Recently, it is recommended to university students to have professional experience like an internship before going out to society. Postechians also do internships and most of those are arranged by POSTECH Venture Innovator (POVI) internship program, which is operated by ENP (a POSTECH club) and Ji-gok Club (a group of alumni of POSTECH who are working in venture companies). POVI makes some contacts with companies where the members of Ji-gok Club work, and if there are openings, the companies offer POSTECH students internships for two to six months. ENP made this internship program to help students experience something in alumni’s company, enhance their ability to adjust to society, and develop personality. The easiest way to join the internship is through POVI, which has more than 10 enterprises related to IT, mechanics, and venture capital. As students change their focus from earning high grades to obtaining various experiences, applications to POVI have increased, which then brings an increase of job offers from Ji-gok Club and Postechians’ real participation in society.
Students who are or were in an internship felt and learned a lot. Several of them wanted to share what they learned with other Postechians. According to Park Su-jae (ME 12), works are more based on the university studies than he ever thought. He said, “It was possible to use DAQ facilities because I had already studied General Physics Ⅱ. I was able to use sensors, estimation, and model maps through solid works because of computerizing and practical exercises learned in POSTECH. I could feel the importance of what I learned in POSTECH”.
Another Postechian, Yoon Tae-seok (PHYS 10) emphasized the lack of sociality of Postechians. “POSTECH has mostly similar people who have similar goals and worries. It is not helpful to only talk about those with each other. However, the view of oneself can be widened after interacting with others in society.” He also got a lot of advice from alumni and co-workers through his internship. The advice helped him make important life decisions. He said, “It is worth participating in an internship through which participants can widen their views”.
One of member of Ji-gok Club also complained about the limits of POSTECH, “It is easy to be lazy in a familiar school. Postechians are too restricted in terms of people they are with and places they visit. Self-development is more difficult in this environment than in an area where one recognizes the necessity of development under the pressure of a work environment.”
During an internship, people cannot help but hanging around others who have different experiences, which allows them to enhance their ability to understand and respect other people. An internship is too short to learn working technology. Instead, participants can learn how to hang around with social people, how the learned knowledge is applied, and which abilities they should develop after coming back to school.