‘My virtual internship experience has definitely made me a better communicator’

By Asia Samachar | MALAYSIA |

Kiranjeet Kaur Bajwa got acquainted with pharmaceutical chemistry during a visit to Kuala Lumpur-based health sciences university.

And that discovery has led her to an interesting journey so far. This included an internship stint at Blackmores, an Aussie-based natural health company.

“Prior to that, I had not heard of this course. I then researched to learn more about it and realised that this may be a course that I may be interested in,” she told Asia Samachar.

She added: “I always had a keen interest in creating and exploring new prescription drugs with hands on work in the lab. In the course of my research, I also discovered that it was not common in Malaysia and that there were not many people who signed up for it. While this did raise a momentary doubt, I was cautiously certain that this was something I wanted to explore further. I decided to take the plunge and proceeded to apply for this course.

We spoke to her about her internship experience.

Tell us about your internship experience at Blackmores?

I was super excited to begin my internship as it would have been my first experience in a proper working environment. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, I had to work from home throughout my internship. Tackling “virtual internships” has become a new challenge in this “new normal”. I nonetheless wanted to make the most out of this experience. Starting my first week in Blackmores, it was a little overwhelming as everything was still new to me. But with time, things got better. I learnt to communicate more effectively which helped me in completing the tasks given. I enjoyed my journey with Blackmores, I did not feel left out as my supervisors were very kind and welcoming even though we were working remotely. During my internship, I worked with two departments, each for a period of 2 months. In the regulatory affairs department, I learnt various regulations on the pharmaceutical medicines/supplements. In the education and training department, I had the experience of communicating and dealing with potential clients or participants for various educational trainings with Blackmores.

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Interning for a well-renowned company that serves known supplements to many different countries in fast-paced, dynamic environment allows for something new to learn and to work on every day. The internship was a great learning opportunity for me and has helped me gain first-hand exposure of working. My virtual internship experience has definitely made me a better communicator, even though I had my doubts on the communication bit before I started my internship as it would be different communicating online as compared to face-to-face. The experience also allowed me to harness my knowledge and skills learnt from my university.

What was the most valuable lesson you picked up during the internship?

Enhanced knowledge is one of the most valuable things you can get during an internship. This involves learning how to complete tasks that are related to your intended career path and refining or improving your existing skills/abilities.

The most valuable lesson I picked up during my internship is to not overthink things. It’s easy to get caught up on little things while working remotely and also experience little hiccups along the way for example; Did I complete the task given as intended? Did I sound confident enough during that meeting? Could I have performed better if I was working in the office? While it is good to evaluate yourself but it is also equally important to not get too caught up on little things that often enough makes you lose sight of the bigger picture. An internship is meant to be a learning experience for yourself, instead of worrying or being critical on these little hiccups along the way, try to make the most out of this learning opportunity and never be afraid of asking questions. That is what I learnt during my time in Blackmores.

What’s next?

Now that I have had the experience working in a pharmaceutical company; mainly having the opportunity to help in the educational department and also conduct quality checking for product formulations/specifications, I wish to put my hands-on skills to the test. I have yet to explore so many different fields and see what I like or what attracts me the most. I would like to start off with working in a lab-based environment or something relatively close to that to gain more knowledge in the manufacturing field especially in formulating different drugs/medicines. I would also like to venture into the cosmeceutical industry someday.