Internships - first step to a job

About to graduate? Will need a job? An easy way to join your dream company is to work as an intern in that company or any company in that sector

Pratima Shantaveeresh

Vacations, which were once about going on a trip to native village and getting pampered by grandmothers, has got a new definition in the competing world. Students are taking every initiative to make them productive.A Getting a good rank in college is not sufficient. One has to have an extra edge to prove to the employer that he is better than the other candidate for the job. An internship can make a candidate preferred to others. Internship is now no less than a job. Even an intern has to follow the same work schedule as an employee.

"In my college, St Francis College For Women, Hyderabad, post graduate students are asked to do a two-month internship related to their field of study. Since I was a Mass Communications student, I interned with a media organisation and was later absorbed into the same company. Now, it's been one year since I have started to work for them. I am happy that my college authorities have made internship compulsory. I didn't have to look for job after my PG," says Pooja S, journalist.

Tasneem Sabuwala, a final year MBBS student at Shadan Institute of Medical Sciences, Peerancheru, says, "During internship, we get to see the professional world. We realise that it's completely different from what we have learned in our books. At my college, I am required to do an internship for a year where we deal with real patients. This is the only time we get hands-on experience about how to treat the patient because every patient has to be approached differently. All this cannot be learnt by reading books. Internship provides students with a learning environment where they can apply what they have learnt in the classroom in a professional setting. This helps us gain real experience."

"My internship gives me practical experience and a great learning about the corporate world. It has given me exposure to the real world even before joining as a full-time employee," says Peri Gayathri Tejasvi, an intern at Manpower Group. According to Sushma Chenupalli, Head operations at Prism Intercon, internship is among the many factors that help in acquiring a job. "The candidate's grasping power, their caliber and interest to learn the work can be gauged during the internship months. While I recruit, I also check if the person is able to get accustomed to the work culture of ourcompany."

A candidate with an internship listed on the resume will be preferred to candidate who is completely new, she informed. "With candidates who have an experience of internship, not much has to be invested to train then," she reasons. While talking to a faculty about why they think internship is important K Anitha, a Mass Communication lecturer, says, "Internships have become very important for all sectors. It does not only help students but companies as well. Students learn the work before they start their career.

They won't be clueless on the day one of their job. Similarly, if a company hires a candidate, it has to train the person. As internship gives candidate an insight to the job, it makes the company's work easier. If the candidate has done internship in the same company then it's icing on the cake as the company already knows about the candidate and his performance and the candidate also knows whether the company is suitable for him/her."