WHAT MY SUMMER INTERNSHIP TAUGHT ME
Last days have this notorious tendency of making one reminiscent or emotional. So did my last day in the organisation that I was interning at. Today, going out of the main gate of the office, handing over my access card to the security officer on duty or completing the exit formalities-every time I felt as if it was only yesterday that I had stepped in for the first time in the imposing building. As if it was the first time that I met my truly amazing mentor who would be my go-to guy for everything for the coming two months. As if it was not long back that the organisation, its systems, its people, its culture and everything else was so new that it was baffling and I felt like a deer in the headlights, caught in a situation where I did not know what was the right next step to take.
It is probably to the credit of the organisation and the people in it that the transition that I made from being the shy-new-intern to almost a full-time worker was one that went so effortlessly that I never even realised how it happened. Right from ensuring that we understand small things like the operation of the coffee machine to the bigger things like the technical that one requires to work in a complicated and demanding field like finance, the people around were very helpful. This time I realise that an office environment is not as cut throat and bitter as people would have unsuspecting 1
st-year B-school students believe.
Come to think of it, the past two months have made me look at my choice of doing an MBA and my decision to do a finance Specialisation differently. So far, I had only looked at these matters from the perspective of a student. These two months have made me see the possible outcomes of my current choices-live and clear.
Now I understand why so many of my seniors and professors emphasized this summer internship; why most colleges prepare their students with such fanfare for their summer internships-it is simply because this is probably the first sneak-peak that one gets into the demanding work life of an MBA qualified person. As I leave this organisation, I cannot help but agree with so many people around me that one’s internship is the best experience one gets in one’s MBA. The greatest takeaway that I have from this stint is the fact that no matter which college you are from, the only thing that will be important in the long run will be your willingness to work, your determination to succeed and your hunger to achieve something in life. The tag of coming from a certain college or having studied certain subjects will only help you get through the organisation, beyond that everything depends on how you adjust in the workplace. Another thing that conventional MBA courses do not emphasize much upon in my opinion, will be the importance of communication. In any number of interactions that I have had with the senior people around in the organisation, they don’t get tired of reiterating the importance of good verbal and written communication skills in the long run. This does tell me that whenever there is a presentation in the class the next time, I will speak up and make sure that these skills improve for me.
Another takeaway and the most important one I believe, is that college life is precious. Once you start working in an office environment, you are expected to behave in a certain manner- I mean you cannot wear flip flops and pyjamas to office like you’d while going to a lecture. It taught me how to cherish the college, its environment and everything else about it while I still have the time to be there.
With these learnings, I am all set to commence the next year of my MBA and with the hopes that these teachings stay with me and I get a chance to come back to this organisation again, I would end by saying that these two months were one of the most educating two months of my life.