Internships are the new short cut to enter the job market as it offers first hand experience in corporate work culture and hone the professional skills.
Internships or apprenticeships offer an insight into the job market and aid students to implement their classroom knowledge in the practical world. Moreover, the experience allows students to spot their passion and choose a career accordingly.
Most HR professionals prefer employees who have internship experience in the past. Sumit Kumar, HR advisor, Team Lease, says, “When a person is undergoing an apprenticeship, he becomes proficient with the work, and actually becomes a sought-after-resource for any employer later on.”
For Radhika Haswani, who works as a Project Editor in Delhi, an internship with a newspaper helped her find her true calling. It allowed her to know that she was not fit for journalism but in publishing. Now, working with a publishing house, she says that she “enjoys editing and making a manuscript error-free and worthy of publication.”
“Before my internship, I wanted to be a journalist and work in a media house, but I realised that the kind of journalism I was drawn to or wanted to be a part of, had drastically changed,” says Radhika.
Soon after post-graduation, Shilpa Doogar bagged an internship with a Mumbai firm. She says, “The internship helped me understand and confirm my belief in the idea of HR and recruitment being my preferred field. My in-depth study on the future of HR in India made me realise that what I was doing was in sync with my interest in people management.”
Currently working as an HR-professional with a company in Bangalore, Shilpa credits her internship for offering her a great amount of exposure and grooming her for the job world.
Sarvesh Agrawal, founder and CEO, Internshala, says, “The primary aspect of an internship is to learn as much as you can and apply your classroom knowledge in real life. Students are most excited about the work profile; what exactly they will get to do in different internships and how it will help their career.”
According to an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report, 18.9 million people will be jobless in 2019. Commenting on the unemployment scenario of India, Agrawal says, “The problem of employment is not the lack of jobs, it’s the lack of skilled manpower and qualified resources. If you do an internship while you’re in college itself, you’ll be better prepared to land a real job than you’ll be in the absence of it.”
Internships offer students to work on their soft skills as well. Shilpa says she learnt to prioritise on time management while Radhika hails her internship for augmenting her communication skills. “Interning helped me to interact with a lot of people, and enhanced my interpersonal skills. It allowed me to open up instead of being shy and hesitant,” she adds.
Courtesy:TOI
