Students’ Speak: Key to a successful internship is the ability to take initiatives

By: Anubha Mishra

Internships play an important role in giving hands-on experience which is crucial for an early head start in the career. Anubha Mishra in this article delves on the importance of taking initiatives to make the most out of an internship opportunity and leave a strong impression on company management that can convert into a Pre-placement offer (PPO) later.

PGDM is a rigorous course, which requires you to work on various projects and participate in different activities. Internships are one of the most important part of this two-year academic cycle. Internship is a great platform for students to understand the industry dynamics and the functioning of an organization.

These two-three months give students an opportunity to gain hands-on experience of the industry practices, which is quite different from what we learn in our textbooks or classrooms. Each role comes with different challenges and some companies give you a live project to work on.

I got an opportunity to work with Dell Technologies as a Finance intern, where I was working with the Support Deployment Services Team. I was given three projects to work on. I already had a work experience of one year with KPMG as an Audit Associate and that helped me a lot to deal with the project. However, this role had very different challenges. It involved accumulating data from various teams and performing an analysis. The people in the organization were very supportive and helped me through each step in the project. The higher management was so approachable — I was working under the director of my team and the best part was he used to take out time to guide me for my project, since the project had a real impact on the business.

In this two-month journey, I learnt to manage my tasks independently due to the autonomous nature of the project. Moreover, I had to juggle between three different projects within these two months, wherein I learnt an important lesson of time management. I was expected to be involved in various CSR activities despite of the fact that I was just an intern, which gave me a sense of belongingness in the organization.

The key to having a successful internship experience is to have the zeal to take initiatives. It gives a perception to the management that you are a very responsible and enthusiastic person. Also, never fear to ask questions. It shows your interest in the work and organization. Most importantly, your hard work will be paid off and recognized. These things helped me a lot to get a Pre-placement internship (PPI) from Dell which I converted into a Pre-placement offer (PPO).

About the Author:

Anubha Mishra is a student at Great Lakes Institute of Management in Chennai. She is pursuing her Post-Graduation Diploma in Management (PGDM).