Perks and What Not's

Perks and What-not’s (Week 9 and 10)

Aside from the fact that Nestle gives good training to their interns, there is also something else that might be too cliché for everyone to hear, but has been something significant to me as I go through my internship hours. That is, the allowance.

Other companies would only give off trainings and learnings to their interns, and what do they get? They get to learn, yes. But where is the idea of getting something in return of the work done? I know, that the goal of this internship is to get experience of your life in practice, however, what the HR specialist in Nestle told made very much sense on to why they give allowance to their interns. She told us during our first day, that they wanted to make the interns feel that being an intern is not being a student who needs to render their required hours, and after that, it’s done. Aside from the training given by their supervisors and the whole experience of working in a food manufacturing company like Nestle, they wanted the interns to feel a sense of accomplishment and reward through allowances. They wanted us, interns, to feel like we are employees ourselves, who work for a living, and not just for a diploma. Because, let us face the truth, after graduation, we must learn on to how we must stand in our own and we may learn the guide to #iponing from our parents, but nothing beats the art of saving our own money, the kind of money we worked hard for ourselves.

It was actually hard for me, until now, to save the allowance that I receive. It has been decided, between me and my parents, that I will no longer ask them for money when it comes to transportation, food and my personal agendas (LOL whut). That was fine with me, of course, since I get to learn how to manage my own money—which turned out to be harder than I expected. The first time I received my allowance, it was so hard for me to spend it that I even took a picture of it for remembrance. That was my first blue bill, you guys. Now, that was saved for my expenses for two weeks, until the next allowance comes along. And boy, was it hard. Everytime I get inside the mall, I could not resist but buy all the things that I only listed in my wish list long time ago. It’s my money anyway, so why would I stop myself? As long as I saved some at home, all is well. But there are times that allowances are delayed to arrive and my allowance wasn’t enough until the next cut off because: (1) I already placed my savings inside my piggy bank (I call it bear bank) or (2) I overspend for the month, again, as always. And that makes me a hundred times embarrassed to ask my parents for money. At times like this, this is when I realize that one should really learn how to save, and by saving, you also need to learn how to budget the money with you. Ha, you must realize my frustration for the past two weeks, yes? I overspent again and the allowance arrives on Wednesday.