An NUS Student’s Project Management Internship Experience At iFoundries

My internship at iFoundries has taught me more then what i expected it to be. In fact, trying to sum up months’ worth of experience in a blog post has been challenging.

Though I was an undergraduate in NUS majoring in Bachelor of Science, Project and Facilities Management, I applied for the intern role of Project Management in IT. Although it is vaguely related to my course, I was very thrilled and honoured when iFoundries offered me the intern position at their company.


Why I Chose to Intern At iFoundries, A Digital Marketing Company

As we move into the era of information-driven technology, businesses are constantly upgrading and changing the way they approach the corporate world. The rise of IT gradually piqued my interest in wanting to learn more about the ropes of IT, while keeping relevant to my degree. My mentor, Junhao, shared with me that there were many others who applied for the internship. I believed so as well.

During the interview, he has shared that although having technical skills is one of the more important criteria during the selection process; it also essentially boils down to having other traits, such as good communication skills, willingness to learn and also good problem solving skills. I have learnt far more than what I had learnt in school with regards to project management.

My Job Scope As A Project Management Intern

Under the mentorship of the seniors in the Project Management Department, I have grown tremendously. Throughout the 2 months, I had not only learnt technical skills, but also honed on my soft skills. The first task that I was given was to conduct a User Acceptance Test (UAT) across the various browsers such as Chrome, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Mobile (Andriod and Iphone) and Tablets.

I had to be meticulous and attentive to details in searching for bugs, testing for browser responsiveness and checking that the enquiry form is working. Being a clueless kid about Project Management in IT, I was given a detailed breakdown about the flow of project management. This has given me a clearer understanding on how I should conduct my work.

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What Did I Gain From This Internship Experience?

Being in the role of Project Management, I could simply say that one must be adaptable to the challenges posed by the various projects. Not only that, we must be quick in making decisions so that we do not compromise the quality of work while keeping close to the project timeline. Having little prior background knowledge in IT, I am glad that the seniors are patient and detailed in teaching me on the process of Project Management and how I could perform my task.

Even though I was in the Project Management department, I was able to learn from other seniors on how they conduct their work. Ex: SEO, content writing, soliciting sales and so on.

The process of project management is as follow: (A brief summary)

  1. A meeting would be kickstarted to facilitate discussions with the client. This is to have a clear understanding of clients’ requirements and design.
  2. We would develop the Schedule of Work (SOW) and liaise with the developers on the structure of the website, the design team for the layout as well as the client for the information to input.
  3. We would then organise the information to the various departments and work on ensuring there is smooth functionality of the site.
  4. Finally, when the website is ready to be lived. We would scrutinise the details and cross check on all the website platforms such as Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Android, Iphone and Ipad. We would perform our due diligence in ensuring that there are no errors and slowness of browser’s responsiveness. This is known as the User Acceptance Test (UAT).

When everything is done, we would come out with the menu to teach client the functions of the back-end page

My Main Challenges Throughout The Internship

Having to micro-manage different stakeholders, this is where the main challenge lies. There are many unexpected obstacles that would happen along the way. Through this internship, I was not only able to learn technical skills like backend, and UAT. I was also able to sharpen my soft skills such as communication, problem solving skills and critical analysis.

Though I am only an intern, the company entrusted me to work on my own tasks. Having said that, I have to be self-disciplined. There are also ample of opportunities for me to voice my opinion and value-add to my work. I am certainly blessed to be surrounded by supportive seniors who only radiate positive vibes.

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I really love coming to work everyday, it feels as if being here every single day makes my day fulfilling and helps me in becoming a well-rounded individual. The company has a family culture. In iFoundries, everyone is so self-driven in ensuring that they deliver quality work for the company (I see it with my own eyes). The credits would certainly go to the leadership of boss Andy and Vary. I look up to them as role models and hope that, in my future career, I would get to work under such nice and warm bosses like them.

Lastly, I would like to thank Andy, Vary, and Elieen for the opportunity to intern at iFoundries. I did not only gain new knowledge but was also able to form new friendships. I am thankful to the company for giving me multiple opportunities and work exposure to hone my skills and gain expertise in my domain. In fact, I have went beyond my department and interacted with people working in other areas. Thank you once again and may we cross paths again?

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(Above) The iFoundries Project Management Team

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