How to get the best out of your Summer Internship

It is that time of the year when B-School students are gearing up to start their internship journey after going through the rigorous first year of fast-paced B-School life.

The summer internship is a brilliant way for students to test the waters of the corporate world especially if they are fresher. It provides an opportunity for them to apply whatever they have learned in the past year, to network and upskill themselves.

So here are a few pointers that can help you ace your summer internship:

Stay in the present:

You might have landed the dream role in the dream company or the case may be otherwise due to multiple factors at play. The placement scenario in B-schools could be really tricky, especially summer internships. The pressure to get placed quickly, the peer pressure, and the added pressure from Placecomm could have impacted the kind of internship role and the company you might have got. With rules like 60:40 and 80:20 in place, once a significant portion of your batch is placed, it might even become difficult to get the company or position of your choice.

So, whatever you have got, be happy with it and try to take it in stride as the primary aim of a summer internship is to get a hang of the Corporate World and get firsthand experience of the real-world business problem after the fresh perspective you might have gained during the first year.

Do not compare your offer with the offers your peers in the same college or a different one might have got, though it’s easier said than done. It doesn’t really help. You can make your summer internship a success irrespective of the role if you are determined to do so.

Pre-Research:

So, before you show up for your internship you need to do a bit of research, though you might have collected some info about the role and the company during the placement process.

Research in-depth about the company through various footprints of the company whether it is their website or their social media pages. Lookup any recent news related to the company. Scout for people working in the company through LinkedIn and see what they are their role in the company and how they are contributing.

Study the culture in general and the value system present in the company. Try to find out more about the business model that they follow. Go through their financial statements to learn more about the company.

If you have been already assigned a mentor/guide/manager, get in touch with him a few days before starting your internship to know about your projects, the team, and the expectations.

Carry your learnings with you:

So, you have just finished one of the most transformative years of your career. Knowingly or unknowingly you must have gained a lot of skills and learnings ranging from domain knowledge to teamwork. Keep all of these intact and look for avenues where you can implement these learning in your new job. This will help in reinforcing all the learnings and take your confidence to the next level.

If possible, take your study material with you, of the subjects which might be related to the work or projects that you may be assigned. With so many resources available online you might not need to take these along but need to know what to search for and where online. Revise the various frameworks that might be useful so that you approach your task in a systematic way. This will help avoid being directionless in some scenarios.

Keep in touch with your seniors:  

As a part of your pre-research get in touch with the seniors who have worked in the same company as interns or otherwise. Seniors would not just include your immediate seniors but could be your super seniors as well. Get to know more about the company, the culture, the team, and the kind of expectations the company might have from an intern.

Even during the internship, you should always try to constantly have conversations with your seniors regarding the projects and progress. One must not feel any kind of shame or shyness. Your seniors will be more than willing to help you. Just ensure that you don’t bother them too much even for the minutest of things.

Some projects might require research and access to some exclusive research papers. Your college might have those resources which may only be accessed at the college premises only. So, if needed, you can take the help of your seniors or doctoral students, to get a hand on the research papers.

Stay connected with your Professors:

Don’t forget your professors. They are one of the most useful resources that you have, so extract maximum from them. Many of the professors in top B-schools have good industry experience as well. Seek their guidance about your projects and your approach to different tasks. Take their help in the appropriate use of various frameworks. Not only does this help you in your internship but could also foster a long-term relationship with those professors that could be very useful for your career.

Seek clear goals and project details:

 After familiarizing yourself with the company environment, team, and general settings, it’s time to know more about the projects and tasks that you should be handling during your two-month stint.

Many companies these days are having internship programs wherein everything related to the internship, from the mentors to the projects to be handled by each intern is pre-planned and scheduled. If your company also has such a structured program, then usually you will not have to seek out much but rather you will be guided properly by mentors through various stages of the internship.

If that system is not present, there is absolutely no reason to worry. It gives you a chance to take the initiative and approach your mentor or reporting manager to know about your projects. Sometimes you might also be involved in making that decision as to which project you might want to handle. Ask for clear and tangible deliverables.

There could also be an instance where there are absolutely no plans for the incoming interns or the reporting manager might not even be bothered about your project as they already have their hands full with existing works. In these scenarios, make your presence known by relentlessly following up with your mentor or manager or contributing in other ways as mentioned in the next point.

Seek out opportunities to contribute:

This point is not about the main project that you will be handling but it’s for other projects or tasks that you feel you might help out a colleague or your expertise can help in one or the other way.

For instance, if there are technical tasks in the company that might need an extra hand and you have expertise in that field, then you can ask for your involvement in that task as well. Not only will this help in elevating your stature in that role but help foster good relations in the company.

Prepare a road map:

Once you are aware of the main project and/or other tasks prepare a clear roadmap on how you plan to go about the completion of each project. Find out if some similar project has been done earlier and the status of it. Learn about the different stakeholders involved and how this project going to impact them as well as the organization

One way of doing it could be to divide the main project into multiple activities and assign a timeline to each of the activities.

Discuss this roadmap of yours with your seniors who have worked in the company previously or your professors. Also, get it vetted by your mentor as he will be able to point out any real issue with the activities or timeline that you have designed. Ensure that you follow everything as planned and you are moving in the right direction at every stage.

Create a journal/record keeping:

 This is a continuation of the previous point. It is always a good practice to keep a journal in personal and professional life.

So even if you don’t have a habit of keeping a journal, just give it a try for these two months. Jolt down your progress in the projects as well as other activities that you indulged in during your day. You can create a record on a daily or a monthly basis.

Jolt down all the learnings that you got including any issues or hindrances that you might have faced. List out all the ideas that may have passed your mind while working on a specific task even if they didn’t get implemented in the workplace. Create pointers that could be used in your final presentation. This would make your job easier during the last week of the internship

Be on networking mode always:

 One can’t stress enough the importance of networking and creating meaningful relationships. It is a powerful tool that can help you progress very quickly in your professional life. Not only does networking help in getting job leads during your career but can also provide opportunities for personal development.

If possible strike up a conversation with anyone or everyone that you come across in your office. Start with people around your cubicle slowly expanding your radius. Discuss their work and interest and develop a habit of properly listening to people.

If you are an introvert, then understandably it is difficult for you to lead someone into a conversation. But you can always try in smaller steps may be one person a day or starting with a simple hi for a few days and then slowly scaling it up. This can help you become more confident in both your professional and personal life.

Be confident but humble:

 It is obvious to get jitters in a new unknown setting with new people around. But you should tackle away all the uncertainties with your confidence. Speak up with confidence with everyone be it your reporting manager or anyone in the higher management. Never shy away from giving your opinion on any project that you are a part of. If you are invited for a meeting, it is because your presence and opinions are valued. Many times, leaders are eager to hear new ideas and fresh perspectives from youngsters.

At the same time, you should be humble as well. You might be coming from the top B-school, but don’t behave like a know-it-all person and try to bulldoze your opinion and ideas onto others. Be receptive to other’s points of view as well irrespective of whether that person is from a top B-school /holding a commanding position in a company or not.

Give your best:

It doesn’t need to be told every time to give your best. You have to show up for your internship in your best version. You are not only presenting your personal brand but are also representing B-school. People will definitely associate everything related to you back to your B-school. So, ensure that you are a good brand ambassador for your B-school.

Take as much learning as possible:

 A sure-shot way of getting the maximum ROI from your internship is to extract maximum learning during this short stint of two months. Learn from everything around you whether it is your project or some other project. Learn from every possible person. Networking definitely helps in this aspect as mentioned earlier.

These are lifelong learnings as you are gaining and experiencing them in the practical world of business. These learning don’t just help you in building some solid resume points but could also help you propel in your career as well.

Final Presentation:

 If you plan and move in a structured way, then the final presentation would be a cakewalk for you.  As mentioned earlier, you should be clear with your deliverables from the very beginning and prepare your learnings around that for the final presentation. Try to finish the first draft of the presentation a few days before the actual day of the presentation and seek input from your mentor.

Once the presentation is ready, practice delivering it multiple times before finally presenting it to higher management. This will help you avoid nervousness even though you know everything related to your project. Anticipate questions that could be asked and be ready to answer them with confidence.

Internships are not just an opportunity for students but also for companies who are looking to inculcate fresh and energetic minds into the workforce and probably develop future leaders. If you perform well and are successful in making your presence felt in the organization in a positive way, then you will have a genuine chance of getting a Pre-Placement Offer if the company has such PPO policies. The extent of your impact could also determine the size of your PPO offer. But it should be stressed here that Learning must be the topmost priority.