Traditionally in-person work experiences like training and networking have been upended in the 'new normal'
About 300 interns at Standard Chartered will be the first to experience a virtual internship across various businesses and support functions.
COVID-19 has limited the placement of this year’s batch of interns at the bank’s physical offices. Due to the bank’s commitment to the program, Standard Chartered decided to offer a five- to six-week program conducted virtually.
Interns will be remunerated for the full ten weeks of the program.
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Around 60% of the interns will participate in a virtual program in 15 of the bank’s markets. Remaining interns will experience a hybrid model, where they’ll experience a mix of time spent in offices and virtually – this will take place across the bank’s locations in China and North Asia.
The virtual internship consists of five key elements:
- Induction: In the first week interns can connect with peers and familiarise with the bank’s technology systems and support network
- Training: E-learnings and virtual classroom sessions through weeks two to four to build technical competencies required for each business or functional stream
- “OJT”: Assignment to a project focusing on a current problem statement in the bank. This will be presented to a project sponsor in week five, who will assess the intern’s technical and behavioural competencies
- Networking: An opportunity to network globally with peers and other stakeholders in the bank
- Mentorship: An assigned buddy and coach to support each intern throughout their journey
The key aspects of the program resulted from identifying traditional internship elements that could be replicated or modified. Standard Chartered also surveyed incoming batch of interns to understand their priorities, expectations, and interest in a virtual program.
“Our first ever virtual internship comes at a time where we are witnessing a significant shift to virtual in the workplace and is a trend that will be here to stay,” said Melissa Angerson, head, early careers at Standard Chartered.
“This continued commitment to our internship program despite the current environment is not only the right thing to do, but also ensures our future workforce is ready to embrace a digital state of work.
“The introduction of distance learning as part of this year’s internship will give us the opportunity to assess the value as well as the viability of such technical training, as we look to permanently embed it within our ongoing internship offering.”
In addition to fulfilling its internship commitments, Standard Chartered has pledged to place all of its 2019 graduates in full time roles at the end of their programs.
Specific to Singapore and Hong Kong, the bank is looking to hire an additional 280 local graduates across both markets this year, under a separate trainee scheme that aims to provide work experience to new graduates who are impacted by weakened job market conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the upcoming 2021 graduates, Standard Chartered is also fully committing to all 500 roles, which will be primarily filled by its 2020 interns.
