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INTRODUCTION & LITERATURE REVIEW
As an MBA student we get the opportunity to experience corporate
culture and gain real experience of work before we actually land
up in a job, which was given to us during the second semester of
our course. I got selected in an IIT-ISB alumni backed company
which is based in Gurugram known as Peacock Solar. I served for 2
months as an HR Generalist.
This study helps us in understanding what are the major
expectations of the MBA students looking for internships. What do
they want when they are searching for it? According to the
literature review, an internship is an experiential academic
experience in which a student has intentional learning
goals/objectives with measurable outcomes. These learning
goals/objectives may include:
● Academic Learning : the student may apply and test
knowledge learned in the classroom to a professional work
environment.
● Career Development : the student may explore a specific
field of interest, expand his or her professional network
and gain an understanding of the qualifications and
duties involved in a specific profession or career field.
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SOUMYA SINGH | DOON BUSINESS SCHOOL
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● Skill Development : the student gains an understanding of
the transferable skills and knowledge required for success
in a professional work environment and integrates those
skills in their academic learning.
● Personal Development : the student gains
decision-making skills, self-confidence, business savvy,
ethics, and teamwork required for success in a
professional work environment.
An internship is designed as an exchange. The student agrees to
complete work that will benefit the host organization and in return
is offered the opportunity to learn new skills, expand his or her
knowledge of a particular field and explore career options.
Employers offer internships for many reasons. They see student
interns as fruitful and economical resources with which they can
accomplish projects not otherwise possible. They believe interns
bring enthusiasm and new ideas into work settings and make
strong employees. Just as importantly, employers feel an
increasing commitment to education and want to help train
students to assume responsible roles in society.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Peacock Solar is a company that provides high quality, hassle-free solar
installation at lowest cost and highest reliability.
According to them, “Peacock Solar was born out of the vision to empower
India’s 50 million households with access to clean energy. Peacock solar
leverages data analytics and innovative finance to make solar affordable
and reliable for homeowners across the country. We offer the highest quality
of technical expertise in our end-to-end suite of solar panel installation
services. We are proud to be recognized by Climate Finance Lab as one of
the top 9 global ideas for sustainable development in 2018 cycles and
funded by UNICEF to further our vision of getting solar at every home.” .
Blitz Jobs is its sister company where I also interned. It has been
established with a vision to provide best-in class workforce solutions to
organizations, colleges and individuals alike. It is the ultimate solution for all
the HR problems organizations face, committed to providing our clients with
top notch solutions that leave them satisfied and accelerate their growth.
“Our aim is to provide a significant competitive edge to our clients in a fast
growing market like India. We offer the right talent at the earliest possible
and enable our clients to do better business every day.”
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SOUMYA SINGH | DOON BUSINESS SCHOOL
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JOB ROLE
I worked as an HR generalist in both the firms for one month each. We were
assigned a batch with Team leaders who guided us to the daily tasks. In the
first few weeks, interviews were allotted to us. Proper training was given as to
what to ask and how to ask. We were properly briefed about the job for
which we were hiring interns. What I learnt was to take interviews, to initiate
conversations professionally and also to judge suitable candidates for
different profiles just on the basis of a telephonic conversation during the
interview.
We used LinkedIn for posting job profiles for open posts. I shortlisted
candidates by their resumes and having a one on one talk over textual
medium then further interviewing only the suitable candidates.
I contacted non-technical colleges in the state of Rajasthan for Internship
Data collection for different profiles for management students who would be
looking for internships.
After taking up interviews of allotted candidates, the ones who got selected
were to be officially intimated with proper procedure as laid by the
company. So, I did their onboarding process by generating Offer letters,
welcoming the candidates on board, sending welcome emails, and
collecting documents from the candidates.
Then when I was shifted to the next vertical in the sister company BlitzJobs, I
was taking up interviews for jobs of different positions at different
companies pan-India as it was a recruiting firm.
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SOUMYA SINGH | DOON BUSINESS SCHOOL
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T O P I C
My topic is “Expectations vs Deliverables of the Management Interns”.
After a semester or two of intensive studies, projects, assignments, powerpoint
presentations and exams, many highs and lows in an MBA program, all of MBA
students head off into their summer internships. In fact, for many students, this is
one of the highlights of the MBA experience.
I sought to delve further into the MBA Summer Internship Experience, to learn
more about what students do and what they get out of the experience. I wanted
to know what MBA students were up to during their internships and what their
expectations were and if they were fulfilled or not so I commissioned a brief
survey to investigate this further.
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
1. To find if the expectations of the student are met.
2. To find the moral acceptability of unpaid internships.
3. To find that internships provide an insight into the corporate culture
and work life.
4. To find if the internship leads to skill learning and networking with
professionals in that field.
5. To find if internships are the deciding factor in exploring avenues.
6. To find the impact of Covid-19 on internships.
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METHODOLOGY
The primary data has been extracted by quantitative method - Survey. A digital
form was created with questions and multiple options and choices which gave
significant results. The number of questions asked were thirteen and the total
number of responses received were 55.
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Name
2. Course
3. Which domain has the internship been done in?
4. Why did you do the internship?
5. What were your "expectations" from an internship?
6. What did you wish you knew before starting your internship?
7. Were your expectations fulfilled?
8. How would you categorize the tasks given to you during your internship?
9. Was your internship paid?
10. What do you think of unpaid internships?
11. Did you learn skills related to your chosen domain?
12. How did Covid-19 impact your internship?
13. Was your internship experience good?
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2. Which domain has the internship been done in?
The above pie chart shows the percentage of chosen fields of
internships by the management students. The most chosen field
has been in Marketing & Sales which shows that most students
preferred to intern in this field.
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3. Why did you do the internship?
The reason for doing the internship was found out to be Skill
Learning, students are looking for skill development and to
gain experience in the field of their choice. Then comes the
Resume building which is linked with better job opportunities
in the future while sitting for placement. The next reason was
earning a good stipend as for some that was the motivation
although the percentage is relatively less. The least chosen
was utilising spare time.
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4. What were your "expectations" from an internship?
The students expected to gain the most experience in a very less
amount of time that is a month or two. Then they expected to
build their resume with their internship experience details as that
plays a pivotal role during placements as experienced candidates
are more likely to be chosen for the job. Then came academic
learning and getting a full-time placement offer. At the same
position were found to be two expectations which were stipend &
adding value to the company that they are interning for. Then the
rest of the expectations were that their efforts should be
recognised in the company and justified & sensible working
hours.
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5. What did you wish you knew before starting your internship?
When students were asked what they think they should have
known before starting the internship they admitted that if
they had known industry specific skills or functions. The rest
believed that they had known organisational insights like how
a company runs and what are the different positions and roles
of employees and how it all functions all together.
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6. Were your expectations fulfilled?
A large part of the student population was clearly more than
just satisfied with their internships which contributed around
43.8%. Then there were students who just got what they
expected, nothing above nothing less. One eighth of the
population did not at all get what they expected.
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7. How would you categorize the tasks given to you during your
internship?
The tasks allotted to the students in their internship were found
to be important and valuable. Most said that they were important
in their learning and growth while a major section said they were
not very important but were valuable to the company and them.
One-eighth of the population said that they were menial tasks
although relevant to the company’s agenda which signifies that
the talent or the input that the intern carried went futile as it
wasnt utilised by the company. Some even said that the tasks
didn’t match their career goals as they were absolutely irrelevant.
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8. Was your internship paid?
Most of the students spent 2-3 months working
with a company as an intern and they were not
paid.
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9. What do you think of unpaid internships?
The majority said that it was morally unacceptable to not get
paid for their efforts and contributions when they worked
simultaneously with their classes going on sacrificing their
leisure time, self-study, and sometimes the classes itself.
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10. Did you learn skills related to your chosen domain?
The good part was that most of them learnt relevant
skills working in their chosen domains which is a
very good thing.
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11. How did Covid-19 impact your internship?
Most of the students said that they didn’t feel like they were working
as the experience didn’t feel like a real work experience. They felt
over-burdened with the constant nagging on whatsapp and the
constant allotment of tasks despite the working hours made it a little
taxing. They felt no sense of professionalism nor did they learn
anything about corporate culture & decorum. The internship proved
to be ineffective for some due to everything turning digital which
gave no sense of working at a real office. There found to be very less
colleagues and superior interaction.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
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FINDINGS & DISCUSSIONS
I. The first objective was if students met with their expectations and it
was found that a large part of the student population was clearly more
than just satisfied with their internships which contributed around
43.8%.
II. The second objective was to find the moral acceptability of unpaid
internships which was found that 80% of the students said it was
unacceptable to them as they want their efforts to be recognised and
rewarded in monetary terms as they are giving their time and labor.
III. The internships provide insight into the corporate life which wasn’t
completely true this year due to the work from home situation. That
didn't lead students into learning about the professionalism, decorum
and work culture of the corporate world.
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IV. The second last objective was to find if the internships are a deciding
factor in exploring avenues then the answer is definitely. Though good
or bad the experience may have been, it still lets the student know
what they are expecting out of their chosen domain and an unfilled
experience leads them to reach out for more. The internship
experience lets you have a peek in the field that you want to enter
professionally in.
V. The last objective was the impact of covid-19 on the internships. It was
found that due to covid, the work from home situation arose. It wasn’t
of much help as the students felt that they were not working in a
professional setup. It gave no "real" working experience. They felt
over-burdened with constant tasks such as communication on mobile
like whatsapp. No sense of professionalism, corporate culture & its
decorum were learnt or felt. It proved to be ineffective as everything
turning digital led to no networking with professionals in the company
such as their superiors or colleagues.
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LIMITATIONS
1. This research survey was conducted on a small segment of the
student population so the generalization that we arrive at may not
be accurate as the one conducted on a larger population. The
comparative analysis between undergraduate and postgraduate
management students couldn’t be held as we received no response
from BBA students.
2. Since I am not a professional researcher or an expert in this field,
therefore there might be a possibility of errors in this study albeit I
have been utmost sincere and earnest in my research.
3. Moreover, being an amateur researcher, my own thoughts,
perceptions or biases could be shown while forming the questions
and their options in the questionnaire although I have been utmost
fair to my understanding.
4. The respondents may not feel comfortable or encouraged to provide
accurate and honest answers that would present them in an
unfavourable manner.
5. The respondents may not be fully aware of their reasons for any
given answer because of lack of memory on the subject, or even
boredom.
6. Lack of direct communication and unable to take personal interviews
due to Covid-19. Thus, a qualitative data extraction couldn't be held.
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CONCLUSION
The findings from the above data analysis has been that
most of the students got what they expected and were
happy with their internship experience. Although Covid-19
did lead to ineffective work experience in the corporate
world. With students sacrificing their personal time and
studies for an internship, not getting a stipend was one
issue which was found out to be morally unacceptable.
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SOUMYA SINGH | DOON BUSINESS SCHOOL