6 Things You Should Definitely do to Convert Your Summer Internship

Summer internships are one of the most transformational experiences of an individual’s B-School life. As soon as you enter, the first thing you’re bombarded with is preparing for your summer placement. Now if you’re lucky enough to crack the selection process of a top recruiter, there are several things you can spend your time and energy on, but if you follow the following tips, we guarantee maximum fun and zero PPOs.

While the article was written for non-COVID times, the principles still hold true.

Background Research….. on TRAVEL PLANS

If the company has selected you for their internship from among hundreds of applicants, you’re obviously awesome, right? Doing background research on the company is so pointless. What could you possibly gain by reading about the industry, the business model, the competitors of the company where you’re going to spend the next 8 weeks. Relax and just show up at the office and don’t forget to act surprised if they don’t immediately gather around you and fall at your feet for all the precious gyan you have.

Discipline?….. please spare me that!

You haven’t joined the army, have you? After your punishing schedule at the B-School, the internship is quite obviously an opportunity to chill and relax. Make the most of it. It’s perfectly okay to miss deadlines. In fact, as Douglas Adams used to say – you’ll begin to love the whooshing sound they make as they pass by. About coming to office on time – who even does that anymore?

Stay away from all initiatives, it’s just More Work!

Initiative? Wo kya hota hain? Don’t ever forget that the Internship is primarily an opportunity for you to explore the new city. Sample the food, go sight-seeing and have a drink at every bar and café you can find! As for the project, you’ve always managed to scrape a presentation on the last night! If you have an idea that can make a difference, make sure it stays with you. Others knowing about it would just increase your work, won’t it?

Networking?? Why even bother?

They chose YOU for the internship, didn’t they? Obviously, you have the stronger side here. Don’t ever bother building relationships with your colleagues and co-workers at the company. Who knows, they’ll maybe try and extract a favor from you at some point of time and you obviously won’t need any of them anytime in your career. So, why even bother with networking?

Mentorship? Too old fashioned!

Your mentor is a busy person, so avoid troubling him as much as possible. Even if you’re not clear about your project, its timeline and deliverables, DO NOT EVER APPROACH HIM. Make sure the distance between you two is always more than that between a finance guy and Kotler’s textbook. Even if he can connect you with the relevant persons in the company and open up some new opportunities, how does it matter? And seriously, is it even worth the trouble?

Curiosity kills the cat and BORES the intern

Remember, your internship lasts a measly 8 weeks. Don’t ever bother to learn about how their business is executed (or anything else for that matter). Never ask questions. Try not to utter anything that may be thought-provoking. You are there for two reasons – to get loads of money to party like there’s no tomorrow. Everything outside your project is a no go area and should be avoided at all costs. Try reading The Secret when you want to bore yourself sleep.

And if all goes well….

You might even be let off before your 8 weeks are over! WHAT A RELIEF! Right? We hope not, and the truth is that your internship really is a valuable investment in time and effort for both you and the company. You are there so that you can go beyond the tidy worldview of books and get a vision of how business is actually conducted in the real world. At the same time the company expects from you a fresh perspective and a different approach to the problem. And your mentor exists to facilitate this mutually beneficial relationship. Your internship is not a break from the B-School but an extension of it. Infuse it with all the energy, enthusiasm and discipline you can muster and it will be a truly enriching experience!

So if you think you should make an extra effort to get that edge in your internship, our programs are designed to give you the upper hand. As a first step, find out what project you’re like to be doing in this list of S&M summer internship projects.

This article was written by Ajay Jadhav from IIM Raipur and edited by Anubhav Aggarwal with design by Dhruv Siwach