Internships are not just to while away your summer holidays. They can help you land a dream job
Internships can do much more than be a mere part of your curriculum requirement. “Internships are very important in a student’s academic life. It helps to get hands-on experience in learning to handle people and processes. The hands-on learning and experience which students get during this period are immense. Most of the job interviews hover around internships, if not completely. The project which students do in their internship, their learning, inputs and final outcome out of the project matter,” says G Rajesh Kumar, head-placement and external relations, Institute for Financial Management and Research, Chennai.
A relevant internship project might help you get short-listed and selected in companies that come for final placements. Internships are like real-time experiences in the shortest time. Smart students can convert internships into job offers if they play their cards well.
The 2012 Global Management Education Graduate Survey says that 95 per cent of B-school students valued their internship experiences as good to outstanding. The survey also says that interns have an increased chance at a job offer than their peers without internship experience. Among B-school class of 2012 jobseekers, interns were 26 per cent more likely to have a job offer compared to non-interns.
Since you are an MBA student, it doesn’t mean you need to intern with only management-based companies. “Internships take ‘know-how’ to ‘show-how’. While corporations are well aware of the academic credentials of management graduates they consider for recruitment, they would definitely like to know if these candidates have the functional skills and soft-skills required to be successful in a work environment. Candidates can shine a spotlight on their profiles by showcasing their abilities through a successful internship,” opines Ashish Bhardwaj, regional director, Graduate Management Admission Council, South Asia.
Internships are also a great opportunity for both candidates and recruiters to know each other better. So what are you waiting for? Summer is here and so are the scores of opportunities for internships. Remember, it is not just an internship or an outlet to pass time. You are looking at a potential job offer. While most B-schools arrange for internships, you can also look at the following sources — Twenty19.com, Letmeknow.in, Indianinternship.com, Hellointern.com and 10internship.in. Happy scouting!
— shilpa.vasudevan@newindianexpress.com