Farewell to Riqqah, a recent intern from Singapore, seen here holding the company mascot on her last day at the Rapid Asia office.
Employment market in the age of AI
In their 2019 report on ‘Future of Work’, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) predicted that artificial intelligence (AI) and automation would inevitably replace and change many jobs, impacting around one billion people worldwide during the next decade (1). Future university graduates will not only have to compete with their peers for a job, but also with AI. Moreover, having an academic qualification without relevant hands-on working experience reduces the chance of being employed, as companies are now moving towards skills-based hiring (2).
The value of an internship
Knowledge has become a cheap and accessible commodity, and much of what is taught in schools and universities becomes outdated within a short period of time. Skills, on the other hand, last a lifetime. The value of an internship goes beyond a few sentences in a resume (3), to showcase the development of actual skills and how they contributed to a real work environment. A good internship program should help interns develop skills like creative, analytical, and systems thinking. Along with technological literacy, resilience, flexibility, agility, curiosity, and other skills, they are considered the most important by employers in the next five years (Figure 1) (4).
Figure 1: Important skills in the future (Adapted from the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs 2025 Report, pp.35)
Rapid Asia’s Internship Program
The internship program at Rapid Asia started in 2014, with the aim of providing hands-on working experience to graduates and professionals who were interested in development programs, project management, and social research. Since then, more than 40 interns have been hosted from 11 countries (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Countries of past interns at Rapid Asia
Our program’s impact
The impact of the internship program so far can be summarized as follows:
- Most of the interns successfully secured a job, including in the government, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), and private companies.
- Some pursued further education in top universities like UCLA and LSE.
- Some became full time staff at Rapid Asia or were hired as consultants or freelancers.
“At Rapid Asia, I was able to refine my research skills. It gave me the confidence to formulate and conduct research on my own. At present, people are more reliant on AI to conduct research and provide information, often without verifying its credibility. In my opinion, having the skills to gather information or conduct research by yourself is still important.”
Intern from Thailand
“I thank Dewi and Daniel for a great time and I am very happy to have met them and hope to see them again. Wish you all the best for your future.”
Intern from Germany
Past interns have said that the program has helped them develop their analytical skills, enhance their dependability and attention to detail, and boost their confidence working in a professional setting. In addition, they appreciated the welcoming office environment and having a sense of belonging. Many alumni have continued to support Rapid Asia directly or indirectly, after their internship was completed, forming long-lasting personal and professional relationships.
Conclusion
The global employment landscape is increasingly driven by AI and automation. As a result, employers prefer to hire candidates with hands-on working experience and who have the ability to think analytically, critically, and creatively. An internship can help graduates or professionals looking to transition into different careers to gain valuable working experiences and develop their personal and professional skills. The Rapid Asia internship program has been running for 11 years and has helped graduates and professionals to obtain good jobs and contribute to their skills development. The Rapid Asia team is grateful for the continued support from past alumni and wish them success in their future careers.
Rapid Asia is highly committed to support sustainable and responsible business practices to make differences to our society. If you found this article useful, please remember to ‘Like’ and share on social media and hit the ‘Follow’ button on our LinkedIn never to miss an article.
Rapid Asia is also running an internship program to explore opportunities and learn more about our program from our alumnae. Please click here.
About the authors: Daniel Lindgren is the Founder of Rapid Asia Co., Ltd., a management consultancy firm based in Bangkok that specialises in evaluations for programs, projects, social marketing campaigns and other social development initiatives. Co-author, Sui Seng Ng is a Project Assistant at Rapid Asia.
Bibliography
- OECD. (2019). OECD Employment Outlook 2019: The Future of Work, OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/9ee00155-en
- Byas K. Why Your College Degree Might Not Be Enough in Today’s Economy [Internet]. Investopedia. 2025. Available from: https://www.investopedia.com/college-degree-enough-to-succeed-11679624
- The importance of internships for your career: 11 reasons – MyLaTrobe [Internet]. MyLaTrobe. 2024. Available from: https://www.latrobe.edu.au/mylatrobe/the-importance-of-internships/
- World Economic Forum. The Future of Jobs Report 2025 [Internet]. Geneva: World Economic Forum; 2025. Available from: https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_Report_2025.pdf