The self-made intern: Why Gen Zs are self-sourcing internships in the US

A growing number of young Singaporeans are taking charge of their career paths by self-sourcing internships in the US that match their interests and ambitions. Others have found opportunities with school-sourced internships, though they may be in more limited quantity.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF ANGELYN LIM, TRAVIS SIM, SURESH KUMAR BALAVIGNESH AND NG YUAN YUAN

Published Sep 05, 2026, 09:20 AM

Updated Sep 05, 2026, 09:20 AM

Gen Z Singaporean students are increasingly self-sourcing internships in the US, especially in emerging fields like AI, cybersecurity and crypto.

Self-sourcing in the US offers autonomy and tailored opportunities but requires persistence, networking, and handling visa and logistical challenges independently.

Universities support self-sourcing but face limits in US placements; students balance school-sourced internships for security with self-sourced ones for better career alignment.

SINGAPORE – It took around 300 e-mails to more than 100 companies in the United States for Singaporean Jayce Lye, 25, to land his first self-sourced internship. This was at Maihem, a Y Combinator-backed software company headquartered in San Francisco in August 2024.

Y Combinator is an American start-up accelerator that provides seed funding, guidance and networking to early-stage companies. It has helped launch home rental business Airbnb, live-streaming service Twitch and social media platform and online forum Reddit, among others.

For Lye, the effort was driven by a desire to work at the forefront of artificial intelligence security and safety, and to do so in the US, where much of the work in this field originates.

“I was very focused on the AI security and safety space, which looks at how to ensure AI models don’t get exploited and are safely and securely deployed,” says Lye, a final-year Singapore Management University (SMU) student studying information systems and digital business.

“A lot of this frontier technology work is done in the US. Naturally, that also means US companies tend to have an advantage in terms of the latest technologies and the best talents . It is why I was motivated to self-source for an internship there .”

His six-month internship at Maihem gave him the opportunity to learn, design and develop AI software alongside talented individuals in a team of five from all over the world – albeit remotely from Singapore.

He worked mostly from his Yishun flat bedroom – at times having to take calls at 11pm due to the time difference – and was unable to immerse himself in the work environment he had hoped to experience in the San Francisco head office.

“I feel the main difference between doing an internship in Singapore and in the US is experiencing the talent density and being among people who are comfortable with taking more risks and who move faster,” he says.

Determined to get that first-hand experience, Lye tried again.

Another 100 e-mails and scores of networking events later, he secured a four-month internship at American software start-up Mintara Labs from October 2025 to January 2026, while completing two semesters on an exchange programme at the University of California, Berkeley.

It was an unpaid internship, but he was just grateful for the opportunity to learn from other talented people in the field.

Jayce Lye (right) with his boss during his Mintara Labs internship in Berkeley. PHOTO: COURTESY OF JAYCE LYE

Jayce Lye (right) with his boss during his Mintara Labs internship in Berkeley.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF JAYCE LYE

Lye is among a growing number of young Singaporeans taking charge of their own career paths by self-sourcing internships that match their interests and ambitions.

They are not waiting on their universities or career guidance counsellors to hook them up with existing industry attachments, and are actively hunting down their own leads and cold-e-mailing scores of companies.

For some, that search increasingly extends beyond Singapore.

The US, in particular, is a prime destination for those seeking work experience in emerging industries such as AI, cybersecurity and digital transformation, despite growing visa uncertainties and escalating global tensions.

This trend also reflects a broader shift among Gen Z undergraduates. Born between 1997 and 2012, these digital natives, who are aged between 14 and 29 and have grown up with unprecedented access to information and professional networks, are channelling a new-found resourcefulness and hunger to seek out opportunities beyond traditional school channels.

Huo Yasi, deputy director of SMU’s Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, estimates that the number of students who have successfully self-sourced their own internships doubled between May 2023 and August 2026. She says her department does not track numbers, but has observed a surge in inquiries around self-sourcing.

“There are students who know exactly what they want out of their internships and students who want to explore their options. In both cases, today, having the autonomy to choose is critical,” she says.

Susanna Leong, deputy president (academic) and provost at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), describes students of today as being “more intentional in their career planning” and seeking internships that “provide both professional growth and personal development”.

She says: “We observe stronger interest in emerging industries, global exposure, interdisciplinary work, and organisations whose values align with their own, reflecting a generation that wants to make tangible contributions, not just observe.”

Pushing through uncertainty

The latent desire for a US internship in a cutting-edge firm, however, does not always align with what universities can presently offer.

SMU’s Huo says the school sees an average of around four US internship placements annually, but the number ebbs and flows depending on prevailing entry requirements to the US.

Visa requirements have also been particularly volatile under the Donald Trump administration, with multiple changes to student visa rules implemented over the past year.

One of the most recent changes was announced on July 16 and is set to take effect in September . It will introduce stricter visa rules for international students entering the US , including replacing open-ended periods of stay with fixed admission periods of up to four years.

Yet, such uncertainty has not deterred Nanyang Technological University (NTU) undergraduate Angelyn Lim, 29 , from pursuing a self-sourced internship in New York.

She is on a six-month internship at Y Combinator-backed Rove Miles, a travel loyalty and rewards start-up, that ends in December.

This is not her first internship in New York.

In January, she embarked on a six-month school-sourced opportunity at a New York senator’s office where she gained exposure to working in a communications team. The largely administrative role she played made her hanker for a role with greater scope.

While working there, she hunted down internship opportunities in New York before returning to Singapore.

Lim estimates sending e-mails to around 28 US companies after connecting with hundreds of professionals on social networking platform LinkedIn.

“I was ghosted by more than 90 per cent (of the people I reached out to),” says Lim, who is in her third year reading linguistics and multilingual studies.

“I didn’t want an experience just for the sake of having it on my LinkedIn page. I’d rather have something I could actually learn from and for it to be a valuable experience, especially because I already had previous work experiences.”

Angelyn Lim hopes to attend Yale University in Connecticut for her master’s degree. PHOTO: COURTESY OF ANGELYN LIM

Angelyn Lim hopes to attend Yale University in Connecticut for her master’s degree.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF ANGELYN LIM

Lim – who has held full-time corporate roles at Changi Airport Group and low-cost carrier Scoot, and worked as a flight attendant at national carrier Singapore Airlines for around two years – was advised to leverage her experience in the aviation industry.

After refining her resume, she reached out to Y Combinator start-ups operating in the aviation industry.

One such start-up was Rove Miles. She e-mailed its founders, engineers and communications team personally. To her surprise, she received a favourable reply the following day.

Securing the internship was only the first hurdle. It took her around 2½ months to obtain a J1 visa, longer than the usual timeline of roughly a month, because of unexpected logistical and administrative issues.

The J1 visa in the US is a non-immigrant visa category for individuals approved to participate in work- and study-based exchange visitor programmes.

Lim has had to make other lifestyle and expectation adjustments.

“It is definitely not as safe in New York as it is in Singapore. But I know I’ll regret it if I don’t take up the opportunity to explore what is here, and to expand and grow, both personally and professionally,” she says.

Appeal of going it alone

Like Lim, National University of Singapore undergraduate Travis Sim, 24, also participated in a school-sourced internship in New York before pivoting to a self-sourced opportunity. He is in his penultimate year of a double degree in computer science and business administration.

From August 2025 to March 2026, he took up a software engineering internship at an AI start-up in the Big Apple. Interested in the niche crypto-trading industry, he attended networking events there and joined relevant Telegram groups to interact with start-up founders and find potential internship opportunities.

Travis Sim (far right) with colleagues from the company he interned at, Momentum, at a co-working space in New York. PHOTO: COURTESY OF TRAVIS SIM

Travis Sim (far right) with colleagues from the company he interned at, Momentum, at a co-working space in New York.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF TRAVIS SIM

In February, Sim sent an open appeal message in one of the groups – which had around 300 members – to ask if anyone was looking for an intern. To his surprise, he received one favourable reply.

“It was definitely out of my comfort zone to ask for an internship in a huge group chat because most of the people there are start-up founders . I don’t think there are many interns or students in those groups ,” he says.

His unabashed request led to an interview with the co-founders and chief technology officer of crypto-trading app start-up Momentum, eventually leading to a four-month internship that paid US$3,500 (S$4,400) monthly.

For Sim, the appeal of living in New York was both professional and personal.

“I feel like New York is the financial capital of the world. Since I want to do something related to finance and start-ups, it was my top choice,” he says.

For comparison, the US attracted US$541 billion in venture capital funding between June 2025 and June 2026, according to global data and intelligence platform Dealroom.co – the highest in the world. Singapore, in eighth place, raised US$8.6 billion.

But beyond New York’s vast economic clout and a high concentration of start-ups, Sim was drawn to the experience of living there.

“New York is featured in a lot of movies and it’s very iconic. Living there felt surreal. I stayed in the same street as the Empire State Building, and sometimes I’d walk out of my apartment building and see celebrities cycling past,” he says, adding that his salary barely covered the rent for his roughly 8 sq m room in a student accommodation building in 34th Street.

After deducting taxes, he estimates taking home around US$2,800, of which US$2,000 went to paying rent. In order to make the most of his time in New York, he dipped into his savings to pay for monthly expenses, which included sightseeing and domestic travel.

Despite the high living costs, it was an opportunity he knew he did not want to miss out on. “After travelling to other states like Washington, Boston and Philadelphia, I feel New York is where all the action is,” he says.

To self-source or not?

According to students whom The Straits Times spoke to, self-sourcing is particularly useful when looking for internships in emerging markets and niche industries.

Such opportunities can be harder for universities to secure through established routes, particularly when they involve nascent industries or smaller companies unlikely to have internship programmes.

As career paths become more diverse, educational institutions are also increasingly open to students sourcing for their own opportunities.

Gan Chee Lip, vice-provost for undergraduate education at NTU, says: “Building partnerships with overseas employers requires sustained engagement and considerable resources. In markets such as the US, where companies have access to a large pool of highly qualified local students seeking internships, competition for positions is especially strong.

“We encourage students to complement the opportunities available through the university by proactively exploring and applying for suitable roles independently.”

Students like Sim understand the constraints faced by universities, particularly when only a very limited number of companies in attractive economies like the US might be open to hosting overseas students.

“Sometimes, we might get allocated jobs and industries that are not the most suitable for us. But at the internship I found on my own, I felt that the experience served me better,” he says.

Self-sourcing also gives students greater control over what they sign up for. They can assess the scope of a role themselves, ask potential employers questions directly and decide whether the experience will contribute meaningfully to their career goals.

But that autonomy comes at a cost. Finding suitable companies, sending out dozens – even hundreds – of cold e-mails and attending networking events can take months. Students also have to contend with multiple rejections and manage their own expectations as to how soon, if at all, they get a response.

Lim says: “Many people would tell me that for every 500 e-mails, if I manage to get two replies and land one internship, I’m really very lucky already.”

Sim adds: “The toughest part of self-sourcing was needing to keep on trying.”

For most students, the support and certainty offered by school-sourced internships is preferred.

Undergraduate Ng Yuan Yuan, 24, who is in her final year reading communication and digital media at SIT, is now on an eight-month internship with American advertising agency Admerasia in New York until December. It was arranged by her university.

Ng Yuan Yuan (left) is on an eight-month internship with American advertising agency Admerasia in New York. PHOTO: COURTESY OF NG YUAN YUAN

Ng Yuan Yuan (left) is on an eight-month internship with American advertising agency Admerasia in New York.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF NG YUAN YUAN

“I felt more confident knowing that I was going with a school-sourced option. If I was going on a self-sourced internship, I think I would have had to handle more on my own,” she says.

The school works with a US-based facilitator who provides help with visa applications and logistics, such as housing, and offers pastoral care to students while they are abroad.

While Ng declined to reveal her internship pay, she says it is above US$2,000 a month, which she feels is about the market rate.

The same goes for Suresh Kumar Balavignesh, 25, a computing science undergraduate on a joint programme between SIT and the University of Glasgow, who completed an eight-month school-sourced internship at regulatory technology company Advanced GRC in New York from August 2025 to April 2026.

His internship paid US$2,800 a month – or around US$2,000 after taxes – of which US$1,000 went to his accommodation in New Jersey, a four-bedroom apartment he shared with three others . He commuted around 20 minutes to work in Manhattan via public transport .

The opportunity, which appeared on his school internship portal, aligned with his interests in software engineering and AI , and he went for it. To land it, he felt he had to edge out the competition only among his coursemates – and not the whole world .

Suresh Kumar Balavignesh completed his internship in New York in April and hopes to be able to return to the US for work in the future. PHOTO: COURTESY OF SURESH KUMAR BALAVIGNESH

Suresh Kumar Balavignesh completed his internship in New York in April and hopes to be able to return to the US for work in the future.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF SURESH KUMAR BALAVIGNESH

“I feel that self-sourcing is a lot more competitive than going through a school. When I go through the school portal, I’m competing with just my peers and not every other student in Singapore,” he says.

Tips for self-sourcing your own US internship

Self-sourcing an internship in the US can be highly competitive, but students who have successfully navigated the process say a strategic approach to networking, research and outreach can improve one’s chances.

Sim recommends using Luma, a free San Francisco-based events management platform, to identify relevant networking events and expand one’s professional networks. Through events he found on Luma, he connected with individuals in New York University’s Blockchain Lab, as well as professionals working in the AI and cryptocurrency industries.

“New York is definitely the centre of where all these decentralised finance crypto start-ups are located. By attending relevant events, I could meet founders, builders and operators in the space more easily,” he says.

Lye recommends using AI tools to streamline research on prospective employers and identify their business challenges. This allows students to develop more targeted proposals and demonstrate during the interview process how their skills and experience can directly address a company’s needs.

“Try to tie your suggested solutions to your own experiences. Ideally, you should be able to convey why the opportunity is important and meaningful to you, as well as how you can best help the company,” he says.

“It will take up time, but with AI, it shrinks the amount of effort you need to put in for each company.”

Lim found that looking beyond conventional job platforms also expanded her options. She recommends checking the Y Combinator job portal, where opportunities at start-ups have already been vetted for legitimacy and have some financial backing.

Nothing beats the personal touch, she says. She suggests identifying founders or relevant team members and e-mailing them directly, rather than relying on generic company e-mail addresses. Use LinkedIn to identify the appropriate contact and reach out personally or research their professional background to better prepare for potential interviews, she advises.

The effort has been made worthwhile by the experience she gained in New York. “It is when you’re in a vastly different environment that you realise how people talk about different things and have a different perspective on life. Your world view changes,” she says.

“I don’t want to settle. I know that there is so much more to learn out here and if I don’t try, I just won’t feel fulfilled.”

Sarah Stanley is a journalist at The Straits Times who covers travel, lifestyle and aviation.

越来越多的新加坡年轻人开始主动规划职业道路，自行寻找符合自身兴趣和抱负的美国实习机会。也有一些人通过学校提供的实习岗位找到机会，但这类机会可能相对有限。

照片：由 ANGELYN LIM、TRAVIS SIM、SURESH KUMAR BALAVIGNESH 和 NG Yuan Yuan 提供

发布于 2026 年 9 月 5 日上午 9:20

更新于2026年9月5日上午9:20

新加坡 Z 世代学生越来越多地自行寻找在美国的实习机会，尤其是在人工智能、网络安全和加密货币等新兴领域。

在美国自主寻找工作机会可以提供自主权和量身定制的机会，但需要坚持不懈、建立人脉，并独立处理签证和后勤方面的挑战。

大学支持学生自主寻找实习机会，但在美国实习岗位方面面临限制；学生需要在学校提供的实习机会（以确保就业稳定）和自主寻找实习机会（以更好地匹配职业发展）之间取得平衡。

新加坡——25岁的新加坡青年杰斯·莱（Jayce Lye）向美国100多家公司发送了约300封电子邮件，才最终获得他的第一份自主求职实习机会。这份实习是在Maihem公司，这是一家由Y Combinator投资的软件公司，总部位于旧金山，实习期为2024年8月。

Y Combinator是一家美国创业加速器，为早期公司提供种子资金、指导和人脉资源。它曾帮助Airbnb（一家房屋租赁公司）、Twitch（直播服务平台）和Reddit（社交媒体平台及在线论坛）等公司成功启动运营。

对莱伊而言，这项努力的动力源于他渴望在人工智能安全领域的前沿工作，并且希望在美国开展这项工作，因为该领域的许多工作都起源于美国。

“我非常专注于人工智能安全领域，研究如何确保人工智能模型不被利用，以及如何安全可靠地部署，”Lye说道，他是新加坡管理大学（SMU）信息系统和数字商业专业的应届毕业生。

“很多前沿技术研究都是在美国进行的。自然而然，这也意味着美国公司在最新技术和顶尖人才方面往往具有优势。正因如此，我才积极主动地去美国寻找实习机会。”

他在 Maihem 的六个月实习让他有机会与来自世界各地的五位才华横溢的团队成员一起学习、设计和开发人工智能软件——尽管他们是在新加坡远程办公。

他主要在义顺的公寓卧室里工作——有时由于时差，不得不在晚上 11 点接听电话——因此无法沉浸在他希望在旧金山总部体验到的工作环境中。

他说：“我觉得在新加坡和在美国实习的主要区别在于，你能感受到人才密度，并且能和那些更愿意承担风险、行动更快的人在一起。”

为了获得第一手经验，莱伊再次尝试。

又过了 100 封电子邮件和数十场社交活动之后，他终于在美国软件初创公司 Mintara Labs 获得了一份为期四个月的实习机会，时间从 2025 年 10 月到 2026 年 1 月，同时他还在加州大学伯克利分校完成了两个学期的交换项目。

这是一份无薪实习，但他很感激有机会向该领域其他有才华的人学习。

杰斯·莱（右）在伯克利Mintara Labs实习期间与他的老板合影。照片由杰斯·莱提供。

Jayce Lye（右）在伯克利 Mintara Labs 实习期间与他的老板合影。

照片：由杰斯·莱伊提供

Lye 是越来越多通过自主寻找符合自己兴趣和抱负的实习机会来掌控自己职业道路的新加坡年轻人之一。

他们不等大学或职业指导顾问帮他们联系现有的行业实习机会，而是积极主动地寻找机会，并向数十家公司发送陌生邮件。

对一些人来说，这种寻找的范围正逐渐扩展到新加坡以外。

尽管签证不确定性日益增加，全球紧张局势不断升级，但美国仍然是那些希望在人工智能、网络安全和数字化转型等新兴行业获得工作经验的人们的首选目的地。

这一趋势也反映了Z世代大学生群体中更广泛的转变。这些出生于1997年至2012年间的数字原住民，年龄在14至29岁之间，成长于信息和职业网络空前发达的时代，如今正将这种新获得的资源利用能力和渴望转化为行动力，积极寻求传统学校渠道之外的机会。

新加坡管理大学创新创业研究院副院长霍亚思估计，2023年5月至2026年8月期间，成功自主寻找实习机会的学生人数翻了一番。她说，她的部门没有追踪具体数字，但观察到有关自主寻找实习机会的咨询量激增。

“有些学生非常清楚自己想要从实习中获得什么，而有些学生则希望探索各种可能性。无论哪种情况，如今拥有自主选择权都至关重要，”她说道。

新加坡理工大学 (SIT) 副校长（学术）兼教务长梁淑芬 (Susanna Leong) 表示，如今的学生“在职业规划方面更有目标”，并且会寻求“既能提供职业成长又能提供个人发展”的实习机会。

她说：“我们观察到，人们对新兴产业、全球视野、跨学科工作以及价值观与自身相符的组织表现出越来越浓厚的兴趣，这反映出一代人希望做出切实贡献，而不仅仅是旁观。”

克服不确定性

然而，人们渴望在美国一家前沿公司实习，但这与大学目前能够提供的机会并不总是相符。

新加坡管理大学的霍表示，该校每年平均有大约四个美国实习岗位，但这个数字会根据当时赴美的入境要求而波动。

在唐纳德·特朗普政府执政期间，签证要求也变得尤为不稳定，过去一年中学生签证规则发生了多次变化。

其中一项最新变化于7月16日宣布，并将于9月生效。该变化将对进入美国的国际学生实施更严格的签证规定，包括将无限期停留期限改为最长四年的固定入境期限。

然而，这种不确定性并没有阻止南洋理工大学 (NTU) 本科生 Angelyn Lim（29 岁）在纽约寻求一份自己寻找的实习机会。

她目前在 Y Combinator 支持的旅行忠诚度和奖励初创公司 Rove Miles 进行为期六个月的实习，实习将于 12 月结束。

这并非她第一次在纽约实习。

一月份，她参加了学校安排的为期六个月的实习项目，在纽约州一位参议员的办公室工作，接触到了通讯团队的工作。她主要负责行政工作，这让她渴望承担更重要的职责。

在新加坡工作期间，她还积极寻找在纽约的实习机会，之后才返回新加坡。

Lim估计，在通过社交网络平台LinkedIn与数百名专业人士建立联系后，他向大约28家美国公司发送了电子邮件。

“我联系的人中，超过 90% 的人都对我置之不理，”林说道，她目前是语言学和多语言研究专业的三年级学生。

“我不想仅仅为了在领英页面上添上经历而去做这件事。我更希望获得一些真正能让我学习到东西、有价值的经历，尤其是我已经有一些工作经验了。”

林安琪希望前往康涅狄格州的耶鲁大学攻读硕士学位。照片：由林安琪提供

Angelyn Lim希望在康涅狄格州的耶鲁大学攻读硕士学位。

照片：由 ANGELyn LIM 提供

林女士曾在樟宜机场集团和廉价航空公司酷航担任全职企业职务，并在新加坡航空公司担任过大约两年的空乘人员，有人建议她充分利用自己在航空业的经验。

在完善简历后，她联系了在航空业运营的 Y Combinator 创业公司。

其中一家初创公司是Rove Miles。她亲自给这家公司的创始人、工程师和公关团队发了邮件。令她惊讶的是，第二天她就收到了积极的回复。

获得实习机会只是第一道难关。由于一些意想不到的后勤和行政问题，她花了大约两个半月的时间才拿到J1签证，比通常大约一个月的时间要长得多。

美国的 J1 签证是一种非移民签证类别，适用于获准参加以工作和学习为基础的交流访问项目的个人。

林先生不得不对生活方式和期望值做出其他调整。

“纽约肯定不如新加坡安全。但我知道，如果我不抓住机会来这里探索，不来这里拓展和成长，无论在个人方面还是职业方面，我都会后悔的。”她说。

单打独斗的吸引力

与林同学一样，24岁的新加坡国立大学本科生Travis Sim也曾参加过学校安排的纽约实习项目，之后转而寻找自主实习机会。他目前正在攻读计算机科学和工商管理双学位，即将毕业。

从2025年8月到2026年3月，他在纽约一家人工智能初创公司担任软件工程师实习生。他对加密货币交易这个小众行业很感兴趣，因此参加了当地的各种交流活动，并加入了相关的Telegram群组，与初创公司的创始人互动，寻找潜在的实习机会。

特拉维斯·西姆（最右）与他实习公司 Momentum 的同事们在纽约一家联合办公空间合影。照片由特拉维斯·西姆提供。

特拉维斯·西姆（最右）与他实习的公司 Momentum 的同事们在纽约的一个联合办公空间合影。

照片：由 Travis Sim 提供

今年二月，沈先生在一个拥有约300名成员的群组里发布了一条公开招聘信息，询问是否有人需要实习生。令他惊讶的是，他收到了一份积极的回复。

“在一个大型群聊里请求实习机会，这绝对超出了我的舒适区，因为那里的大多数人都是创业公司的创始人。我认为那些群里应该没有多少实习生或学生，”他说。

他毫不掩饰的请求促成了与加密货币交易应用程序初创公司 Momentum 的联合创始人兼首席技术官的面试，最终获得了为期四个月的实习机会，每月薪酬为 3,500 美元（4,400 新元）。

对Sim来说，住在纽约的吸引力既在于职业发展，也在于个人生活。

“我觉得纽约是世界金融中心。因为我想从事与金融和创业相关的工作，所以纽约是我的首选，”他说。

相比之下，据全球数据和情报平台Dealroom.co的数据显示，2025年6月至2026年6月期间，美国吸引了5410亿美元的风险投资，位居全球之首。新加坡排名第八，筹集了86亿美元。

但除了纽约巨大的经济实力和大量初创企业之外，Sim 还被在那里生活的经历所吸引。

“纽约经常出现在很多电影里，它非常具有标志性。住在那里感觉很不真实。我住在帝国大厦所在的同一条街上，有时候我走出公寓楼就能看到名人骑着自行车经过，”他说，并补充道，他的工资勉强够支付他在34街学生公寓里那间大约8平方米房间的租金。

扣除税款后，他估计到手约2800美元，其中2000美元用于支付房租。为了充分利用在纽约的时间，他动用了积蓄来支付每月开支，包括观光和国内旅行。

尽管生活成本很高，但他知道自己不想错过这个机会。“去过华盛顿、波士顿和费城等其他州之后，我觉得纽约才是真正充满活力的地方，”他说。

是否自行采购？

据《海峡时报》采访的学生称，在新兴市场和小众行业寻找实习机会时，自主寻找实习机会尤其有用。

大学通过既定途径获得此类机会可能比较困难，尤其是当这些机会涉及新兴行业或不太可能设有实习项目的小型公司时。

随着职业道路变得越来越多元化，教育机构也越来越鼓励学生自主寻找发展机会。

南洋理工大学本科教育副教务长颜志立表示：“与海外雇主建立合作关系需要持续的投入和大量的资源。在美国等市场，企业可以接触到大量高素质的本地学生，他们都在寻求实习机会，因此实习岗位的竞争尤其激烈。”

“我们鼓励学生除了利用大学提供的机会外，还应积极主动地独立寻找和申请合适的职位。”

像沈这样的学生了解大学面临的限制，尤其是在像美国这样有吸引力的经济体中，只有极少数公司愿意招收海外学生。

“有时候，我们可能会被分配到一些并不适合自己的工作和行业。但在我自己找到的那份实习中，我觉得这段经历对我的帮助更大，”他说。

自主寻找实习机会也让学生对自己选择的工作拥有更大的掌控权。他们可以自行评估工作内容，直接向潜在雇主提问，并决定这段经历是否能为他们的职业目标做出有意义的贡献。

但这种自主性是有代价的。寻找合适的公司、发送几十封甚至几百封陌生邮件以及参加社交活动可能需要数月时间。学生们还必须面对多次拒绝，并调整自己对何时（甚至是否）能收到回复的预期。

林说：“很多人会告诉我，如果我每发出 500 封电子邮件，能够收到两封回复并获得一份实习机会，那我已经非常幸运了。”

Sim补充道：“自主采购最难的部分在于需要不断尝试。”

对于大多数学生来说，学校提供的实习机会能够提供支持和保障，因此更受青睐。

24岁的吴媛媛是新加坡理工大学传播与数字媒体专业的应届本科生，目前正在纽约的美国广告公司Admerasia进行为期八个月的实习，实习期至12月。这次实习是由她的大学安排的。

吴媛媛（左）目前在纽约的美国广告公司Admerasia进行为期八个月的实习。照片由吴媛媛提供。

吴媛媛（左）正在纽约的美国广告公司 Admerasia 进行为期八个月的实习。

照片：由吴媛媛提供

“我知道自己选择的是学校提供的实习机会，这让我更有信心。如果我自己去找实习，我想我需要自己处理更多的事情，”她说。

学校与一家美国中介机构合作，为学生提供签证申请和后勤方面的帮助，例如住宿，并在学生出国期间提供心理辅导。

虽然吴女士拒绝透露她的实习薪水，但她表示每月超过 2000 美元，她认为这差不多是市场价。

同样的情况也发生在 25 岁的 Suresh Kumar Balavignesh 身上，他是 SIT 和格拉斯哥大学联合培养的计算机科学本科生，他于 2025 年 8 月至 2026 年 4 月在纽约的监管技术公司 Advanced GRC 完成了为期八个月的学校实习。

他的实习月薪为2800美元，税后约为2000美元，其中1000美元用于支付他在新泽西州的住宿费用，那是一套四居室公寓，他与另外三人合租。他每天乘坐公共交通工具通勤到曼哈顿上班，大约需要20分钟。

这个机会出现在他学校的实习门户网站上，与他对软件工程和人工智能的兴趣不谋而合，于是他决定申请。为了拿下这个机会，他觉得自己只需要在同学中脱颖而出，而不是在全世界的竞争中胜出。

苏雷什·库马尔·巴拉维格内什于四月完成了在纽约的实习，并希望将来能够重返美国工作。照片：由苏雷什·库马尔·巴拉维格内什提供

Suresh Kumar Balavignesh 于四月在纽约完成了实习，并希望将来能够回到美国工作。

照片：由苏雷什·库马尔·巴拉维格内什提供

“我觉得自费申请比通过学校申请竞争激烈得多。通过学校网站申请时，我只和同龄人竞争，而不是和新加坡所有其他学生竞争，”他说。

如何自行寻找美国实习机会的建议

在美国，自己寻找实习机会竞争非常激烈，但成功完成这一过程的学生表示，采取策略性的人脉拓展、研究和宣传方法可以提高成功率。

Sim 推荐使用 Luma，这是一个位于旧金山的免费活动管理平台，可以用来寻找相关的社交活动并拓展职业人脉。他通过 Luma 找到的活动，结识了纽约大学区块链实验室的成员，以及人工智能和加密货币行业的专业人士。

“纽约无疑是所有这些去中心化金融加密初创公司的聚集地。通过参加相关活动，我可以更容易地结识这个领域的创始人、建设者和运营者，”他说道。

莱伊建议利用人工智能工具简化对潜在雇主的调研流程，并识别其面临的业务挑战。这有助于学生制定更具针对性的求职方案，并在面试过程中充分展示自身技能和经验如何直接满足公司的需求。

“尽量将你提出的解决方案与你自身的经历联系起来。理想情况下，你应该能够阐明为什么这个机会对你来说很重要、很有意义，以及你如何才能最好地帮助公司，”他说。

“这需要时间，但有了人工智能，就能减少每家公司需要投入的精力。”

林发现，跳出传统求职平台的局限，也能拓宽她的选择范围。她建议大家可以看看Y Combinator的招聘门户网站，那里的初创公司职位都经过了审核，确保了其真实性和一定的资金支持。

她表示，没有什么比亲自沟通更有效。她建议找到创始人或相关团队成员，直接给他们发邮件，而不是依赖公司通用的邮箱地址。她建议，可以利用领英找到合适的联系人，亲自联系他们，或者研究他们的职业背景，以便更好地准备可能的面试。

她在纽约的经历让她觉得一切努力都是值得的。“当你身处一个截然不同的环境时，你会意识到人们谈论事情的方式不同，对生活的看法也不同。你的世界观也会随之改变。”她说。

“我不想安于现状。我知道这世上还有很多东西需要学习，如果我不去尝试，我就不会感到满足。”

Sarah Stanley 是《海峡时报》的一名记者，主要报道旅游、生活方式和航空方面的新闻。