Now I've learned a new lesson: NEVER LEAVE THINGS TO THE LAST MINUTE!!
Yesterday at 5 p.m. was the when the summer internship applications close. I was always relaxed about it, and instead of filling the application forms the days before, I decided to leave off my applications until yesterday. And yup, you guessed it, things went incredibly wrong. First of all, the internet at home wasn't working (oh yeah, they only do online applications and won't accept paper-based ones). So I had to go to Vic and use the internet at the library. Outside it was raining, but at 12 p.m. I went there by train and bus anyway, cos none of my parents could take me there by car (they went to a meeting at the Indonesian Embassy). So then when I arrived at the Vic library and logged on to the computer, I found out that my internet account was short of money (there was only 23 cents left in the account). I couldn't top up my account as well, cos they only accepted cash through EFTPOS, and there was no money left in my EFTPOS card.
I opened the Ernst&Young website anyway and started my online application. But in the middle of the application, suddenly the internet stopped working cos my internet account went to zero dollars. I panicked and went to the help desk to top up my account, in the hope that they could accept credit cards. And yes!! The help desk guy accepted my credit card, and topped up $5 into my internet account. He said the internet should work again in 15 minutes. So I waited and waited..
However, 15 minutes had passed.. then 20 minutes.. and 30 minutes after I topped up my account.. but the internet still wasn't working. I panicked again cos it was 3 p.m. already and I still haven't applied to any companies!! I only had 2 more hours until the deadline of the applications. So I went to the help desk again and told them about it, but the guy told me to be patient and wait. But I couldn't wait any longer! I was panicking and didn't know what to do! I had no choice but to wait and wait.. until it was 4 p.m. and still the internet wasn't working! So finally I logged off from the computer and decided to try using another computer, hoping that the internet might work in other computers.
And I was right!! The internet worked when I used another computer!! (Oh, but I also prayed to God when I was logging in, hehe). So I continued my online application at Ernst&Young. I thought the application was gonna be short and simple, but I was dead wrong!! They asked us stuffs like "Tell us about your experience as a team, what was your role? And what was the outcome from the teamwork?", and "Tell us about an achievement that you've experienced so far in life", and "Tell us about any business experience that you've had, and what you've learned from it", and bla bla bla et cetera!! I had to write a paragraph for each of those type of questions! And I didn't really know what to write because of the time pressure too (I only had about 45 minutes left until the applications close, and I still haven't applied to any companies!). So I sort of made things up and left off one question that was about business experience. I submitted my Ernst&Young application, and opened the KPMG and Deloitte websites.
I typed the stuffs into both applications quickly, and I wasn't sure whether I was typing everything correctly or not. But I didn't really care cos I only had like 5 minutes left until 5 p.m. So yup, at 4.56 p.m. I submitted my online applications to the two companies.
In the end, I only applied for a summer internship to three of the Big 4 international accounting firms: Deloitte, KPMG, and Ernst&Young. I wanted to apply to PricewaterhouseCoopers too, but there was no more time.
So yeah, from my experience here (as well as the MOFI201 test experience, which I studied only from the night before the test), I made a statement to myself that says:
"I will never leave things to the last minute, ever again!!!"
