Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Self-Sourcing of GII Internships

Is there an overseas internship that you chanced upon that you’re keen to join? Or perhaps you’ve come to hear about the various GII partners and past internship opportunities, but you have something different in mind. Then self-sourcing your own internship will be how the GII team recommends for you to embark on your GII journey and still receive the same administrative and financial support offered by the programme.

Application Process

  1. GII is open to all full-time SMU undergraduates who are returning for at least one semester of study after the programme.

  2. As GII is a cross-cultural programme and qualifies as an activity for clearance of the global exposure graduation requirement, students are not permitted to intern in the country of their citizenship (e.g. Vietnamese to Vietnam or Chinese to China).

  3. The internship must be related to innovation and/or entrepreneurship by being employed under these kinds of companies: Startups (preferably venture backed), Venture Capital firms, Innovation hubs, Incubators, and Accelerators.

  4. Existing GII partners are not eligible for self-sourced opportunities.

  5. A minimum of 12 weeks of Internship is required, starting from May to August.  

  6. Internships must involve overseas detachment and employers must be located in these priority GII destinations:
    • China
    • France
    • Indonesia
    • Malaysia
    • The Philippines
    • South Korea
    • Thailand
    • United States of America (New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley)
    • Vietnam

  7. For USA companies and the necessary J1 visa process to enter the country legally, these are additional criteria that the employer must meet.

Two Pathways for Self-Sourcing:

  1. Apply to GII 
    Students who apply to GII and get shortlisted have the benefit of being matched for opportunities sourced by the GII team. At the same time, students can go about self-sourcing their own opportunities.

  2. No Application Necessary
    Students need not apply for GII in order to self-source internships that can be recognised and supported by GII. However, this pathway won’t afford the benefit of being matched with opportunities sourced by the GII team. In addition, for students who didn’t get shortlisted for GII, the scrutiny for due diligence of the employers that are self-sourced will be higher to ensure that the internship is a quality offering.

  1. Scope internship opportunities based on the criteria provided

  2. AFTER securing an interview for the internship, but BEFORE having the interview, proceed to submit the form linked below so that the GII team can advise you whether it can be supported.

    If you happen to self-source more than one role, please note that the form will need to be submitted multiple times, once for each unique opportunity. If you happen to have already secured an internship, meaning that you’ve gone ahead to already accept an offer, you can also go ahead to submit the form linked below.

    Deadline to submit the form for GII 2024 internships is 15 March 2024

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