The internship heat is on

Career Choices

For some professional courses, internship is mandatory only at the post-graduate level. A few undergraduate students are also registering for internships. Although courses like MBA, MCA, M Com, Journalism and some engineering courses have been earmarked for internship programmes, students from various other degree courses have also learnt the importance of acquiring a hands-on experience during their course and consider internship worth the while.

Internship plays an important role in the career and academic development of a student.

Seeking career advice from an employer will help a student in setting his or her career priorities right. “My internship at CEO Globals Inc has changed my goals. Until then I didn’t have any practical experience. As it is a young organisation, there was scope for one’s development. I was completely inspired by Suhas, the CEO’s ambitions and attitude to start my own business. Thanks to the corporate training, I discovered the abilities in myself,” says Bhargav Hebbar, a management student.

Along with helping students relate academics to the way the industry operates, internships provide an opportunity for the students to evaluate their capabilities. And sometimes, internships have landed students a full time job in the same company. “We get a lot of queries regarding internships from students. Most of our journalism students are from other states, so we suggest that they take up internships in their respective states. Sometimes students compete to intern in the same organisation. There is a lot competition among students to get into reputed organisations even for internships,” says Abraham, professor of journalism, Baldwin Women’s Methodist College.

Lakshmi Jagannathan, HOD, Management Studies at Dayananda Sagar Institutions says that the concept of internship has changed over the years.

“As per the VTU norms, the MBA students have to complete a 10-week-internship after their third semester which will be evaluated for 150 marks. During that period they should also undertake organisational research and submit their project reports. So to get good marks they have to work hard during their apprenticeship. In order to prepare them for the internship, we have asked the second semester students to take up projects with NGOs after their exams.”

Nishantini, who is in her final year degree, will be joining a media house for a month’s training, although it is not mandatory in her course. “It will help me during my post graduation. If I gain some experience in the industry, post graduation would be easier,” she says.