Straight from the Horse’s Mouth

Internship is an integral part of the academic curriculum in most of the professional courses. Students of engineering, medical and other professional courses often have to go for internship in an industry, healthcare or any organization specific to their course of study. Selection of an organization for internship is a very complicated issue as students usually are not able to prioritize their interests. A helping hand at such a stage often proves beneficial.
Although most of the professional students go to industry for internships, there is a growing trend towards internships at universities and research institutions. Internships at industry has its own advantages in terms of hands-on practical experience and to get to know what students actually read in the textbooks. There is an added advantage if they end up getting a pre placement offer. Internships at universities/academic institutes (research labs) are most sought after these days. In an academic institute, the student/intern gets the opportunity to work on a very specific problem according to his interest under the mentorship of the professor. The problem or the project given to the students/intern often helps him/her to hone his technical and analytical skills unlike industry, where the projects could be more of the observation and study type, internships at research institutes are more focused and goal-oriented. The intern can take advantage of the good infrastructural facilities available and can benefit from the excellent library facility.
The trend today is towards specialization. Gone are the days when generic knowledge base would land you at a prestigious corporate house. Internship at a research/academic institute is very specific and makes the student an expert in his area of specialization. As the intern works on a project (academic problem), he gains knowledge of various tools and techniques which prove helpful in his /her other academic endeavours such as thesis and dissertation. The project may also result into a publication in the form of a research paper which may enhance the weightage of the curriculum vita of the intern and may brighten up his/her chances of placement.

What is the right career for me? Which job should I take? All of us struggle to answer these questions and in many cases never find the right answer. My experience has taught me the 4F’s of choosing a job/career:
Follow Your Passion: You should do what you enjoy doing and not get swayed by the opinion of others. The world might tell you that success means getting an MBA from the top business school or working for a top multinational company, but that would be defining success in a very narrow way. You will succeed in whatever you do if you do it with passion. So, if you think you enjoy business, by all means aim for an MBA from a top business school but if your passion is literature or music, follow your heart.
Focus on learning: When choosing a job or a company, put emphasis on learning. This is especially true in the beginning of your career. Things like compensation and job title should be secondary to the learning opportunity. Ask questions like, is this job going to teach me new skills, will I be challenged to grow out of my comfort zone, will I learn skills that are transferrable (e.g. communication skills, analytical skills, managing people) etc. As your first job, consider working for big companies with well established training program.
Find the right fit: This often gets ignored during the job search but is extremely important. We get excited to get a job offer and jump to accept it without doing our due diligence (especially if it is our first job). There are many talented people who fail because they did not fit with the culture of the company. Make sure you talk to current employees and ask them about what they do, why they chose this company and what are their long term plans? Then ask yourself, are these the type of people you would like to spend 8 hrs every day. Internships are a great way to evaluate a company. Also, if you join a company and realize you are not a cultural fit, leave as soon as possible, don’t change yourself just to fit in.
Make sure you have time for Family & Friends: Never make the mistake of pursuing your career at the cost of family and friends. I remember the words of my dean at Harvard Business School who once said “You will never succeed if you don’t succeed at home”. Always take time to spend with family and friends and remember success always has two dimensions, personal and professional, and they should be in balance.

The author of this article has worked as an Operations Manager for P&G,Strategy Consultant for Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Innovation Consultant for Innosight LLC.He has an MBA degree from Harvard Business School,MS from Georgia Institute of Technology and BS from IIT Roorkee, India.