Campus connect: What’s the internship scenario in Pune?

As college students get ready for the second semester of the academic year, there are also many who are also busy with winter internships.

The internship programmes done by students also carries weightage for the final tally or completion of course.

Talent, skill and experience are important for the development of a student. The competition is tough and adding skills through internships help the student become market-ready and job-ready.

Madhavi Reddy, head of department of media studies and communication of Savitribai Phule Pune University said “Internship is being treated as an important aspect by many departments of the university.”

A group of students doing Master’s in Social Work (MSW) from the Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Sangli branch are doing an internship programme with a non-governmental organisation Samyak which works mostly in Tukai nagar, a slum area near Vithalwadi.

“Applying what we have learnt in the classroom is very important and we can do it only when we work as interns. I feel internships should be made compulsory,” said Pratiksha Kadam, a second-year student.

Kadam has joined hands with her classmates Shweta Kolekar and Akash Patil to gain practical knowledge.

“We have learnt lot of things theoretically. It is important to get to the field and, internship helps us achieve that,” said Akash Patil who is keen on understanding more about urban rural community development and gender equality.

His project coordinator Pradnya Molavade said, “I had interned Samyak in 2016 when I was studying MSW in Karve Institute. I used to work on weekends and now I have joined the organisation full time. So, internships also can lead to future jobs.”

Sanmit Shah, founder director of Pratical B Com, an institution which develops individuals to be successful accountants in the banking and finance sectors, said that industry selects only that individual who possesses proper skill set and competency as this minimises the cost incurred on training and orientation of a fresher.

“A graduation from any stream is not sufficient now. It hardly readies the candidate for the market,” said Shah.

Shah went on to explain as to how on one hand, industries are bleeding for skilled professionals and on the other hand, a there are students who are jobless due to lack of skills.

“Pragmatic training according to industry approach, providing the students on-the-job training while perusing their graduation, is what internship is all about. Internship bridges the gap between conventional graduation and industrial requirement of skilled manpower,” Shah added.

Satyam Sahebrao Dandge, a second-year commerce student of Dyansagar Arts & Commerce College, Balewadi said that working as a intern at NVM Associates has helped him not only to expand his knowledge but also to interact with professionals and learn things practically.

“I am a shy person. Interaction with mentors in the office and the clients has helped me boost my confidence. My personality has changed and my communication skills have improved,” said Dandge.

Internship is also being increasingly looked upon as an experimental ground to check if the students’ interests match the industry requirements.

Apurva Avinash Jadhav, a third year student of mass communication and journalism, Abasaheb Garware College, found her calling in radio jockeying. She got an opportunity to work as an intern with a private radio channel. “I was initially of the impression that being a radio jockey is easy. I learnt that it is not. One has to come up with new ideas everyday. You need to do multi-tasking as well. I got to know how to edit audio files for interviews and how to think of interesting questions while interviewing a person. I realised that radio has the power to make a change. It also can help other people,” she said.

Vikrant Jagtap, technical director of Saj Test Plant Pvt Ltd, said that internships are arranged in the company so that fresh minds who can think outof-the-box can contribute to the company’s growth. “The enthusiasm and positive energy of youngsters is infectious. They also offer helping hand to senior staff members in the organisation,” said Jagtap.

Prakash Magdum, director National film Archive of India (NFAI) feels that opening the doors of government organisations like NFAI to youth has been possible with internship. “It is a win-win combination for we are an understaffed organisation and the task of film preservation is huge and challenging. Hence we decided to go for interns two years ago. We have till date had 25 interns from across the country who have worked in various departments.”

Hrishikesh Shinde, a final year Mechanical engineering student of Marathwada Mitramandal Institute of Technology, is interning at Saj Test Plant and is elated to be getting hands-on training.

“I am learning the design procedure which was taught as a theory. Here I am practically using it in relation to manufacturing a product for the auto industry. This is truly exciting,” Shinde said.