I was extremely excited to hear the news of being the only person (from Human Resources) from my institute (Lala Lajpatrai Institute of Management) to be selected for the summer internship at Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd. I was definitely looking forward to it and desperately waiting for my first day. However, on day-1 I was exceptionally nervous and anxious. I had come across a number of people who believed that exploitation of the students is not a very uncommon practice during internships. Only a few lucky ones would have the privilege of undergoing an internship wherein they do not come across this.
I was among the few fortunate ones who had this privilege. My internship at the Mumbai Airport commenced with a thorough induction programme followed by a tour of the airport terminal as well as the airside (airside is the internal part including the runway of the airport). I had never expected to visit each and every corner of the airside. The feeling was incredible especially when I got an opportunity to see the aircrafts landing and taking off so closely, air traffic control tower, chartered aircrafts of various personalities, etc.
On day-2 and day-3, I, with my other colleague interns underwent a rigorous training for the job to be performed. Although this training was basically related to my core area of work, I had an opportunity to learn other aspects too. At the end of the 2-day training, I was assigned a personal mentor (they used the word champion for mentor) and my desk with a system.
The following few days I was given some time to settle down. Meanwhile, my champion advised me to read and learn about my area of work there, i.e. Training and Development by reading some books or through browsing the internet.
After a couple of days, I was given work finally. However, there was never a day in my entire 2-month tenure when I had too much of workload. Every day I spent at least some time studying. I was always being told that my primary purpose of internship must be learning. My champion guided me well throughout my internship. His encouragement and guidance helped me a lot.
Apart from the normal work, I, with my other intern colleagues was given a secret awareness initiative. All we had to do is to create awareness about a particular topic (cannot reveal the details as it is supposed to be confidential) by designing a strategy. A series of interesting mails and a few games and contests were conducted by us as a part of this initiative. We received a lot of appreciation for the same. Every week it was a sort of entertainment for employees. Also, through this activity I got to test my creativity.
One thing that I would like to add is that I was never treated like an outsider in the organization. I was a part of the HR Department of the organization. In the two months, the department had team lunches wherein I got to interact with everyone.
At the end of the internship, my champion and few other people from the department helped me make my internship project. They were highly concerned about my project and wanted my best to come out in it. They provided their valuable inputs doe the same.
Internship at Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd. was such an overwhelming experience. I not only got an insight into the working of the Training and development team and HR department, but also into the working of the airport. It was my privilege to be a part of the organization.