Chen Junjie, who went to work as an intern in the United States during his junior year, was able to make progress on his TOEIC score after finishing his internship. “The biggest bottleneck for me as an intern in the U.S. was that for the first three months, I couldn’t understand the English conversations between my colleagues and me,” described Chen, an Electrical Engineering alumnus at Ming Chi University of Technology, about his experience at the Inteplast Group, Texas.

“When I first arrived in the U.S., the electricians in the factory often asked me, “Could you do me a favor?” Chen said that not understanding anything, he could only stand there stunned. He could simply rely on a few keywords to guess the meaning. But he was not discouraged: he would try whatever means to help himself, such as asking his colleagues to write down their requests. He would then look up the new words in the dictionary. He encouraged himself to ask questions whenever in doubt. After three months, he was able to understand about 70 percent of the conversations.

No blind guessing

Chen affirmed that English communication ability is definitely the most significant progress he made during his internship. The company where he worked was located in Texas, and he had to overcome some difficulties in using English. For example, people speak English with a heavy accent, they are used to using dialect, and they speak very fast. Before the internship, Chen got 300 on the TOEIC test, but after the internship, his score soared to 520, and the TOEIC listening score increased from the original 150 to 370.

MCUT requires that all the students participate in internships in their junior years. These juniors can choose domestic or overseas companies for their internships. There are two stages to pass before students join in the American internship program that Chen participated in. The first phase is document reviews and group interview by the professors at a particular department; the second phase is video interviews by the managers of the U.S. company. Dr. Chia-Der Chang, deputy of the Office of Academic Affairs, MCUT, explained that there are about 300 résumés submitted each year, but there are only 12 openings, which shows that the competition is fierce.

Getting out of the classroom and participating in an internship is the fastest way to improve one’s workplace skills. “Onsite implementation experience is often the most efficient way to learn,” said Chen. Before participating in the internship, he had no idea about how to use AutoCAD or design circuit diagrams. For the knowledge that is not taught in textbooks, he can only ask around while he is groping himself. By doing this, he can cumulative practical experience.

In addition, the electricians and the operators in the factory often asked him about computer problems, so his main job was to assist the engineers. He must help to solve those computer problems, carry out the necessary repairs to the equipment, and have a good-level of PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) expertise.

Active questioning

Chen agrees that internship is a way to accumulate personal connections for himself. He explained that in the past, he would never take the initiative to talk to strangers, but after working in the U.S. company, he learned to take the initiative to open talks and maintain good interpersonal relationships with foreigners. It was a rare experience to go fishing with overseas executives while Chen was in the U.S. He still keeps in touch with his overseas colleagues, and one supervisor even mentioned that if Chen wants to work at Inteplast in the future, he is very willing to be his reference.

Dr. Chia-Der Chang, also Chen’s tutor at his internship stage, praised the intern’s performance and growth during the internship. Chen said that he was once assigned by the supervisor to report at the company’s annual improvement meeting. The director of the U.S. company was very impressed by Chen’s fluent English ability. Chen said that this report was equivalent to a run-in experience, so that he can have a sense of direction for the details that should be paid attention to in the workplace.

This American internship trip has undoubtedly become an opportunity to expand Chen’s international vision. He said that he had not considered the possibility of going overseas to work in the past. However, after that internship experience, his vision became broader and he determined to take into consideration a foreign job in the future, with the career goal of entering the industry of manufacturing electric vehicles.

Finally, Chen encourages students to learn more and ask more questions during the internship period. “The studying period is the stage when most mistakes can be tolerated.” In addition, contacts with workplace as early as possible can also make one more aware of the abilities and characteristics that society needs. This will greatly help one’s job hunting.

Chen Junjie’s internship notes:

1. Cultivating the ability to learn by analogy
2. Proactively completing tasks that are not assigned by the supervisor
3. Being brave to ask questions and seize opportunities to learn when faced with difficulties
4. Learning to manage oneself and set a daily goal to be completed

Source: English Career, Vol. 63