I was quite scared for my first-ever office job, but it’s been a good start.
The people there are really good and have been treating me very kindly.
From previous research, I knew that the company I am at right now regularly takes interns. Still, after being at my department for a week I have figured that this department is one of the departments that take more interns than the others. There are currently 3 other interns besides me, all university students.
This means the team is used to having newbies around, and thus they’re used to teaching the interns and it’s much easier for me to blend in.
Also means I have people that are really close in age with me that I can talk quite casually to.
So it’s been a not-too-difficult transition.
Also, this is something I felt personally and not a rigid rule or anything, but the company is Singaporean and runs mostly on Singaporean norms.
It’s the famous “Singaporean time”- no one really runs on a rigid time schedule.
I’ve been trying my best to be prompt on time for the start of the day, and to be there around 5 or 10 minutes before my contract times indicated, but everyone kind of trickles in after that indicated time and the whole department finally arrives around 45 minutes to 1 hour later than the start times.
To be honest, it’s a little sad and lonely to be the only one in the office for a full 15 minutes.
I might need to start arriving a little later.
It is great to not be stressed about arriving on time in the mornings.
I haven’t been late or overslept at all for now, but the train stations can be crowded, and to have that time and emotional allowance to skip a train that is too crowded or to wait in line for the escalator really reduces stress.
