Internships with startups around the world; decoding the NOC Program by NUS, Singapore

The National University of Singapore has several initiatives to foster an entrepreneurial spirit among its students. Few weeks back, we spoke about the role of National University of Singapore in the startup ecosystem of Singapore, through an interview with the director of the NUS Entrepreneurship Center. Here, we bring to you another interesting initiative by the NUS Enterprise (enterprise arm of NUS), the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) Program, as part of which, students get to intern with Startups around the world.

Professor Teo Chee Leong, Director of the NOC Programme spoke to us about the objective of the program, student take-aways and the challenges of organizing it.

Excerpts:

When did the NOC programme start and what is its objective?

The NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programme aims to provide NUS undergraduates with an immersive entrepreneurial experience. These students are sent to leading entrepreneurial and academic hubs around the world, where they spend 3 months, 6 months or up to a year interning in start-ups. In some of the locations, they also take entrepreneurship-related courses at prestigious partner universities. The objective of the NOC programme is to nurture and cultivate these students into enterprising, resource and independent self-starters, who will eventually blossom into successful entrepreneurs. The first batch of students commenced the NOC programme in 2001, spending a year in the Silicon Valley.

What is your perspective of the entrepreneurial culture in different countries?

There are seven overseas locations: Silicon Valley (US), Philadelphia (US), Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Stockholm (Sweden), India and Israel. In addition, in 2008, we included the local equivalent, where our students intern at a Singapore start-up and this programme is known as the innovative Local Enterprise Achievement Development (iLEAD) initiative. Silicon Valley obviously have the highest concentration and number of entrepreneurs but each location has their share of entrepreneurs.

How is India viewed by the students in terms of opportunity?

India with its vast diversity presents myriad opportunities for the students. Besides opportunities in the commercial and technology areas, students are also drawn to India for its vibrant social entrepreneurship scene and the many entrepreneurial opportunities and innovations that are present at the bottom of the pyramid.

How have the student experiences been in India? 

The feedback that we’ve received from our NOC India alumni has been tremendously positive. Many of them have imbibed the Indian spirit of ‘Jugaad’ where one frequently has to make rapid and creative innovations on the spot with meagre resources. One student was even made a stakeholder in his internship company at the end of his internship in India. Some have even chosen to go back to India again – for work and for travel. As for the type of companies, this ranges. Some are social ventures or NGOs that are focusing on creating sustainable livelihoods for the local communities, others are technology firms, including those in e-commerce, bioinformatics, mobile gaming, social media marketing or telemedicine, and others are in the financial sector, such as angel investment firms or microfinance organisations.

What are the challenges of organising this in India? 

The challenges of organising/coordinating our programme in India are that the environment, infrastructure, hygiene, safety in India are very challenging issues. We also have to find the companies and organisations in India who will place our students, and then find the right students to be matched with the companies, based on the job roles and students’ capabilities. As interns, our students are performing high level tasks, including writing business plans, working on the marketing strategy or competitive research. They work side-by-side the founders of the companies. So to find a company that is willing to give its intern such value adding tasks can be a challenge.

The different culture in India also need some getting used to. Many of our students have commented on the ‘rubber time’, diet and different lifestyle. But this is one of the most important aspects of the NOC programme – to be fully immersed in the location, and experience it to the fullest!

Yourstory also spoke to some students who have been on the NOC Program to countries including India, US (both Silicon Valley and Philadelphia), Israel and Sweden. Scroll down to see students talk about their experiences, what makes them choose a location and what they bring back from their experience at each of the locations.

Do share your views on working/interning with startups in different parts of the world in the comments section below.

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