FAQs

• Community Partners (CPs) will directly contact you for an interview. Sometimes the CPs might choose to shortlist candidates for interviews based on the CV you provide instead of interviewing all internship applicants.
• For the selection criteria, each internship placement will have its own criteria stated under ‘special requirements for interns’. The Faculty or CPs will select interns based on the information you submit.

In each application, you are allowed to choose up to three internship placements. If you are not selected for your first placement, the system will continue to process the second and third placements automatically. In case there are no placements for you after three rounds of the matching process, you will be asked via email whether you would like to continue the matching process by choosing again from the available internship placements or withdraw your internship application altogether.

You can apply for the internship if you can come back to Hong Kong before the commencement of the internship orientation/workshops. During the selection process, you may need to attend interviews with the internship team or CPs via telephone or Skype. Please clearly specify in your personal statement the ways (e.g., email address or phone number) that the CPs can contact you for interviews.

• Unless a particular background is specified by the CPs, we welcome you to venture out of your comfort zone, be exposed to a new learning environment and learn from your colleagues.
• Both the CP Supervisor and the Academic Tutors will provide you with support, and it is highly recommended that you take initiative in studying relevant theories and resources in the field as an ongoing learning process.

• For term-time internships, you are required to work one full day or two half-days each week. You have to negotiate with your CP directly and sometimes working days can be re-arranged on a needs basis.
• For example, for the first semester, your day off may be Monday whereas for the second semester, it may be Tuesday. For this case, the working days will be different, and it is highly recommended that you take initiative and discuss with your CP.

Under the current internship scheme, SLI is under SI. Therefore, if you have previously completed SLI to fulfil your course requirement, you do not have to—and in fact cannot—apply for SI again.

To fulfil the course requirement, both the internship orientation and internship workshops are compulsory. Both activities help you prepare for and benefit from the internship programmes. Also, you have to make sure you have gone through the required readings before attending the orientation/workshops. When you submit your internship application online, please make sure you can attend all the orientations and workshops, and mark your schedule accordingly.

• For you to have rewarding experiences in the internship programmes, it is crucial to select internship placements based on interest, rather than the popularity of the CPs or peer pressure.
• Attending the internship orientation/ workshops will help you develop competence in personal, social, and academic aspects.
• Taking initiative to communicate with the CP Supervisor and Academic Tutors from time to time may also give you fresh perspectives on understanding yourself and your work performance.

Yes, and we welcome you to do so by submitting an application through the Student-initiative Internships Programme. Once an application is received, the Faculty will undergo a systematic set of procedures to assess the suitability of service tasks offered.

• This is a difficult question to answer because “full time” is defined in slightly different terms at each respective CP organisation within each respective country. Some organisations may consider full time to be 9am-5pm while to others, it may be 9am-6pm or defined in some other terms.
• Full-time, 5-days a week typically refers to the operational hours of the organisation. Please pay attention to the community partner's poster "special requirements" section, as some community partners may require overtime.
• Any issue or concern regarding the work schedule can be discussed with the CP Supervisor. Should there be any remaining issues or concerns, you can contact your Academic Tutor to assist with the matter.

• You are recommended to wear smart casual/business casual attire on the first day of the internship. It is better to be over-dressed and professional on the first day rather than under-dressed.
• Students can then seek advice from the CP Supervisor for dress etiquette at the respective organisation. Remember, first impressions are important!

You have to apply for the internship online by completing an online CV template and personal statements. You can apply to three CPs to consider your application and an interview may be arranged by them.

No, all SIGC internships are non-paid.

No, all SIGC internships are credit-bearing and you are required to complete all academic deliverables and assignments. There are also non-credit bearing internships coordinated by CEDARS for you to apply.

You are strongly recommended to complete the requirement no later than the second semester of the final year of studies. For those students who fulfil SIGC requirements in the summer of their final year, the grades will be formally released by the end of September to confirm the full completion of their bachelor degree programme.

No, GPA or CGPA is only ONE of the factors for consideration. Personal statements, working experience, voluntary services experience, level of language proficiency/other skills, academic background and interview performance (if any) will be comprehensively considered by the CPs for their decision on internship applications.

The CP Supervisor will evaluate your working performance using a standard online form. The grade derived from nine assessment criteria will be attributed to 50% of the total mark of the internship. The form can be found here.

Every summer, we envisage we may take a limited number of non-FOSS students for the internship programmes. For details, you may visit here.

You are strongly recommended to complete the requirement no later than the second semester of the final year of studies. An interview may be arranged by the CP.

SIGC Internships are credit-bearing with 12 credits. Your performance at CPs constitute 50% of the total mark; while the remaining 10% and 40% go to Project Presentation and Integrated Essay respectively.

The Faculty only acts as the facilitator and do NOT shortlist any applications. The CPs receive all applications and make the decisions by themselves based on your C and interview performance, if any.

Year 1 students are eligible to apply for internships. Students are strongly recommended to complete the requirement no later than the second semester of the final year of studies.

The Faculty will arrange a workshop on CV writing and interviews in January for your reference. Please stay tuned for the email announcement from the Faculty.

There are fewer students who apply for term-time internship compared with summer, but there are more CPs offering a more diverse selection of internship projects in summer.

• All students participating in the Faculty of Social Sciences’ Social Innovation and Global Citizenship are covered under the University’s insurance plan for the duration of their internship period as indicated in the letter of confirmation.
• Please note that dates may vary from the Faculty's standard internship period. Hence you should pay attention to your requisite letter of confirmation.
• Students who decide to travel before or after the internship period are responsible for obtaining your own travel insurance, should you decide to do so.

Visa issuance varies from country to country and depends upon your passport type; all students are urged to consult the requisite consulate to gain more information relating to visa issuance once they have confirmed their internship offer. Supporting documentation will be provided to students from both the Faculty and the Community Partner. Please note, the Faculty cannot guarantee visa issuance or expedite the visa process and students are fully responsible for conducting all the necessary procedures for obtaining their visas.

• The sooner you complete the visa procedure and obtain the visa, the quicker you can start to arrange the air ticket and accommodation in the host country.
• Some global internships arrange host stays and/or on-site living options. Hence, the following information relating to accommodation may not be suitable for all global internships, though it is for most.
• There have been cases where students have arranged a non-flexible air ticket and accommodation and have been at a financial loss due to delays in the visa process. To avoid such situations, start your visa application procedures early.
• Purchasing a flexible air ticket is highly recommended because it will allow you to change your flight dates without penalty should there be a delay in visa issuance.

The Faculty offers the following Scholarship and Bursary opportunities to the enrolled students of the Social Innovation and Global Citizenship Internship Programme. You are highly recommended to pay attention to the individual selection criteria of both the Scholarship and Bursaries. Detailed information will be communicated via email for each application period.

Selection Criteria:

Scholarship

•        Faculty of Social Sciences students
•        Students who have not previously received the Serena Yang Awards
•        Students having a cumulative GPA 3.2 or above
•        Students may be asked to attend an interview

Bursaries

•       Faculty of Social Sciences students
•       Students who have not previously received the Pioneer Class of 1967 bursary
•       Students having a cumulative GPA lower than 3.2
•       Bursary will be provided on a need basis
•       Students may be asked to attend an interview

• In SLI, interns work as a team, to initiate, develop and implement (a) service task(s) with evaluation.
• Through working in a group, you contribute as shared leaders and develop your leadership, communication and problem-solving skills. By integrating the academic knowledge with the service task(s), you have to learn how to identify problems in a novel situation and generate innovative solutions.
• The project itself contains real-life significance for you to perform social responsibilities as a member of society.

• A series of workshops of different themes will be organised to enhance your social and personal competence as shared leaders. By completing the pre-workshop readings and actively participating in the workshops, you internalise the core values like enhancing self-awareness, becoming more competent as shared leaders and developing social responsibilities.
• Booster sessions will also be conducted by the Academic Tutors to provide on-going support to you.

• Instead of submitting a literature review at the initial stage of the internship, you are required to work in a group to submit one background report and one project proposal on the service task(s) to be implemented.
• The integrated essay, instead of focusing on one selected topic, will have to critically evaluate the service task(s) and give recommendations to both the community partners and the direction for future SLI projects on sustainability.
• The presentation will be a time for you to celebrate your achievement and learn with other SLI teams whereas the reflective journal will be the only deliverable that is similar to the SI internship.
• The deliverables are designed to help you contextualise your learning process so as to develop critical thinking skills and practical intelligence.

• The booster sessions conducted by the Academic Tutors, are designed to reinforce and consolidate concepts learnt in the workshops including shared leaderships and awareness of personal strengths and weaknesses.
• It aims to address to your concerns during the internship and provide a platform for peer support and problem-solving.
• Two - three SLI teams will be grouped together for the boosters to facilitate multiple perspectives and insights.

• You have many chances to collaborate with teammates and develop shared leadership and communication skills. You learn how to integrate academic knowledge with real-world application and contribute to society as you implement their service task(s).
• There will be many chances for developing multi-disciplinary knowledge throughout the implementation and evaluation stages.
• The workshops and boosters will be other platforms for interns to develop and reinforce personal and social competence.

• Since each SLI group is to submit one background report, one project proposal, and one group presentation, all three academic deliverables will be assessed at the group level.
• The reflective journal and integrated essay will be assessed at an individual level. Moreover, community partners (CP) will evaluate interns' overall performance on an individual basis.

Programme period of student-initiated internships during term-time is the same as the regular term-time internship coordinated by the Faculty, from early October to early April, working one full day or two half days per week. Exact internship and application periods are listed here.

You can only initiate ONE single local or non-local Community Partner in each batch of application to fulfil SIGC, but there is no restriction on the number of applications during the entire study period of students in HKU.

All students, including students in BSocSc(Gov & Law), are eligible to apply for 3 Campus East Asia Programme.