Like any other B-school student, I, a student of Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, had to go through a two month summer internship, and I chose a global, well-renowned company in the automotive sector to intern. All necessary background study were put in place to use my ‘skills’ and make a mark. Getting a pre-placement offer was not a distant dream. Expectations ran high and the enthusiasm almost reached a crescendo till reality dawned. Good or bad? – you will know soon.
Some people with whom I interacted were thorough in their work and concepts – an important aspect to make a mark, learnt a lot of on the technical front – important for a manager to understand the business completely, and had a real time experience of working in the industry. Amidst all the serious work, there was a rainbow, which was in fact the best part of the internship - the time spent with the other interns at the lunch table – topics of discussion ranged from new launches, techie stuff, movies, music, to news – in short, everything under the sun. Even the bosses were not spared!
All fine, but where is the hitch? Now hits the tangy taste of working in an industry. Interaction with the first point of contact, HR manager, was an eye-opener. When a personnel of the company can ask us what PGDM stands for and after hearing the word ‘Diploma’ can ask why I went for a lower value course after ‘Engineering’, it was a shocker. Coming from personnel employed in a company which is a world leader in the products it manufactures, with considerable number of years of operations in India, it conveyed the message of what would lie ahead for the next two months. Interesting was the word in my mind then. Again, surprises were waiting at the next turn.
How does it feel when you are the most unwanted person around? Certainly not on top of the world! And when what you wish to convey falls on deaf ears, it’s certainly not the time to party! Management interns were unheard of in the plant, and it posed a challenge to the guide to give me a project worthy of my qualifications. It even prompted my friend to mouth ‘They don’t know how to use their resources optimally; they are wasting perfectly sound, pretty capable management brain for clerical purposes’. A walk to the MD’s office did create a flutter, but it soon died a natural death and thats when I realized, going to your boss’s super-boss is not something you are supposed to do.
More surprises awaited me as the time progressed. I went in for a hands-on experience of operations in an automotive industry but as a bonus, I got a perfect exposure to office politics, functional silos and the loyalty and conflict of interests associated to that. I felt sorry for them, as ‘meeting targets and organization goals’ was uninvited to their ‘groups’. For those who were bored, there was gaming as well. People participated actively and all the hidden enthusiasm was put to good use in playing the ‘Blame Game’. Food given at the plant was great, the best dish being ‘Food for thought’. Problems at the grass root level made for a sumptuous meal indeed.
I would say most part of my project duration went in understanding the processes and ways around the company and thinking how it can be improved, what best practices can be implemented and documenting those in my report as recommendations. Try as hard as you might, it was hardly of any consequence explaining any concepts that could be implemented to keep the process at the plant as ‘state-of-the-art’ as possible. Was this a surprise? No. My manager had 10yrs of experience and ‘had been there, seen it and done that’, while I was the ‘new kid on the block’ spewing the ‘coolest’ lingo taught in B-schools. Remember how I had set out with starry eyes and spring in my step? Well, I fulfilled my intentions - I got noticed as an overenthusiastic intern. Remember how I wanted to be part of change? I drove change by my analysis and management skills. They graciously accepted the change, and gave it an enviable address - the safe haven of my internship report. One which certainly dint find its way to my report was the lack of updated technological knowledge among the personnel. Technology is changing the world, but since this was ‘out of the world’, it can be pardoned. Rattling out the digits of Pi seems to be a smaller task when you compare it to answering the question as to how the company is performing the way it is currently.
If any experience can be informative and revealing (true organization behaviour) at the same time, then this will take the cake. Patience through endurance of non-responsive bosses was a key take-away. What else did I take-away? Reputation of the company you are interning with is suitable only for a sprint. It takes a lot more to be a long-distance runner! A right project, a receptive boss, who doubles up as a guide, and a reasonably free rein to implement the suggestions are some of the elements of the mix. However, in the end it is all about turning these negatives to positives. Experience is a great teacher and next time I come across any of the unpleasant situations mentioned here, you know the same story won’t be replayed. Bring it on!
Some people with whom I interacted were thorough in their work and concepts – an important aspect to make a mark, learnt a lot of on the technical front – important for a manager to understand the business completely, and had a real time experience of working in the industry. Amidst all the serious work, there was a rainbow, which was in fact the best part of the internship - the time spent with the other interns at the lunch table – topics of discussion ranged from new launches, techie stuff, movies, music, to news – in short, everything under the sun. Even the bosses were not spared!
All fine, but where is the hitch? Now hits the tangy taste of working in an industry. Interaction with the first point of contact, HR manager, was an eye-opener. When a personnel of the company can ask us what PGDM stands for and after hearing the word ‘Diploma’ can ask why I went for a lower value course after ‘Engineering’, it was a shocker. Coming from personnel employed in a company which is a world leader in the products it manufactures, with considerable number of years of operations in India, it conveyed the message of what would lie ahead for the next two months. Interesting was the word in my mind then. Again, surprises were waiting at the next turn.
How does it feel when you are the most unwanted person around? Certainly not on top of the world! And when what you wish to convey falls on deaf ears, it’s certainly not the time to party! Management interns were unheard of in the plant, and it posed a challenge to the guide to give me a project worthy of my qualifications. It even prompted my friend to mouth ‘They don’t know how to use their resources optimally; they are wasting perfectly sound, pretty capable management brain for clerical purposes’. A walk to the MD’s office did create a flutter, but it soon died a natural death and thats when I realized, going to your boss’s super-boss is not something you are supposed to do.
More surprises awaited me as the time progressed. I went in for a hands-on experience of operations in an automotive industry but as a bonus, I got a perfect exposure to office politics, functional silos and the loyalty and conflict of interests associated to that. I felt sorry for them, as ‘meeting targets and organization goals’ was uninvited to their ‘groups’. For those who were bored, there was gaming as well. People participated actively and all the hidden enthusiasm was put to good use in playing the ‘Blame Game’. Food given at the plant was great, the best dish being ‘Food for thought’. Problems at the grass root level made for a sumptuous meal indeed.
I would say most part of my project duration went in understanding the processes and ways around the company and thinking how it can be improved, what best practices can be implemented and documenting those in my report as recommendations. Try as hard as you might, it was hardly of any consequence explaining any concepts that could be implemented to keep the process at the plant as ‘state-of-the-art’ as possible. Was this a surprise? No. My manager had 10yrs of experience and ‘had been there, seen it and done that’, while I was the ‘new kid on the block’ spewing the ‘coolest’ lingo taught in B-schools. Remember how I had set out with starry eyes and spring in my step? Well, I fulfilled my intentions - I got noticed as an overenthusiastic intern. Remember how I wanted to be part of change? I drove change by my analysis and management skills. They graciously accepted the change, and gave it an enviable address - the safe haven of my internship report. One which certainly dint find its way to my report was the lack of updated technological knowledge among the personnel. Technology is changing the world, but since this was ‘out of the world’, it can be pardoned. Rattling out the digits of Pi seems to be a smaller task when you compare it to answering the question as to how the company is performing the way it is currently.
If any experience can be informative and revealing (true organization behaviour) at the same time, then this will take the cake. Patience through endurance of non-responsive bosses was a key take-away. What else did I take-away? Reputation of the company you are interning with is suitable only for a sprint. It takes a lot more to be a long-distance runner! A right project, a receptive boss, who doubles up as a guide, and a reasonably free rein to implement the suggestions are some of the elements of the mix. However, in the end it is all about turning these negatives to positives. Experience is a great teacher and next time I come across any of the unpleasant situations mentioned here, you know the same story won’t be replayed. Bring it on!
