Be Intern Ready

by PAMELA

As internship is nearing, I'm getting anxious as I don't know what exactly to anticipate and most importantly, what do employers anticipate and expect in an intern. Especially an intern who has never worked in 19 years of life, me. Amidst their busy time managing their recently founded site, Ms Deborah Tan and the Material Girls have made a trip down to school to give a tip and share their experiences as an intern, as an employer.

A little takeaway with relevance to our magazine project: 
"Before a magazine is sent for print, each page is read 7 times."
In order to write well, you need to meet strangers, walk out of your comfort zone.
Write as you speak, do readers hear you?
Don't just write, expose yourself to wide range of reading material.
Expected to do everything: besides writing, the writer has to know how to direct photo shoots

For soon-to-be interns:
Personal presentation is important, first impression counts.
Learn from everyone, anyone in the industry, be open-minded.
Do things with integrity.
DO BE: Hyper, initiative, reliability, enthusiasm
DO NOT BE: Tardy, irresponsible, retarded, self-entitlement, diva
Emotional intelligence is obligatory.

After the talk, I know how to prepare myself mentally on how to tackle interviews and embrace internship with an open heart and mind. Of course, hopefully I'll meet approachable and understanding employers / supervisors like Ms Deborah Tan and the Material Girls.

2 Hours With Alexandra Dawn Westcott

Just last Thursday, the Noshers had the privilege of meeting and interviewing Alexandra Dawn Westcott, a journalist from TODAY magazine. Having travelled from South Africa to United Arab Emirates (UAE), followed by traveling down the east coast of South Africa and staying in New Zealand for a month, she finally settled down in Singapore and decided to make it her home. 

She joined TODAY as a multimedia correspondent in January 2013, which puts in use the skills she has acquired over the years, having been a writer, sub-editor, photojournalist as well as photo editor before. It's not everyday that you get to meet someone with so much exposure, let alone interview her. We were initially given only an hour and a half for our session with her, but everyone had so many questions for her, and she was so patient and detailed in answering them, the whole session with her came up to close to 2 hours. 

Alexandra Dawn Westcott

Having traveled to so many places, Alex has tasted various cuisines. When asked what her favorite food was, her answer was "Bobotie", which is a dish from South Africa consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-baked topping. "I've never tasted anything like it" Alex declares. It does sound like a really interesting dish! 

(This is how Bobotie looks like) 

Another unique food that Alex has tasted are worms from Middle East, which tastes like crunchy peanut butter. Yes, WORMS. It's no wonder that it left a lasting impression on Alex, albeit a not very good one. And of course, when someone comes to Singapore, durian is a must try. However, Alex finds that they "smell terrible", but cannot deny that durians are tasty. Alex also mentioned many exotic dishes from South Africa whose names were hard to catch, but left our tastebuds tingling and I'm sure we will jump at a chance to be able to try out those dishes.

Click to find out more of what the Noshers think of Alexandra Dawn Westcott's talk, and how it has benefited us :-)