Note 1: While this article targets mostly those who are or will become
interns and those who will be guiding interns, it might still be of interest to
all others since it contains a dose of common sense courtesies and ethics.
Note 2: My own experiences which drive me to write these guidelines stem from
my career largely in academia but it is my strong belief that the guidelines I
am about to lay down will be valid for corporate houses or startups as well.
Education in a university, by itself is incomplete. Otherwise you would not need
internship, would you? Even before the word 'safe space' was coined,
universities and colleges have been safe spaces. You can do your assignment
incorrectly, write your exam horribly or screw up in one of your competitions
and the consequences are not dire. Also, the consequences are generally limited
to you, or perhaps your near ones.
But the real world is not safe! Mistakes can be very expensive. Consequences can
be dire. Hence a gap exists between what you feel the world is, based on your
theoretical understanding and what the world is, in actuality. And internships help you
in a big way towards bridging this gap. Internships offer a student a chance to
learn more about the real world, witness the practical applications of their
skills in solving real problems and learn about the extra care and soft skills
needed to strive in a real work culture.
The opposite is also true. Institutes and industries are seldom going to be
happy with a student, freshly baked in a University or a college and coming to
work for them with a complete lack of understanding of what might be considered
most basic for someone working in that sector. Offering internships allows the
companies to also transfer down the latest in terms of working standards, best
practices etc. to the college. This way, the amount of orientation needed to bring
a student to be a reliable member of the workforce, is considerably reduced.
Internships, maybe at some point of time were all about bridging the gaps in
theory and practice but in my observation, have also become a course in basic
ethics. Basic ethics, which a student should know, are seldom exhibited by the
students and a lot of time, energy and emotion is lost sometimes in first
teaching basic ethics and common sense. The present article is based on my
experience as both a student interning as well as a mentor / guide to many interns.
I hope this helps prospective interns and guides to have a smoother and
productive journey of internship.
Realizations
As an intern,
Realize, that you are being given the most valuable resource a professional
could ever give you, their time!
Realize that every moment spent by your guides with you, they are reducing an
overall net output. Most experienced guides can do far much more in 30 minutes
than you can do in your 30 minutes.
Realize that you have been given an opportunity to experience real work before
experiencing it anyway - so, learn, observe and be alert.
Realize that if you do great work, you are going to open more opportunities
for yourself either at the place where you intern or through the recommendations
of your guides.
Realize that you are representing your college or university and your screw
ups can filter down to your college and affect future colleagues. On a
positive note, you can be responsible for the enhancement of your colleagues'
opportunities as well.
Realize that it is now your burden to give something of value to your guide or
guide's organization. And if you cannot, at least let them smile when
they think of you and let them shower praises among their peers about your
qualities.
As a guide,
Realize that you are contributing to the upliftment of your local education
standards by mentoring students and bringing them up to be better members of
the workforce or the researchers.
Realize that you are now responsible for these students. If you never had the
time to guide them well, you shouldn't have committed to taking them, to begin
with. (Or if something has changed since the time you committed, you must find
another colleague, who can share this responsibility.)
Realize that this student here could in principle become the next addition to
your workforce. Atleast they should be treated this way, else there is not
much point to the internship.
Realize that you too were a diamond in the rough at some point in your career.
You couldn't exactly repay your guides and hence we operate on the principle
of 'paying it forward'.
Do's
For the intern,
Follow time! Be punctual! Be before time! Read my article on "Punctuality for
Dummies" to understand more about this.
Maintain a dedicated journal or notebook - document all your meetings,
document all instructions and all learning.
Report! Report! Report! Especially in those cases where you don't meet your
guide everyday and can exercise a choice in taking appointments, make sure you
report at regular intervals even if the report does not contain positive news.
Do this via e-mail if you cannot do it in person.
Adapt to your host environment. Try to resonate or sync with the timings,
norms, cultures and preferences of the environment. It could be something as
simple as a greeting or a dress code - but try to gel in!
Interact and network with colleagues other than your guide and guide's team.
They can prove to be a valuable source of information and guidance for your
problems. As a corrolary, if they offer you advice on 'how to handle your
guide', take it with a pinch of salt. Form your own opinion!
Inform your guide about any deadlines, personal or those set by your college,
in advance. Don't reveal them in the last minute. Having once informed them,
remind them gently on a couple of other occassions.
If report or other formalities involve the guide, inform the guide
sufficiently in advance. Give them sufficient time to execute these formalities.
If you are going to present your work to some committee, ensure that you send
out an invite to your guide. They may not be able to join but you should
invite them anyway.
Go beyond the call of duty! Your guide asks you to do X, your job is not just
to do X but also research on how to get it done, spend extra hours acquiring
those skills needed to finish X and also see if you squeeze in that extra
'delta X'.
If you are giving internal presentations, it wouldn't be a bad idea to ask if
a) there is an institute wide presentation template, b) whether you can or
should use it and c) use it! This creates a warm feeling that you are willing
to be a full part of the team even though it's temporary.
Write a thank you and concluding note when you finish your internship - not
just to the guide but also all the people who helped.
Acknowledge all e-mails and other communication throughout the internship. The
modern generation, I have witnessed, is superbly bad at acknowledging receipt
of e-mails and keeping people informed.
For the guide,
Setup an achievable and value adding goal for your intern. The goal can be a
little exaggerated and beyond the reach of the intern but ensure there is a
milestone which will leave the intern with a sense of satisfaction.
Setup a routine for your intern - a rhythm of work, updates, reports etc.
Almost the same as you would do for your employee or peer.
If the intern is doing this as a part of the curriculum, pay attention to a)
what is expected, b) what role you have to play in the evaluation and c) any
other formalities. Make sure you deliver your part on time.
Introduce the intern to the team. Make them feel more like an employee or a
member than an intern.
Ensure intern has access to training, resources, people etc. to be able to
complete their job.
Set expectations clearly, break down tasks.
Demand reports, preferably in the same format your organization uses.
Do a periodic mock appraisal or something similar - freely praise the positives and
give critical suggestions for improvement.
Track their reports and ensure you comment, even if in a single line, on each
report they send to you.
Lead by example!
Don'ts
For the intern,
Don't stay out of touch for a very long time in case there is scope to do so.
Even if you have not finished your quantum of work, you must report it along
with the reasons or difficulties you are facing.
Don't take liberties with any facilities being offered by your guide or
guide's team. eg. flexible timing doesn't imply a) you can choose less hours
of work, b) you can work when nobody is around or there is no overlap with a
common timing followed. Similarly, don't exploit the pantry or any other such
facility.
Don't stray off too much from the directions given by your guide. Yes, if you
find a better way to do things, they will be happy BUT if you don't deliver as
a result of your 'experimentation', they will lose interest in giving you more
than a formal advice.
For the guide,
Don't ignore disciplinary issues. A part of your job is to discipline the
intern, bring them one level up. If they do something bad, you must ensure
they don't repeat it.
Don't treat your charge of mentoring the intern lightly.
Don't give trivial or manual work to your intern, from which they may not
learn anything. (Don't exploit them!)
Summary
Internships, in my opinion, help in the following ways:
Prepare students for real life.
Bridge the gap between theory and application.
Present an opportunity for the organization to identify potential future
members of their workforce.
Allow the centers of education to better understand the needs of the employers
in the current time.
If at the end of the internship, these goals are not met - the internship cannot
be considered successful. So, please treat internships seriously! Happy
interning! Happy mentoring! And let development never stop!
(A shout out to my friend and colleague, Dr. Kaushal Sharma, for agreeing to
patiently review the first draft and offer valuable suggestions.)