BRIDGING ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE THROUGH A STRUCTURED INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

An internship is a program offered to usually undergraduate or graduate students who interested in gaining work experience in particular industries. It offers students a hand-on experience and opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge in actual work. According to Human Resource online report published in December 2015, it mentioned that 70% of Malaysian employers disappointed with the quality of fresh graduates. Many of these employers attributed the poor ratings not to academic qualifications but rather attitudes and communication skills shown during interviews or at work. One of the initiatives taken by Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) to solve these issues is by offering a well-structured internship program to all undergraduate students. This program is designed to help students attain competencies and soft skills and bridge the gap between the learning and the doing apart from also fulfilling the accreditation status by the Engineering Accreditation Council of Malaysia. In 2012, this program was recognized as the ‘Best Structured Internship Program’ under Student Internship Programme (SIP) by Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad, a government agency that responsible to formulate and facilitate initiatives that address the availability of talent in line with the needs of the country’s economic transformation. Through this recognition, a company that hires Malaysian full-time undergraduates from UTP is eligible for double tax deduction incentive for related expenses incurred on the interns during the internship programme. UTP has made it compulsory for all students to undergo a seven-month (28 weeks) internship program at selected host company before completing their study period. Most of Petroleum Engineering students from UTP undergo their internship program at local, international or oil and gas related company which spread throughout Malaysia or even, overseas. The internship program is divided into two separate structures called Student Industrial Training (SIT) and Student Industrial Project (SIP) with total of 7 credit hours each which equivalent to two semesters academic load. Emphasis is placed on developing soft skills, such as communication, time management, leadership and teamwork during the SIT while during SIP, candidates are assigned to specific projects by the host company to experience managing real-project and apply theories learnt from university into practice. The students’ performances are evaluated through a structured assessment modes from both the UTP and host company supervisors throughout the SIT and SIP which will contribute to their cumulative grade point average (CGPA). From the analysis, it can be concluded that the program has been a success in developing students’ industry relevant skill sets through projects and practical experience. Many students also maintained ongoing relationships with their previous organizational partners beyond the terms of their internship. This paper intends to provide an overview of the internship program focusing mainly on the structure of the program, the implementation strategies, the assessment components, the analysis of students’ performance and last but not least the challenges in running the program for Petroleum Engineering students.