How My Remote Internship Didn’t Change my Experience

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My internship experience at Schneider Electric has been extremely enjoyable, highly engaging, and packed with lots of learning takeaways. In my blog, I’ll cover how I chose Schneider Electric and how unprecedented times transformed my work into a remote internship while not changing the experience much at all.

Choosing the road less taken

Despite being an engineering undergraduate, I did not foresee myself working a pure engineering-oriented career. Thus, when looking for internships, I chose a role that can practice my technical knowledge on energy management and develop my attributes in the areas where I wanted to be in –  business development, sales, and project management. When applying to the role of Safety, Environment & Real Estate (SERE) intern, I felt that it would allow me to have the best of both worlds. Now, it is nearing the tail-end of my internship, I can definitely say that I have not been disappointed.

In the few months here, I was empowered to work on three major projects in the Global Supply Chain. These include:

1. Standardizing Power Monitoring Expert™ (PME) dashboard displays across East Asia, Japan, and the Pacific region.
2. Coordinating the transfer of all regional waste management sites to a single external vendor.
3. Preparing necessary items and coordinating the efforts in switching the electricity consumption from the power grid to an external OEM supplier for the Hub Asia warehouse space.

My supervisors were always ready to impart knowledge, share career advice, and open for general energy discussions. In the first month of my job, I was tasked to analyze the PME dashboards currently in the Singapore office and Batam, Indonesia, identify the key indicators to display and standardize the dashboards. To my pleasant surprise, I was given the opportunity to travel to Batam and provide training to my SERE counterparts. Learning more about the working culture in the same company but across countries was great exposure. I was even empowered to present my dashboard standardization findings to various environment leaders from Schneider Electric offices globally on a Skype call. It was such a harrowing but extremely confidence-boosting experience!

Experiential learning at the unprecedented times

However, this reflection could not be completed without the mention of how the biggest story of 2020 affected my internship experience. The pandemic has disrupted our lives and brought upon unprecedented times in the first half of the year. As part of the safety team, I witnessed firsthand how my supervisors and colleagues responded swiftly to the potential problems and I was awed at the efficiency of the company in introducing Business Continuity Plan measures and Work from Home policies.

Despite having to work remotely for two-thirds of my internship, my opportunities to #LearnEveryDay were not diminished. In my 6 months here, I was given the additional opportunities to be the Innovation Hub Ambassador, Reverse Mentoring Project Leader, and certified as a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt practitioner. The opportunities to interact and learn more about other departments and career paths were abundant.

My Reverse Mentoring Project which delved deeper into the sector of corporate cybersecurity was successfully completed virtually from start to finish. Besides, we got to work on different projects for different business leaders on sales, talents, team collaboration, and sustainability-related topics every month. Furthermore, the new “Breakfast & Learn” series increased engagement among the 55 interns, allowing me to understand the interesting projects other interns were involved in. I was able to stay connected with them remotely despite not seeing them in real life.

Friendship and relationship building

In conclusion, my experience in Schneider Electric was truly a blessing. This journey cannot be completed without the mention of the true takeaways that I have – the genuine friendships. The structured internship program and orientation allowed me to make some new friends whom I am sure I will keep in touch with even after my internship ends.

All in all, my experience in Schneider Electric was indeed unforgettable. Life is truly ON!

An internship is a perfect way to get your career started at Schneider Electric! Search for opportunities on our website and start your #meaningul, #empowered, and #inclusive career with us! www.se.com/careers

About the Author:

Dadi Amoghraj is a Year 4 Mechanical Engineering undergraduate at the National University of Singapore. He has worked as a Safety, Environment, and Real Estate Intern under Global Supply Chain for the last 7 months in Schneider Electric Singapore. While most busy with school work, he also finds time for some of his other hobbies like reading fiction and watching live sports.