Doing an Internship or Job Outside Your Field of Study

opportunities and enhance your self-development.

As you went through university, the idea of picking up an internship, or role, unrelated to your field of study might have sounded entirely impossible, or at least something you might be better off not dabbling in…right?

Although there is some truth in that, the flip side is that while you may not be building specific knowledge, you will have the chance to pick up other skills and valuable experience you may not have the chance to otherwise.

The thing is, internships and jobs take you out of academia and bring you into corporate life, where you learn to network, gain working experience and pick up numerous professional opportunities to broaden your experiences.

These are just a few of the benefits of doing an internship, or getting a role, outside your field of study, so read on to get to know more of them!

Experiment with your interests and passion Broaden your horizons

If you are having second thoughts of whether you want to continue in a field related to your studies post-graduation, internships and part-time roles can act as an ideal safety net to test the waters. There is nothing wrong with using the time spent as an intern or part-time employee as a platform to explore other options open to you!

For example, if you are studying graphic design but maintain a blog on the side, you can consider internship or temporary roles in publishing houses that entail editing, copyediting, or content creation. Alternatively, if you enjoy a broad range of music, you can ponder the option to join radio stations where your knowledge of artists and songs can come in handy.

So, take the chance to pursue your interests and passion – unrelated to your studies or not – and see if they can work out as a viable area of work for you as a fullfledged employee in the future.

The jobseeking landscape has become incredibly competitive over the past few years, and the uncertainty brought about by the present pandemic and possible upcoming recession has had a hand in heightening it, as well. So, instead of competing for a single area of work, you can create more options for yourself by choosing an internship or role not necessarily related to your field of study.

On top of that, in a time when many internships and roles are being introduced or newly defined, you will find that your experience in different areas and wide variety of skills will definitely come in handy! Employers prefer candidates who have broader perspectives and can focus more on building their capabilities, as they do not need to spend the time and resources training them.

When you take on an internship or job unrelated to what you studied, you are going to pick up a completely new set of skills unique to the area you are in. Although some skills may be more niche and specific, you will definitely pick up transferable skills.

For instance, as you will have to learn on-the-job or take cues from colleagues on how to recognise and resolve problems, in a practical manner, you will build problemsolving, teamwork and communication skills. Moreover, just moving into a completely unknown field is already a study in adaptability.

Add these new skills to the skill set you already have courtesy of your field of study, and you will have an edge over other candidates in the future!

Strengthen your resume

Even if you are not thinking of pursuing a multifaceted career in the future, a range of core skills listed on your resume will not hurt your chances of successfully landing a role. Employers are always on the lookout for candidates who show potential to be all-rounders, so your resume will help you stand out from your peers with your variety of skills and experiences!

Creating and maintaining a mutuallybeneficial network is crucial in any industry, and it is impossible to stress the importance of building connections. The broader your professional network is, the more valuable tips and opinions you can get to improve yourself in the future.

Moreover, you will be able to leverage your contacts to keep abreast of market trends and industry developments. You can even ask around for different perspective and insights to various areas of work. Your network may even help you land opportunities you may have no access to otherwise, too!

Although the decision to pursue an internship or job outside your field of study may be a smart one, it requires you to be brave enough to venture out of your comfort zone. Chances are, if you are willing to grab the bull by its horns and charge ahead while giving your all, you will benefit from the experience and boost your self-development after graduation!

Theresa Nadia Tjitrosantoso Business and Technology Delivery Analyst, Accenture Bachelor of Science

(Honours) in Banking and Finance

SIM-UOL,

Class of 2022

What is your role?

As an Accenture Consulting Development Analyst, I have the opportunity to transform businesses by delivering technology and business solutions to clients not only in Singapore, but also in other ASEAN countries.

On a daily basis, I would meet with various teams in my project, such as the technical and functional teams, to ensure that process and functional requirements were met. I also collaborate with Solution Architects to define business process requirements that drive application needs and metrics.

Being a Banking and Finance graduate, why did you decide to venture into Technology Consulting, which is outside your field of study?

During my internship, I realised that working in a purely finance function was not something I was interested in, so I explored alternative options. Over time, technology became an industry I was interested in working in, because it is an industry that is continuously and inevitably growing.

Having gotten to know more about my interests, I limited it down to the role of Business Analyst/Consultant because it encompassed what I was looking for in a role. Despite working in a technology firm, I still work on Finance-related projects, by implementing technology in a Banking or Finance firm. It gives me the best of both worlds because it incorporates both of my passions.

What were some challenges faced when venturing into Technology Consulting as a Banking and Finance graduate?

Some challenges included technical jargon and news, which I was not familiar with as a Banking and Finance undergraduate. When I first started, I encountered a steep learning curve, and I had to take extra online courses and do more reading in my own time to keep up with my colleagues. Fortunately, Accenture also provides training for new hires, which significantly minimised my learning gap.

What did you do outside of academia that prepared you for this switch of field?

I had a lot to learn about emerging technologies like 5G, quantum computing and artificial intelligence. I did more research on the company and what they do, and I reached out to Accenture employees on LinkedIn to understand more about the company’s culture and the roles they offered.

While studying in SIM, I also interned at SIM Learner Advisory and Career Centre, and held leadership positions in my co-curricular activities (CCAs), as well. These experiences built my confidence to be in a client-facing role.

My advice to students who want to venture outside their field of studies

Always be proactive and do not be afraid to explore new things. There is always room to learn and improve, so do not limit yourself to what is taught in the classroom. There are so many ways to study these days that may not even cost us anything.

Remember to step outside of your comfort zone and conduct additional research to set yourself apart as a candidate. Connection is also extremely significant because it allows you to learn more about the role and industry.

Lay Jun Yan

Associate Consultant, Oracle Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Marketing

SIM-University of Stirling, Class of 2022

What is your role?

I am an Associate Consultant with Oracle under the Consulting department, working specifically on Oracle’s suite of Customer Experience (CX) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Cloud Applications.

As a Technology Consultant, I enable digital transformation for organisations by advising on implementation processes using modern practices, while leveraging on my expertise in each application’s domain – such as sales, marketing and service – to align with expected business outcomes and ensure return-on-investment (ROI).

Being a Marketing graduate, why did you decide to venture into Technology Consulting, which is outside your field of study?

As I always had a budding interest in all things digital, while also being aware that my strengths lie in qualitative aspects, I decided to pursue a Marketing degree with the University of Stirling – which had a heavier digital focus.

Although my degree did not directly lead me to my current role, I had ventured out to different roles in Sales, Business Development and Management Consulting when undertaking internships.

Most were in the technology industry, which allowed me to imbue my interest in transformative technologies while leveraging on my strengths in business and client-facing roles. Naturally, my next career decision was to give Technology Consulting a go.

What were some challenges faced when venturing into Technology Consulting as a Marketing graduate?

The learning curve was – no doubt –extremely steep for me, as I lacked the technical skills and understanding of in-depth technical concepts and terminology since I had not come across it before.

However, as technology has always been my personal interest, I tend to find easy-to-digest articles to read and spend more time searching up on concepts that seem foreign to me. Although it does take up some time, it is important to have resilience when learning something new, as it will definitely pay off.

What did you do outside of academia that prepared you for this switch of field?

As I acknowledge my lack of technical skills, I tend to leverage and emphasise the impact I have made in my work experiences within the business aspect. It is important to understand business operations to ensure that the digital transformation implemented has positive ROI, considering that a business’ profits are still the bottom line.

Although my experience as the VicePresident of Ambassadors and Marketing within SIM’s Entrepreneurship Club aided me in accentuating my transferable skills and leadership qualities, I still believe internships and relevant work experience helped me pivot towards Technology Consulting, as they helped me build underlying transferable skill sets, as well.

My advice to students who want to venture outside their field of studies

Go for it! Although there was initially some resistance when I applied for internship roles out of my field of study, and was met with many puzzled looks because most of my peers had the idea that one can only be confined within their awarded degree, I found that internships provided the best opportunities to try out roles that you think you might be interested in. Moreover, it gives you a good gauge on whether to pursue it further as a full-time career.

Personally, my internship experiences have all been very different, but it made me more sure of what I wanted with every experience.

Natalie Goh

Senior Executive in Business Analytics (Finance) at Mandai Wildlife Group

What is your role?

As a Senior Executive in Business Analytics (Finance) at Mandai Wildlife Group, my main role is to provide indepth analysis on business performance. I also partner with teams from other business units like Marketing to track the effectiveness of new initiatives, such as park promotions and events.

My main responsibilities include generating a monthly business dashboard that tracks key business performance metrics for the senior management team. I also perform monthly deepdive sales analysis for our main lines of business – Park Operations, food and beverage (F&B) and Retail – to analyse business performance and drivers and provide quarterly reports on guest attendance to external parties like the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

Being a Marketing graduate, why did you decide to venture into Technology Consulting, which is outside your field of study?

Prior to university, I studied Business Intelligence and Analytics in Temasek Polytechnic, which gave me a better understanding of how organisations can use data to make data-driven business decisions. At that time, I also interned at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), as well, building dashboards to help the Admissions department track admission figures.

During university, I wanted to focus more on understanding the business side of things, while also exploring new fields like Marketing. While waiting to graduate, I found a part-time marketing job at an SME.

It was then that I realised I preferred working with numbers and data, such as during my internship at SUTD, which was why I decided to venture into Business Analytics.

What were some challenges faced when venturing into Technology Consulting as a Marketing graduate?

The biggest challenge I faced was the difference in skills required for my job in Business Analytics, as compared to what I studied as a Marketing undergraduate. I also had to quickly pick up on how to use Systems Applications and Products (SAP) financial management software for reporting and analysis, which I had little experience in.

What did you do outside of academia that prepared you for this switch of field?

Aside from my part-time marketing job, I interned at an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services consulting firm, where I was given the chance to interact with clients and perform testing for SAP systems.

Though ICT Consulting and Business Analytics – and Marketing, for that matter – are a far-cry from one another, the internship prepared me for my current role. Learning how to use SAP’s financial management software was a lot less daunting after having picked up some experience in SAP systems.

The skills and knowledge I built during my internships and part-time job, alongside and my can-do attitude, also helped me stand out, and eventually helped me land the job.

My advice to students who want to venture outside their field of studies

Be brave and take the chance to pursue your interest – even if you think it is unrelated your studies – because you never know till you try!

Take the opportunity to go for internships in different fields to see what works for you. The skills and knowledge you acquire during these internships can help you stand out, and can even be applied at your future job.

Also, never stop learning! Take advantage of the resources available to you at SIM to broaden your horizons. Sign up for a course that piques your interest.