The transition from a college environment to that of a workplace can be quite overwhelming. Thus, most companies offer mandatory internships before full time employment. An internship is much like a trailer of the movie we are about to take part in. To be a Hero in that movie and hear the audience applaud, we need to extract the most out of this period.
Being four months deep into my current internship at Sabre India, I have some useful insights to share with my fellow hustlers to help make the experience, a success.
Ask, Ask and Ask!
An internship is like the childhood phase of your career where all sorts of questions that pop in your head will be readily entertained. Don’t ever settle when you listen to or read something that you do not understand. Ask immediately what it means. Apart from learning about the work, this is also the key time to get used to the office abbreviations, short forms and the general norms.
The most common phrase I have heard in these few months is “any questions?”. My seniors were patient enough to tackle every bizarre question I threw at them. It is almost an expectation from the higher ups that the newbies will be full of curiosity. Asking questions also shows that you are being attentive and are keen on learning more. Hence, do not hesitate to be a dummy and ask away!
Be Social
Believe it or not, the office is soon to become a second home. On an average we spend five hours a day at our workplace. The more we interact with our coworkers, the more we will feel in our comfort zone. Understanding what other teams are doing acts like the pieces of a puzzle that shows the big picture of your company’s vision.
Interacting with people in other teams helps me visualize how huge the travel industry really is. From revenue management to scheduling of flights to airport movement management to inflight catering and many more, learning what other members of the organization are doing has helped me to better understand where my work fits in.
To Err is Intern
It is a truism that failures are stepping stones to success. Don’t let performance anxiety kill the spirit of experimentation. Internship is the period when taking risks is welcomed. It is the prime time to do self-practice and apply what you learn in new and unique ways. Be the fresh perspective that your organization may need.
In my internship, our leaders are extremely welcoming to the suggestions made by the interns. Organizations today appreciate the breath of fresh air that the millennials bring. The amalgamation of both generations combines responsibility and discipline with fun and creativity. Thus, it is important to try new things, fail at some and keep on improvising.
Be Professional
While “SSUP?” with a nod has become a universally accepted form of greeting, the traditional “Good Morning!” with a smile is still a better choice to go with whether you are an intern or an employee. The tone in which we address our fellow coworkers, the dressing sense and the etiquettes we showcase are well noticed by one and all.
Though the formal letter formats we practiced in school are still not useful here, there is a certain behavior that is expected of adults in a workplace. Observing my seniors, I learnt that soft skills are an absolute essential in any organization. They help us to make good impressions and maintain healthy reputations.
Get Feedback
While appreciation is a motivator, understanding drawbacks is equally important. If there is no company-induced process to gain feedbacks, we must explicitly ask for it from our supervisors. Knowing your weaknesses is a strength. The period of internship is where we can discover our strong and weak points and work on them.
We must understand that a critic is a well-wisher in disguise. So, if a senior is strict and nags us constantly to meet deadlines, they are trying to get us accustomed to the discipline of the professional world. Experience is still the best teacher, and thus we must take the suggestions and opinions of our supervisors seriously to make the most out of our career.
Apart from all the above-mentioned tips to make your internship period a success, the most important one remains to be self-introspection. At the end of the day it is for us to independently decide whether the work we are learning is kindling our inner fire or not. It is for us to realize whether we are ready to play a key role in the big picture or not.
At the end of our internship it is for us to decide whether we want a Job or a Career.
May 29, 2020
