Launchpad to begin a fruitful career

It’s that time of the year again when students of Management Education have either begun their Summer Internships or are on the lookout for a suitable company to do so, depending on the respective universities’ schedules.

Internships provide a wonderful opportunity for students to gain first-hand experience of working in a corporate atmosphere, bang in the middle of the humdrum of the actual workplace, replete with targets, work schedules and results. Students begin to think about internships right at the beginning of the academic year. Faculty members guide the students, based of their choice of fields, on which sector and company to select while applying for an internship.

However, at times, many students look at this project as just another chore to be completed before laying their hands on an MBA degree certificate. They must always remember that it is in their capacity as a student of a professional course that companies permit them to complete their internships.

 Therefore, it becomes obligatory for students to bear in mind a few things before setting out for their internships:

*  An Internship is not just about completing a project for academic purposes, it is that and much more. It implies that students work on a practical problem faced by the company at that time. It is advisable to meet the heads of the departments in the company where you wish to work for the duration of the project and understand their needs and problems if any. These problems, when taken up for study, prove to be an ideal project. The inferences drawn upon after study provide insights to the company from a third person’s perspective, proving extremely useful.

*  Choosing a company, based on location, would be too comforting a proposition for many. Several students select companies which are near and hence need little commuting time. However, it would definitely sabotage the entire purpose of gaining experience in a company/ sector where you would love to work after completing the MBA.

* The topic of an internship project goes a long way in strengthening your prospects in getting a good job in that sector. Recruiters frequently ask questions on the internship project and if the project has been done seriously, students can answer the questions with much confidence. Shallow knowledge about the nuances of the project findings and suggestions amply speaks for itself that the student has not put his mind to it.

*  An internship does not necessarily mean that all companies are obliged to provide students with hands full of work for the whole day or depute some person to help and answer the students’ queries. Interns are, to a large extent, expected to learn and not be taught. Hence, students must be prepared for days when all they can do is sit and observe the workings of the company’s goings-on. Just observing how a manager handles his staff, the way he delegates work, follows it up, clears files deftly, answers phone calls, handles stressful situations or meetings, can provide lessons in management. These observations pave a way for the student’s future role in a similar position.

*  Many reputed companies, as a policy, advertise for internship opportunities,
either through their websites or through other sources.

Students can utilize this opportunity and apply well in advance tocomplete the selection process in time. These companies look out for students as prospective recruits in the future and hence it is a golden chance for students to grab a job later. Keeping in touch with the concerned personnel after the internship in the company not only helps maintain good relations, it also serves as a great networking proposition.
Companies, on their part, permit students to complete their internship projects with a view to support the learning process. Of course, there are instances when companies view this as an aberration to their routine and managers get irritated to entertain interns.

However, a student’s internship can be beneficial to the company in many ways:

* Companies must understand that providing a learning opportunity to students is in itself a means of promoting the company to future recruits. There are cases aplenty where interns have been offered a job opportunity in the same company and he/she has happily accepted it for he/she has experienced the work atmosphere in that company from close ends.

*  The companies can get a lot of important work done by the interns during the internship period. Surveys, analysis, studies on cause and reaction can be undertaken by interns which would otherwise need precious employee time.
Moreover, the company does not have to bear any costs for the intern, like PF, ESI, Bonus or even incentives for the duration of the internship. However, it is pertinent that companies don’t use the interns to literally slog it out for free. It is not, however, the case with companies that provide adequate stipend to the interns.

*  Companies benefit from the added advantage of bouncing their concepts upon fresh students whose minds are brimming with interesting ideas. Also, the parent institute offers support in the form of Internal Guides – viz. the professors, whose expertise indirectly comes into picture in solving the problem or completing the project at hand. Under normal circumstances, a consultancy from faculty members of reputed institutes does not come cheap!

Managers find it easy to provide past project reports to new interns and ask them to take the necessary data from them. This proves extremely harmful since the intern may use old/ outdated data and work his way through the same to arrive at erroneous conclusions.

In today’s age of transparency and online databases, it is not difficult for companies to permit students to use their declared Balance Sheet data for the purpose of study.
An intern has more time to study and analyse this data to arrive at interesting conclusions.

A student must consider the internship as a precursor to his actual role in a real-time job which is barely a few days away. It not only equips him/her for actual rigor, it also provides insights on how to navigate the big corporate world with elan. Companies also stand to gain from the interns who bring in inexpensive help and pitch in with useful suggestions.

(The author is a training and placement officer)