While looking for hiring post graduate students a good internship done by students can be deciding factor for employers. The candidate may provide value from the day of joining as he has acquired professional experience in an internship
Students can find ways to boost their career or can get final placement through the path of good internship projects. Its very important for management post graduate students to identify and select right internship projects and ways and means for doing right internship projects.
Internship can benefit students careers in many ways from hands-on experience to networking, social skills development, team building and most important getting indepth practical knowledge about core domain or functional specialisation chosen by students according to his or her area of interest .Students unknowingly learn lots of things through experiences which otherwise can not be studied in close classrooms.
Students are always confused while deciding internship projects The following list includes some of the points to be considered while deciding projects
Sometimes project topics are given by employers along with industry guide then students have to work on those areas and projects given by the company. but sometimes it is not the case then students are required to select their own topics and area for projects.
First thing which students need to work upon is to find his/her area of interest for project. for this he can start by Identifying area opportunities by doing brainstorm on following 4 broad categories such as few opportunities can be identified through his /her
1) Intrinsic assets : are those inherent in his blood /personal liking strengths /traits/ inherited traits
2) Situational assets : recent changes happenings around in various domain can create certain opportunities for projects or research
3) Technology related :due to continuous changes in the technology there are chances of getting lots of ideas opportunities from these technological changes and last but not least
4) Past things happened /past experiences and its relevance in today.
Credit: Freepik.com
1) Area of interest
2) Previous experience in the field
3) Current needs of Industry
4) Issues problems faced by companies
5) Research areas not explored
6) Sector area flourishing and growing
7) Past subjects studied and you liked those while studying
8) Curious to know about particular sector or industry company due to certain reasons
In Next stage students can write down key words and fundamental concepts that interest him but avoid overused ideas.
After this do brainstorm or find information or discuss with guides teachers or peers about the same .For example students of finance specialisation can think about their area of interest such as may be financial accounting ,Financial Management ,Banking Insurance, Financial markets, Taxation, audits ,Forensic audits, financial statements, trading, derivatives, or any recent happening issues in economy such as GST ,demonetisation, legal framework changed or changes in laws regulations in particular sector, major amendments in Bancruptcy code RERA ,corporate disclosures and governance SAPM ,Study of Mutual Funds, Equity ,Debt Markets Financial Products, Financial regulators, credit ratings, Financial Institutions, corporate law, Investment banking Mergers acquisitions ,and many more.
Write down any key words or concepts that may be of interest to you. These terms will help students to form a more focused research topic.
Once students are convinced that the area in which they want to do their project then they can think of narrowing down to the specific topic from the area chosen
Students need to then work upon reading past project reports ,research papers, articles ,newspaper to understand previous work done for avoiding the duplication and repetition of project work done. Many times the previous research work also helps in understanding the new areas required to be explored or new sectors, different size of companies based on different parameters or issues faced by particular sectors in recent years for example my be Banking and Airlines sectors to be explored due to the challenges issues faced recently by these sector in the country .Students need to remember that topics chosen based on area selected need to be narrowed down further and has to be in-depth and very specific. While doing so he may choose comparative analysis study or indepth study or primary data/secondary data based study according to the area selected for project.
Internships are very beneficial to students, and a great way to get a head start on a career path. They can decide their project even by choosing area in which they want to make their career such as students interested in working for banking sector or capital markets or insurance can choose their projects accordingly this will also help them to face their project viva /interviews more confidently as these internship projects will give them more practical exposure in depth knowledge and confidence in the chosen field.
Author: Dr.Smita Jape
(Associate professor.BRIMS)
Also read : TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENT – AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE TRAINING PROCESS
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