Work experience after graduation or during the graduate program can be a great way to test drive a career or get students’ foot in the door. In addition of being surrounded by several Ministries and Government Research Centers, KDI School has agreements with diverse institutions which provide internship opportunities to its students. According to Hwan Hee JEONG, Alumni and Career Development Coordinator, students have access to more than 20 internship placements at organizations such as the Sejong City Government and KEPCO E&C. This diverse range of internship placements can help students hone their professional skills in a real work place environment. Mohamed NEJMAOUI (2015 MDP, Tunisia) and So Jeong (Lisa) JEONG (2015 MDP, Republic of Korea) shared their internship experiences with The Globe.

1. Can you introduce yourselves to our readers?
   Nejmaoui: I am Mohamed and I have a Master’s degree in Applied Geophysics. I’m currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Geosciences at the Faculty of Sciences of Tunis and a Master’s degree in Development Policy at the KDI School.
   Jeong: I’m Lisa, and I’m also a MDP student at KDI School. I was recently selected for the Korea-EU academic mobility program called GLiMPSE so I’m getting ready to study for a year at ESSEC Business School in France.

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2. Where did you work and how did you know about this internship?
   N: I worked for the Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS), a Korea public company that was established by the Korean government in 1983. This internship was part of my scholarship, KOGAS Global Fellowship.
   J: I worked at the Korea Labor Institute in Sejong City. KLI directly requested interns at KDI School and I was one of the lucky few to get selected.

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3. What did you learn from your work that would contribute for your future career?
   N: I worked as Assistant in the Overseas Plant Business Development Team. There, I learnt how to manage time at a workplace, especially in a big corporation like KOGAS. I also improved my negotiation skills as well as my teamwork.
   J: As a general applicant at KDI School, I didn’t have any prior work experience so getting a taste of how the inner dynamics of a national-level research institute looked like was invaluable to me. More than anything, I was able to improve my interpersonal skills dealing with different people and learning how to conduct myself in a particular organizational culture.

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4. What was the biggest challenge of this position?
   N: I believe that the biggest challenge I faced was the language barrier, especially because at that time I wasn’t too competent in Korean.
   J: I think molding myself into an organizational structure was challenging. As a student, you can pick and choose what you want to do, where you want to be, and who you want to be with. But in a professional workplace such as the KLI you have expectations and rules you have to adhere to so that was a little difficult at first.

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5. To whom would you recommend this internship?
   N: I would recommend this internship to those who are interested in the energy field, particularly in the production and supply of natural gas.
   J: I recommend this if you want to work at a research institute moving forward. I think the skills you pick up can help you not just in the field of labor issues but also other subjects as well. I think the research skills, interpersonal skills etc. can be carried over to different organizations.

Mohamed NEJMAOUI (2015 MDP, Tunisia)

So Jeong JEONG (2015 MDP, Republic of Korea)

By Kilton PORTUGAL (2014 MDP, Mozambique)