Post by Higgin Tay

Who Needs a Holiday When You Have a Learning Curve?🏖️ In hindsight, a three-month, off-cycle, voluntary non-credit-bearing internship with ExxonMobil from January to March was an unexpected and valuable opportunity. During my tenure, I was assigned as a Process Engineering Intern at SAR 2, where I navigated a steep learning curve, transitioning from classroom concepts to large-scale industrial operations in a fast-paced environment. Under the guidance of my mentor, Van Chien Truong, I was encouraged to work independently, even when it meant making mistakes along the way. These experiences ultimately accelerated my learning, strengthened my resourcefulness, and reinforced both the confidence and habit of asking questions. I am sincerely grateful for his guidance and mentorship throughout this journey. Along the way, Senior Process Engineers Martin Foo, Nishanth Prasad, Adrian Lai, and Hong Xiang How took me under their wing, generously sharing their experience and offering guidance beyond what was expected. Also, I am especially grateful that the internship programme was designed to enable interns to contribute meaningfully to the team’s efforts. I was entrusted with leading meetings, conducting feasibility analyses, and driving projects from initiation through to implementation under the guidance of Shaun Ng. Moreover, I would like to thank Swapnil Anjanikar for consistently challenging my understanding during our face-to-face discussions and encouraging me to go beyond task completion to focus on practical implementation. Lastly, I would like to thank Ghanashyam Mudaliar for sharing his wisdom and advice, Mohamad Albarakah and Viknesh Rajoo for their consistent check-ins, Jeanne L. for her patience and Yuhang GUO, Fang Ying Tan, Aurobind Ayer, and SU KEN JUN for taking the time to clarify my doubts. These small acts of support made a meaningful difference throughout my experience. With that, I sign off, grateful for this experience and excited for what lies ahead in Germany. #weareexxonmobil #processengineering #exxonmobil