OPINION: Let’s do an Internship This Summer

These days examinations in various Faculties and Centres of the University (JMI) are going on. Students are busy in putting their best in the exams.

The university has announced summer vacation from 16th May to 15th July, 2011. It would be a good experience if the students were to join some institution/organisation and use their two-month long vacation doing an internship.

Internship generally refers to on-the-job training for white-collar jobs. It is mainly for college and university students.

Today, when there is a fierce competition in every field, the students are expected to be more than just book worms. It is widely accepted that hands-on training in a particular field provides the best training for the students in shaping their career because nothing can compare to shadowing the expertise of a seasoned professional and their individual skills.

There are numerous benefits of doing an internship. It provides opportunities to students to gain practical experience and also to create a network of contacts.

It also helps the employers with educated students willing to learn and ready to work at low wages.

Most companies today are willing to offer substantial wages to the students as per their abilities and responsibilities. However, internships may be paid or unpaid – it depends on the nature of job and the organisation. But in most fields like medical, engineering, law, media, finance, etc, internships are paid. But there are some non-governmental organisations and think-tanks which usually do not pay.

There are a number of organisations which are inviting applications from the willing students for internships.

Students can do internships in media organisations, public relation organisation, travel and tourism, hotel and restaurants, business houses. They can also intern with an automobile company and learn skills on the spot. If the student is good with a language – he/she can also work as a creative writer.

Students – not wanting to intern – can also spend their vacation time in some creative works. They can enrol in short term courses which can help them in their career building. Students can also sharpen their communication skills. They can get enrolled in a private coaching which can provide them with an apt environment to get familiarity with the English language.

However, as education seems to be commercialised, some institutions of spoken English, in Jamia Nagar locality too, have turned professional. They seek an average of Rs. 2000 to 4000 for a 2 to 3 month course of spoken English, which is quite high an amount for a student belonging to a middle class family to afford – and even then there is no certainty of fluency in the language after the course.

But the willing students should not get disenchanted.  Youth Empowerment Services (YES), a Gaffar Manzil, Jamia Nagar, based NGO, which has collaboration with the University Counselling and Guidance Centre, is running some spoken English classes for university students. Duration of the course is 45 days, for a fee of Rs. 300 – which includes study materials provided by the organisation. Students’ are interviewed before they are allowed to join the batch.

I list some useful websites below that can help you find an internship:

www.internship.com
www.internsindia.com
www.indianinternship.com
www.duplacements.com

About Shafaque Alam

Shafaque Alam is a staff writer, and an MPhil student at the Centre for Jawaharlal Nehru Studies. He can be reached via email at: shafaquealam [at] gmail.com

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5 comments

  1. I praise ur artile, but i need to tell u feww things.
    Jamia dont have any colleboration or any MOU with any company for the intership placement
    Jamia dont have any industrial linkage for the internship, so how can a student look for jamia for final placement.
    Jamia had become a battle ground for politics with quota and reservation row, the original vision and mission of jamia is held in the cold storage.
    Now everyone is talking about quota and reservation, but no one is willing to talk on the industry connection of Jamai, belive me it is pathetic. Jamia’s placement cell is just white elephant with no usage.

    So man Alam., how can u expect the student of jamia to do the summer intership, where is not providing any support at all. Do u expect the student to spent their whole 2 months in searching for the intership and when he/she finally get the internship the college’s will get open, so where a student will go?
    the website that u have provided is of no use. I know some dept where for years there is no placement, forgot the intership…

  2. Hi…
    Thanks for your feedback.

    We do believe that there are some shortcomings, but it would be unfair if we ignore the university’s academic excellence, merely on these grounds.

    If there is lack of facilities at the Centres and Departments – it is also our responsibility to help them function better. Merely being cynical can’t yield the result we want.

  3. Please tell do u expect a good job and placement……? jamia is full of shortcoming not some shorthcoming…
    Man,, just compare jamia with any private university, u will see and feel the difference. Here teachers dont have any accountability at all,, Can u tell me,, where this thing happen where the staff don’t have any responsiblity?
    It happen no where except the govt teachers..
    Alam just look at jamia class room,,, even the school will fare better…
    So please tell apart for being cynical what else one can do.. ..

  4. Thanks for having concern for the university.

    ……apart from being cynical we can do a lot and make a difference.
    We can have a healthy discussion on the issue. Reach me at [email protected]

    Thanks

  5. Hey man alam why u have not given my relevent question annswers?
    I think because these question are that these ignored from decades by the stakeholders… How can u answer those decade old question in one go?

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