Make the right internship choice
For his summer internship, IIM Lucknow’s Anurag Singh chose to work in a small film-producing unit over a big corporate house.
“It’ll give me a new perspective on life, thus helping me become a better professional. Even corporate houses give preference to MBAs 
with exposure to diverse areas and not just people with run-of-the mill skill sets,” says Singh.
Local options
Choosing the right internship is an art. Bhanu Joshi, a final-year journalism student at Delhi College of Arts and Commerce is not looking at the usual newspaper or TV channel route. “I want to work with researchers to learn more about policy-making and implementation. As a student, it’s essential to develop an understanding of a host of subjects,” he says.
During his internship, Joshi worked on a project in administrative and policy reforms at the Centre for Civil Society, an NGO, and studied different policies formulated in India since 1947. “It helped me a lot as I learnt the dynamics of different subjects like health care, public private partnership, etc. These are complex subjects, which must be understood in their entirety. Covering an event for newspaper doesn’t provide that opportunity,” he adds.
“A student should not be attracted to the brand value of an organisation. S/he should find out how much the company can help in getting him/her the hands-on experience in those two three months,” says G Balasubramanian, consultant, Educational Systems and former director of CBSE.
Going abroad
Doing internship abroad has its own plus points. One can apply directly through websites (for example, check www.internasia.com if you want to go to China). An international agent like AIESEC will help you find the right country, work and organisation.
“We have a presence in 107 different countries and an applicant can choose from various options available at any given point of time. Some students want corporate work experience in some Western country while others prefer NGOs in Asia,” says Preetika Rana, VP, AIESEC, Delhi University chapter.
Raghav Sharda, a second-year BBA student at Amity University, also used AIESEC’s services before he flew to Ukraine on a development project – World without Borders – last year. He was there for two months to study cultural diversity and social integration between India and Ukraine. “It was an enriching experience. I addressed a gathering of 300 students from Egypt, China and Korea. While interning, I also managed to finish a college project which was on a similar subject of cultural marketing diversity between two economies,” says Sharda.
Author: Vimal Chander Joshi
Date: 25th March, 2010
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