Pearline, a current Business student at the National University of Singapore (NUS), shares her thoughts on her experience as a Business Development Associate at ExpertConnect Asia, the importance of networking and her advice for future interns.

What was your role at ExpertConnect Asia?

I was a Business Development Associate. Through my role, I learnt how to do market sizing and to evaluate available market opportunities. Apart from that, I developed my soft skills in networking and communication when reaching out to experts!

How has interning with ExpertConnect Asia changed your idea of working life?

ExpertConnect Asia, being my first internship, made me realise that working full-time can be really draining sometimes. Yet, it also taught me the importance of finding meaning in the work that I do by seeing the value behind it. Understanding the need to find little joys during long days to motivate myself, I also made the best use of lunch time and had really meaningful conversations with my supervisor! Getting to hear about her journey and story truly inspired me.

Overall, my experience at ExpertConnect Asia showed me that working life is not all rosy. However, it can be fulfilling and meaningful if you make it to be so.

What are you doing in university now? Has your time with ExpertConnect Asia changed the opportunities that you pursue?

I am studying Business now at the National University of Singapore (NUS). After my internship in ExpertConnect Asia, I developed a greater interest in the business world and decided that this was a course I wanted to pursue.

After learning about market sizing and market opportunities in ExpertConnect Asia, I felt that understanding the key business gaps and business model of a business is critical for any company. I enjoyed spending time researching about such areas and coming up with a feasible plan to make things work. As such, I grew interested in consulting and pursued multiple opportunities related to consulting. Currently, I am a part of Conjunct Consulting, where we provide consulting services to social organisations. In fact, I recently completed my very first project!

How has your experience benefitted your current work?

My key takeaway was the importance of building meaningful relationships in the workplace and corporate world! Lunchtime chats with my supervisor benefitted me significantly, and it made me see that working experiences would not be complete without such meaningful conversations and deep connections with the people you work with. As such, I have since then always made an effort to have one-to-one lunches or coffee chats with my coworkers. This habit has served me well, as I often learn a lot through these conversations! The relationships formed continue to stay with me and I feel extremely grateful to have such supportive people in my network.

Do you have any advice for future interns joining our Associate Programme?

Don’t be afraid to ask questions – aim to learn as much as you can from your colleagues and supervisor at ExpertConnect Asia!