probably give them a taste of what workplaces were like,learn about workplace etiquette and how people worked so hard just to earn salary to keep their family happy and healthy. They were also given the chance to talk to fellow colleagues which probably had lots of experience in that field so it could be beneficial to their future. These are things that can't be learnt from textbooks or videos so even completing mundane tasks could be a valuable experience .]]> 2017-11-08 02:12:56 UTC https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651127 https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651344 Fortunately, I seldom had to do any mundane tasks during my work placement Programme as my organization is really something out of the ordinary. But I have heard some of my friends had to do certain tasks that deemed repetitive and meaningless. Such as Opening doors for customers or to sort out the files in an alphabetical order. To be honest, if I were to do it, i would’ve complained as well, I can completely understand the point of view of the students who applied for internships, who don’t get compensation for their hard work, especially tedious work. But I think that there’s always a learning opportunity behind every single task, mundane or not. For example to put the files in order can always train us to get things done efficiently, like how can we sort it out with the least amount of time ? Or buying milk tea and coffee can be a task for you to get to know about your boss, or to reflect on how to memorize one’s orders. These tasks may seem boring and irrelevant to work, but it will work perfectly for the interns as a reality check. There aren’t always jobs that you covet when you start small in the company. Sometimes you have to work your butts off to please your superiors to get other chances and opportunities. The reality maybe harsh and undesirable, but an intern program like so, would definitely help equip them for the future. ]]> 2017-11-08 02:14:22 UTC https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651344 https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651351 2017-11-08 02:14:24 UTC https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651351 s114090 https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651372 As one of the lucky ones, I was assigned to a lot of exciting and meaningful duties during my work placement.
I worked in handbag designing company named Cocomojo.During my internship, I took part in photographing work such as photo shooting and film shooting of products, I also got the chance to produce an advertisement video about my internship which will be posted online. I'm so glad that I didn't need to sit in front of a laptop for 4 days. I understand that others may have been given mundane tasks to do, but I agree that we would still gain benefits from the programme, as the internship allowed us to gain insight into our future working environments and also provided the chance for us to learn correct workplace manners and etiquette. Moreover, we learnt about different working industries in Hong Kong, which would help us in our future career planning. These cannot be learnt from our daily textbooks and are definitely helpful to us.]]> 2017-11-08 02:14:33 UTC https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651372 https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651682 In my work placement experience, I was not asked to complete mundane tasks. The company i worked in was a well-established NGO, and one of its mission is to educate youths. The supervisors were experienced in working and training interns so they were able to gave me a great experience. 

In my opinion, whether the interns can benefit from the experience really depends on the attitudes of both the employers and the interns. In the article, it was said that a journalism major Susan’s company would give her little coaching and unappealing tasks like translatipn and writing web posts. Also she usually post the web posts directly without any editing or feedback by senior staff. Moreover, she was unpaid. I think at first giving trivial tasks for interns to let them get used to the workplace is alright, but as the interns start to gain more experience the companies should also start teaching them things related to their major. Companies should keep in mind that the interns are here to work and learn but not to act as “slave labour” as mentioned in the article
On the other hand, some underperforming interns just muddle through their internships to fulfil the requirement for education. They see internship as a chore. With this mindset, of course they won’t benefit from the experience, and also cause employers not wanting interns. i think the interns should actually have a correct learning attitude, and even if they think the employers are not giving them the tasks they want to do, they give a feedback by maybe directly telling the employers their feelings, not not paying effort in finishing assigned tasks]]> 2017-11-08 02:16:26 UTC https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651682 s114031 https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651844 As the owner of a well established firm, with a firm basis, I wouldn't mind offering places for university interns. However, I would not offer salary. The offer of work places would be a valuable experience for the university undergraduates, plus the undergraduates certainly would not have worked up to our employees' standard for their complete absence of knowledge of how our company functions or have contributed or make profit for my company in such a short period of time. Students should be thankful for gaining a place, to have gotten a taste of how the working environment would be like before leaving school. Work experience is always valued when seeking for jobs, especially when it is in my company, a huge corporation I suppose. Besides, the students are not working or receiving education but a familiarisation of a working environment. Students nowadays are asking for too much. Trivial and minor tasks would  be assigned for the students. They shall not be given any special treatments as what they need is to feel the resemblance of an actual working place. Education and learning should be conducted actively by themselves, to observe and to ask, under the rule of not disturbing the work of colleagues.]]> 2017-11-08 02:17:34 UTC https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651844 s114057 https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651896 To be frank, I did mundane tasks in my work placement programme such as organizing data and searching different law firm information. However, it was a nice experience for me to gain some insights into the society, and understand how people struggle and work 24/7 despite the boring tasks just to make their ends meet.
In the article, interns are said to be provided with low salaries and few subsidies. However, I think the experience they get is what really matters, and that is priceless. Everyone needs some experiences of cooperating with different people, who are of different ages and backgrounds. Interns, who are freshly graduated students or university students, usually lack communication skills and dimensional perspectives. Thinking their ideas are the best, they barely listen to others' opinions. Moreover, they seldom think about the others like when they have an idea, it may only benefit the young ones while harming the elderly. Having an intern experience enables them to develop dimentional thinking which can cater to more people. In addition, interns can know how the society works before having a full time job. People work very hard every day just to support their families, even though the salaries may not be satisfying.
When they grow up, they will have a higher chance of long term employment as employers know they are instilled with similar experiences. They believe interns have learnt some basic yet vital skills like politeness. Hence, they will have a higher chance to be employed.
All in all, I think interns can benefit from their work experience and improve their chances of long term employment. ]]> 2017-11-08 02:17:56 UTC https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204651896 kellysin https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204652104 I would welcome the idea to accomodate university interns in my firm. It is because I believe that university interns can bring new ideas to the business as they observe things from a different perspective. They can contribute by giving suggestions regarding digital marketing as they are familiar with social media like Facebook or Instagram. Therefore , I would assign jobs like writing Facebook or Instagram posts to promote a certain product or service. They can decide what form of promotion to be used like videos and photos. They understand what is popular among the youngsters and will be able to create things which suit their preferences. I would offer to give them subsidies for transportation and for lunch. However, I wouldn’t offer to give them a salary as to minimise the operation cost of the firm. The students should not expect any monetary return as what they learn from the internship is more valuable than the amount of salary. ]]> 2017-11-08 02:19:12 UTC https://padlet.com/twu3/9ifc0gjt0prw/wish/204652104