“What started as a four-month internship for experience grew into a deeply engaging year-long affair into palm oil, when I decided to extend my internship with Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food. … mainly because I have witnessed the positive impact of palm oil and the Company’s efforts in achieving sustainability.”

“Truth be told, I was sceptical about palm oil… (My time) with GAR has been eye-opening for me, challenging my preconceived notions about the palm oil industry and even sustainability as a whole.”

“I realized I had never made an effort to know the facts before, and I simply took whatever I heard as the reality. Overall, these two months have been a wonderful learning journey for me. As I end my internship, I take with me new skills, friendship, reflections and fond memories”

I was an intern in the Treasury department in PT SMART for two months in 2018-2019. What made interning here unique was that I was treated the same as a full-time employee, and not given a different ‘intern treatment’. I was entrusted with actual responsibilities such as developing data for full-time employees in my department, and got to pick up real skills like the ERP system. What I really liked about the experience was that it pushed me out of my comfort zone, teaching me to communicate well with employees from other departments even though I am an introvert. My work was really more about developing myself, and less about administrative intern norms such as photocopying or scanning.

I am thankful to SMART Research Institute (SMARTRI) for giving me the opportunity to carry out an internship even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. I am conducting research on mycorrhizal infectivity in oil palm plants that have been attacked by Ganoderma. It is a great experience as I get to practice the theories that I have gotten from campus. The facilities here are also very complete and sophisticated. Besides adding to my technical knowledge, I’ve also built up on my soft skills such as discipline, thorough analysis, honesty, loyalty, and desire to try new things. The environment also motivates me to do better, for example, I challenge myself to present my internship results using English because our staff work reports here are also in English. I feel very fortunate to be an intern here. I love this place.

I did an internship with SMART Research Institute (SMARTRI) aimed at completing my Master degree with the University of Copenhagen. The topic of my study was about the potential carbon sequestration in oil palm plantations when recycling organic oil palm wastes, ie. empty fruit bunches, an important topic for climate change mitigation approach. I stayed for three months (Dec 2019 – Mar 2020) in SMARTRI, looking at soil profiles and doing soil sampling for carbon analysis in an experiment carried on by SMARTRI for 20 years. It was a very rich experience both professionally and personally. My work was varied and ranged from soil sampling in Lampung to near-infrared spectroscopy analyses in the laboratory in Riau. Working side-by-side with professional researchers provided me many research-oriented skills as well as in-depth knowledge of tropical soil sciences and management. Because my tasks were hands-on, I learned much more than what I would have, had I stayed at university. In addition, I had the opportunity to share knowledge I learned at the university regarding new techniques to assess the stability of carbon in the soil, an important factor regarding carbon behavior in the soil, that was not considered before my visit. In addition to the scientific knowledge I gained, I was able to get true insight into Indonesian culture and even attended a wedding here. I learned the basics of Bahasa Indonesia to communicate with the cooks and the workers on the plantations and to buy mangosteens at the market. I am very grateful for the warm welcome I received, the friends I made during my stay, and the knowledge I acquired!

I worked as a procurement intern for three months in the spot buy team, whose main task is to bid and purchase items required by the company and factories. This was my first experience in an office-type job and I liked that it was fast-paced; training me to always be on my toes. I learned technical skills like using the software required for bidding and my communication skills improved greatly as it was sometimes necessary for me to contact vendors. Additionally, I also like the work environment as well as my colleagues who provided me support throughout my internship. I was fortunate to be part of this mini talent show event they held annually at the end of year where all employees gathered to showcase a performance. It was a really nice company event that allowed colleagues to bond and de-stress.