NHF offers internship programmes for university students to develop talent
Posted on February 22, 2012, Wednesday
KUCHING: New Hoong Fatt Holdings Bhd (NHF), the country’s leading automotive replacement parts manufacturer and distributor, recently introduced its first three-month internship programme comprising university students.
“The purpose of our Internship Programme is twofold. Firstly, it provides a valuable opportunity for university students to experience what working life is really like. Over and above that, they also get the chance to put into practice some of the theory they have only studied from books so far.
“During the programme, they are exposed to real life situations and this helps develop their soft-skills. On a business level, it provides NHF with a pool of talent to meet our future human resource requirements,” explained NHF managing director Chin Jit Sin.
As part of NHF’s talent development programme and under close supervision, the interns have been assigned to various departments such as engineering, metal stamping, plastic electroplating and purchasing.
“The internship programme has helped me develop practical skills from the helpful team at NHF, and I have also been given the opportunity to apply some of the theoretical knowledge I have learnt as an engineering student.
“There have been certain challenges such as getting used to working in a factory environment and the distance involved in travelling to work. However, these small problems are outweighed by the value and benefits of the internship,” said Arthur Saw who is majoring in Mechanical Engineering at Taylors University.
Commenting on a different kind of challenge, Sophia Goh, an Investment Management student at Management Science University said it has been challenging working in a different field.
“But by going through an internship, I have gained more than the average student,” she added.
“Having worked in the purchasing department in metal division, I am now capable of negotiating successful transactions. I feel that I have learnt essential skills such as effective communication. Given the opportunity, I would like to return to NHF as an employee.”
“The Internship Programme is part of our Corporate Social Responsibility which is aimed at helping to develop the nation’s workforce and providing a steady stream of trained graduates for the manufacturing sector.
“Towards this end, NHF places a great deal of emphasis on talent development. We also have our first apprenticeship programme which started last year. Seeing the success of this first programme, we have plans to continue with a second apprenticeship programme later this year,” concluded Chin.
Aged between 22 to 24 years, NHF’s pioneer batch of eight interns, hail from engineering and business degree programmes.
