How To Make Your Summer Internships Cooler? Ft. Rhea Benjamin, TAS

You Know What I Did Last Summer? “What do you think of the App?”, asked a man on the first day of my summer internship. I replied, “Well the UI and features look good but what it lacks is a USP as compared to the competition”. We had a discussion regarding the same and he left. Later, I came to know that he was the CEO of the venture. I guess from openly criticising the product in front of the CEO to securing a PPO affords me some credibility for giving tips on how to crack your summer internship. In the summers of 2019, when the only thing people had to mask were their emotions, I joined Tata Health in Bangalore as a TAS trainee. Currently I am in the first year of their general management programme, jumping from one company to another on 3-month long projects and thoroughly enjoying myself. So here are my 8 cents (2 cents X 4 tips) on how to make the most out of your summer internship:

1. Judge them more than they judge you!
Many a times, we are so consumed in impressing our managers to get a double P single O that we forget to figure out whether this is the place and role we want for ourselves. Your internship is the best chance to figure out the opportunities at your workplace, the kind of people you will work with and prospects. Do not live in the fear of whether you will get the PPO and make use of this time to figure out if you want to work here. The hard work will naturally follow if you like your job.

2. Curiosity killed the cat…thank god you aren’t one.
Take keen interest in the work happening around you- within your team and outside it. Strike a conversation with a guy you meet in the break room, ask him what he does and get a holistic picture of what is happening in your company (Well my office was just two floors big, so I managed to cover all break rooms in the first two weeks). My mentor was more than happy to introduce me to people from other teams and it did make implementing solutions involving cross functional teams a lot faster. At the end of the day, it is always about managing people than managing work.

3. Failure is the stepping stone to success…so fail fast.
In the limited span of 8 weeks, interns are expected to deliver something impactful. Instead of compiling a set of recommendations at the very end of your internship, you should try to implement a few solutions and see how feasible they are. You will either lose a useless recommendation or end up with a well-rounded one. In both cases you come out looking like a doer and someone who can handle failure and setbacks.

4. And lastly Pawri… like there is tomorrow.
All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. But all play makes Jack unemployable. Get to know your fellow interns from other B-schools- a little healthy competition will keep you on your toes. Who knows you might find some good friends! Do try to bond with your co-workers and indulge in some unofficial banter. All I want to say is have fun during your internship but do not lose sight of your target, especially since you worked so hard to get here. You can always go back to campus and party like there is no tomorrow!

So now that the gospel truth of cracking your summer internship has been revealed, go get them tiger. Or wolf. Or mole rat. Whatever is your spirit animal. Tata Group Tata Health #TAS #TAS2021 #settleformore IIM Lucknow #tassummers2021