The role of an internship for students taking up professional courses

by

C.Laldinfeli & Joseph Lalhriatpuia

 ‘People never learn anything by being told; they have to find out for themselves’ said Paulo Coelho. John Keats also said, ‘Nothing ever becomes real until it is experienced’.

Learning and earning degrees should not be restricted to the classroom only. Before students earn their degree, they should be able to apply whatever they have learnt theoretically into practical usage.

The Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi said, ’Education should not be confined within the four walls of the classroom.’ Education is not merely just mugging up information and knowledge to score marks. Rather it is the practical outcome of what you have been learning in theories. It is important that students should be given chance to have practical training before they earn their degrees.

An internship makes the classroom’s abstract theories and learnt examples concrete by placing the student in a real life work situation with real live co- workers performing actual professional tasks, which the job encompasses.

With a significant youth bulge in India’s population and rapid expansion in university education in India, the numbers have outgrown what can be engaged by the jobs market.  Even in China, with its roasting growth of economy, the ‘Ant Tribe’ has been an increasing phenomenon. The ‘Ant Tribe’ refers to the army of under- employed or underpaid graduates unable to accomplish their ambitions, according to sociologist Lian Si, whose book ‘The Ant Tribe’ was published in 2010.The Educational Ministry of China has already stated in 2013 that it wants to turn 600 universities into polytechnics, providing more technical and employment-related courses, rather than academic and theoretical subjects.

 The Government of India is well aware of the important role of Professional courses and has already taken a number of important initiatives in this area.  In recent years, it has laid a lot of emphasis on streamlining vocational education so that it fulfills the emerging need of the market by focusing on employment skills. The Prime Minister of India has suggested that India should set a goal to create 500 million certified and skilled technicians in the country by 2022.

India’s All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) reported, in 2013, that there are more than 4,599 vocational institutions that offer degrees, diploma and post diploma in architecture, engineering, hotel management, infrastructure, pharmacy, technology, town services and others. Many educational institutions in Mizoram  have also lately introduced these kinds of professional courses which include Journalism & Mass Communication, MBA, Law Courses, Engineering, Designing courses, Travel & Tourism Management, Medical & Pharmacy, Hotel Management, Social Work, etc. Each of these courses includes an internship that has to be carried out for a month, six months and a year depending on the particular course.

A student taking up a professional course has the opportunity to indulge into the reality of what he/she has been learning in class. Runremsangi, a student of Social Work Department in Mizoram University has shared her internship experience with us saying, ‘I did my internship outside Mizoram in one social firm and I had immense experiences there. I was being able to practice what I had learnt as theory. Besides that, interacting with many new people from other states gave me new perspective towards life itself. Not only academically, but in every aspects of my life I am being enriched.’ Lalthlamuani, a student of Management in Mizoram University also said that the internship she had recently done in one Business Company truly made a way for her future career. Before she had no idea of workflow environment and the inside activities of a company but after doing an internship, she came to know how the company works and how they maintain their workloads. Of all the students from different courses that were being asked about their experiences as interns, none said about the drawbacks or disadvantages of having an internship. They all shared happily their enriched experiences enthusiastically and that they gained invaluable professional experiences and said that their self confidence and self esteem have increased to a whole new level.

What about the company or institution a student is being sent to deal with internship? Would there be any objection regarding students being sent to them to have experience?  Regarding this, Rohin Nagrani, Editor of Motoring World Magazine told us, ‘Though there might be some organizations that refuse to take an intern to work for their company because of fear of slowing down of their workflow or fear that the intern would create obstacle to their works, I  love  to teach others who have the same love and passion for the works I am dealing with, I am always ready to support and help them whenever needed because If there is passion, obviously, there will be time the intern would become an expert.’ He also stated that without an internship, one just cannot master the work. Also, searching for a job would be much easier for the interns if they have work experiences.

  K.Sapdanga, Editor, Vanglaini Newspaper also said that he never refuses to let an intern work for his publication. There are people who had done internships under him and now becoming permanent employers in his office. Their office is always open for people who love to do an internship. Unfortunately, some companies continue to regard interns as little more than a free resource of labor to catch up on filing and other tiresome office odd jobs. Jim Chozah, Director, Information & Public Relations said that an internship program can offer the institution/company where the internship is being conducted with an early opportunity to test the talents of a new generation of workers, and in many cases, promote themselves as a valuable place for students to start their careers after they pass out. He said their office always welcomes people who want to do an internship.

 Interns are normally hungry to gain experience, willing to execute less desirable tasks and eager to perform well. So, even if they are given less desirable workloads, they do them willingly and excitedly. So, most of the organizations, institutions or companies love to have.

What is a professional course?

The technical and employment-related courses are known as Professional courses which imply the education that prepares people for a specific job. Professional courses have diversified over the 20^th century and now exist in industries such as tourism, information technology, cosmetics, fashion designing or a high professional practitioner position in careers such as engineering, accountancy, nursing, medicine, architecture, law, etc. It is sometimes referred to as Technical Education as the trainee directly develops proficiency in a particular group of techniques.

What is an internship?

Practical training called as an Internship is a job training for white-collar and professional careers. Interns may be college or university students, high school students or post graduate adults. Generally, an internship consists of an exchange of services for experience between the student and an organization. Students can also use an internship to determine if they have an interest in a particular career and create a network of contacts with professional people. It also provides an opportunity to learn important skills which will help in becoming a professional of the future.

Who does an internship?

An internship mainly has been done by students taking professional courses.  It has always been a part of the life of a student taking a professional course way back from history. It proves as a vital component of any education and profession and the role of an internship have become increasingly important in the career development of students in any field as well. It provides important insights into the real world. It also can open the doors to permanent employment opportunities. 

 Why do students need an internship?

 On the other hand, if more works mean more experiences for the intern. Normally, interns would not be refused in any organization though there might be some exceptional cases.

An internship can help the students a lot in building up his ideas, ability and creativity and let them picture reality while they go back to the theory papers. Not every, but many internships have the chance of budding into full time employment. ‘Practice makes a man perfect’ is clearly relevant to the internship or work experience. If you have profitably carried out an internship, you have all the basic skills to do the same for employment. When the time comes for you to search for and find your ‘Dream Job’ you will be well equipped and groomed to get a hold of what you wish for in life.