Casual attitude towards internship is a big problem: Prachee Javadekar

An educationist who has served in the field for the past 32 years, Prachee Javadekar is an approved PhD guide for the University of Pune. Formerly she has served as the director for Indira Institute of Management. She has authored nine books and 13 handbooks. Javadekar speaks to DNA about the importance of summer internship programme (SIP) and why students should treat it seriously.   

How internship is an important aspect of transition from being a student to a professional?
Summer internship is an integral part of management degree and mandatory as per the university directives. Internships can be a very structured learning experience or they can be designed to meet the expectations of a student.
Management is a science of resources — people, processes and organisations — and all about application of the concepts. The conceptual framework needs to be tested under real-life conditions in order to be understood and internalised effectively by a student.

The management institutes cannot simulate the actual conditions of a business manager. Although innovative tools like case studies and role-plays do attempt to address these limitations, they fail to capture the reality.

Certain areas like organisational behaviour and marketing management require much more than mere conceptual understanding of facts. Therefore, we need some mechanism in place by which transfer of skills takes place from the classroom to a workplace. Summer training beautifully fills this gap.

In what way SIP becomes an opportunity for students?
SIP is like the first handshake between industry and management students. It helps students to gain first-hand experience in a particular industry and provides them with ample opportunities to innovate and challenge ideas and techniques imbibed in the first year of studies.

The candidate gets an opportunity to work in actual live business situations and formats. One gets a chance to work with professionals and the various processes involved. It also helps students to become more receptive to market needs and finally in deciding their area of specialisation in the second year.

What are the important perspectives of SIP?
SIP is very important from two perspectives. It is the first formal interaction with the corporate world and so it is very important for an intern to gain practical knowledge in terms of application of theory. In the end it provides an opportunity for final placements. Secondly, it helps in understanding as to which area you want to specialise in.

How does SIP help students in making career choices?
Students without prior work experience are somewhat confused about which discipline they want to specialise in and pursue their career. Summer training gives them an opportunity to closely interact with the organisation and help identify the pros and cons of the career choices.

There is a need for a structured summer internship training and discipline because it is the first job opportunity for a candidate.
Not more than 40% of students manage to convert their summer internships into a pre-placement offer, so it is important to take SIP seriously and tread carefully. Proper training will equip students with the correct approach and right attitude.

Why should students take SIP seriously?
Students are confused and for many internship is a compulsion, believing that there is no need for a serious professional commitment. They get carried away by popular choices of companies, brands, domains and projects.

Thus they don’t apply much of their mind to select and explore the functional areas which will later help them in making a career choice. Students lacklustre attitude towards internship is a big hurdle.

For them it is all about report preparation and submission, which gets reduced to cut-copy-paste type of work. Students must understand that SIP is a learning process that will craft their profession. It is a test of character, creativity, knowledge application and commitment.