My ‘Failed’ Internship Journey

Apart from all the Instagram Stories that I regularly post and all the Linkedin posts that look amazing, I have a lot of - a lot of failures, including my Internship application.

Actually, I’ve been thinking about sharing this story for a long time. Should I talk about my internship? Should I post it on Linkedin or Instagram like anyone else? Or Should I just keep it inside my head and not tell anyone.

The thing that keeps me from doing it, is that I just feel like I am not eligible to tell this story. Seeing that most of my friends are doing a great internship in a greater company than me, much more than me. So I think I can just keep it for a while.

But then, I realized that even though almost every friend I got on Instagram and Linkedin are doing their internship in a great company, but not everyone has as much failure experience as I have today. So I convinced myself that I am eligible to tell this story.

I have applied for more than 27 Internships in more than 20 companies this year (I stop counting after 27 apply). I can say, there were no company in your mind without me applying to. Some of them ignored me, some of them replied with ‘Sorry’ as their first word in their email, and some of them said ‘Thank you for your interest. However…’

And yaa, I was thinking ‘Am I that dumb? Is it my CV or me that the company doesn’t want to have?’.

And I’d like to share some companies that I have ‘unsucceededly’ applied to.

1. Many Small Startups (20-150 employees)

For this one, the recruitment process looks very simple. You just need to input a resume of yourself and a cover letter. If you pass, you will be interviewed. The questions are also very basic, you can just simply google the answer.

I have an experience of being interviewed in a startup, and the HR asked me to use full English throughout the interview beforehand. But then, when I asked some questions, the recruiter answered it in full bahasa…. So according to me, the recruitment process can be considered easy. But I wonder why I wasn’t accepted.

2. Mckinsey & Co

The Mckinsey test was very unique. There were several games that we had to play. One of them is like the Plant Vs Zombie game. It will assess your decision making skills and working under pressure skills. So it was really fun and what an experience for me. 

3. L'Oréal / Loreal

For this one, It’s more complicated. So the first thing is you need to submit your CV and cover letter. And then if you pass, there are 3 questions (Essay) that you need to answer in English (max 300 words/question). It was easy for me, especially because I can use Grammarly, Cambridge dictionary, etc to help me in formulating the word.

And If you pass, there will be a video test after that, So the question will be given and you need to answer all of those questions in a minute. It will assess your fluency and grammatical structure. It was also very easy because I made a script before and looked at it when I made the video.

The next process is a pitching day, you have to convince the HR in 3 minutes by giving a short speech about you and the reason why you deserve this. You will also be asked several follow-up questions by the HR. The chance of passing this test is 50%, I remember when I was invited to join the pitching day. There were 20 people including me, and the people that were told to leave the meeting afterwards were 10. The next test is LGD/FGD, and I passed this test. You just need to be active speaking and active listening.

The next and final test is an interview with the user/manager. The question was also very basic. But maybe since this is not the industry that I really want to be in, So when the question about “what do you know about the beauty industry?” is asked. I am at a loss for words. I don’t know what to say. I just said “So as far as I know, the beauty industry is an industry that focuses on beauty”,  without any hesitation and with no shame. So I got the announcement in 1 month and 3 days, I lost this opportunity.

And do you know what’s the fun part of this story? I didn’t use an ATS friendly CV, I made it in Canva and had lots of color in it. But still manage to be in the last recruitment process.

4. Procter and Gamble / P&G

This was the hardest recruitment process ever I had until now. So the first as usual CV, cover letter, etc. And then there is a psychological test that will assess your personality and attitude. After this, there will be a mathematical test and a logical test. It will assess your intelligence and ability to remember & understand something under pressure. After you pass these two types of tests (Psychological & Logical), your CV will be reviewed by the HR (so your CV will not be seen in the first place, you have to pass those test to get the attention of HR)

Then, comes the fun and nerve-wracking part, which is the interview. P&G’s Interview is very unique and interesting. There is no such thing as an HR and User interview in P&G. There will be 3 interview sessions.

So I can say P&G took internship program very seriously.

Each interview will be divided into 2 parts. The first is a behavioral interview, which asks about your past experiences. Here are some example questions.

1. Tell me about a time when you create something new

2. Tell me about a time when you lead a group of people

3. Tell me about a time when you face a conflict in a group.

And the second part is a question about situational cases. So you’ll be asked about what you will do if you are in a certain situation. 

Fun fact, I also didn’t use an ATS-friendly CV. But I still managed to get to the final stage of the recruitment process. So I think the most important part of a CV is what’s in it, not what type it is. Focus more on building your achievements, experience, and portfolio rather than the design, grammar, and structure itself.

It is funny that I gave you an insight even though I didn’t get an internship easily. But this is my account, so I can talk about whatever I want. And I hope you get anything by reading this far. Good luck on your future endeavors !

Note:

Huge thank you to Qai, Putri, Zia, Alif, Daffy, & Adi for making this experience soooooooo colorful :)