10 Vital Commandments For Summer Internship

What actually is a successful summer internship? Exploring boundaries? Contributing to the company’s growth? or getting a PPO and chilling through the next year. For the majority, the answer would be a PPO. But what about the intangible outcomes of growth and learning?

Some of you might have already started an internship and many patiently await the joining dates. So in the juggling thoughts of what to do and what not to, Mr. Akshat Srivastav, Head E-commerce, South Asia Region at The Walt Disney Company and alumni of SCMHRD, conducted a webinar where he shared the 10 commandments of surviving a summer internship in the most fulfilling way.

Define your measure of success

Your primary focus should be what your company wants you to deliver, but at the same time, you need to understand what is your measure of success. Have you learned new skills, have you pushed yourself enough? Have you been pushed far enough? Have you come back from the summer internship and said this is exactly what you DON’T want to do? You can get a measure from the company but what about your measures? Look beyond PPO, there is much more than that.

Planning is the foundation of a good project

The summer internship is for two months. But it is actually not! It is for 6 weeks. Why? Because the first week will be of induction, getting to know people, having a project charter, meeting with project managers or project sponsors and this gives you 6 weeks, 30 days, 5 working days, 8 hours a day, and 240 hrs. Be very careful about what you do in each of these hours. Define your plan. Talk to your project charter and strategically chalk out your way. Make weekly goals, assess them, and if you are behind, figure out the reasons. But be mindful that last-minute work will not help you in these two months. It's worth spending 30 minutes at the end of every week to make your project a lot more organized.

Align and document everything!

Don’t be lazy about documenting if you don't want a messy puddle in the end. Those 30 minutes are important and it puts a context. If you have a project plan, get it aligned with your Project Manager, and proactively send them weekly updates, this will keep you directed in the most suited way.

But at times, the plans and documentation don’t work just like the current scenario. All companies might have plans for summer. But they are not working out. So listen to feedback from your peers, Project managers, consumers, or whoever you are concerned with. Adapt to changes. Have a mental model. Apart from keeping managers aligned, keep time for screw-ups. No project is perfect, there will be other people who will help you, who will give you information, cancel last-minute meetings, give late analysis, and so on and so forth. So, prepare your project well in advance for screw-ups and contingencies as well.

Ask what you want, don't assume

It is important to be respectful to everyone in the organization, but it's equally important that you ask for things that you need to deliver on the project. Whether it's data, resources, consumer research budgets, it's past history of what people have done or not done on a similar project, and of course people’s time. Tell them about the tools that you need. If you don't get them, adapt and do with what you have to. But don't assume and ask for what you want. 

Get the most out of your mentor relationship

Whoever is your project manager, fight for their time but be respectful and mindful of their privacy in times like this. Ensure that you have time with them hopefully every single day. If it's not possible, at least two or three times a week. Because there is nothing like not aligning your expectations and fighting for your manager’s time to get feedback and then suddenly realizing in the middle of week 5 that they wanted something else. And you are on a completely parallel track!

Your project not only reflects your abilities, but it is also a project guide’s test. They want you to deliver on things that could bring a fresh perspective.  Some of you will have great project guides and they will be proactive but some of you won't. That's the nature of every organization. But being a lot more organized would make a huge difference in your learning experience and your journey in terms of delivering the project. 

You are smart and confident, believe in your abilities 

Be confident instead of proving to the organizations that you are as good or better than the ones coming from the IIMs or other premier B-Schools. Understand that the company has selected you because they saw your talent and ability to accomplish the task at hand. There's some merit in you being there. You should see that merit in yourself. Be confident in your interactions with your manager, and with other people within the organization.

We sometimes work with too much deference because we believe that we are just summer interns and there are so many senior people around us. But you should be honest and open. Feel free to ask for feedback. In the best circumstances, you will get a lot more learning during the project. If somebody doesn't like that, at worst, you will realize how to best deal with people. There is no losing element. Always remember that being respectful and being deferential are two very different things.

Go from active to productive

Do not confuse activity and productive work. Activity means you feel you are occupied irrespective of whether you have too many things lined up, you have enough data or you are simply trying to fill your days to show your Manager. Don't confuse this with productive work. You have to be prudent while choosing what is more productive for you. This is extremely critical. You can work for 12 hours or for 3 hours; productivity is what takes you forward. Activity only helps you sail through the day.

Try and see that you are filling your days with productive work and not just with activity. Don't be the hamster on the wheel that keeps going but is really going nowhere. This is extremely critical and will hold you steady throughout your life.

Embrace competition but help peers

How do you feel about your peers? There will be tons of other people from different B-Schools in your internship and of course, you will compete with them, to highlight your own ability and your talent. But it shouldn't come at the cost of helping other people. Help your peers whenever you can. During the summer internship, you form a strong network of people. 10-15 years down the line, they will help you get information, understand the business, and build contacts in another organization. 

This is your biggest networking opportunity. Be competitive but do not be petty. Organizations look for people that are smart and the best, but also that are collaborative and open to helping others. Because no organization is run by a single individual. And the way you deliver your project is the best example of who you are.

If you have a seat at the table, your opinion matters

What does this mean? During the course of the internship, there will be instances where you will be invited to be a part of meetings with senior business leaders in the organization and you will get the chance to present your ideas to them. So If you have a relevant opinion and logical thought process, speak up. Don't sit quietly at the table because you believe that you are just an intern and the person sitting on the other side is the Marketing Director. If you have a seat at the table, if they have invited you to be part of that meeting, you have something to contribute. Please contribute. Say it in the most respectful, influential, and logical way possible. 

Don’t worry about speaking up. The organization has asked you to come because you bring in a fresh perspective. If you don't agree with them in the discussion, raise a point. If it's dismissed, have a chat with the manager. A lot of great insights and ideas come from pieces of tension and conflict. It doesn't come when everyone agrees with everybody else. That's not how organizations function. So please be mindful of that.

Have fun along the way

Work hard but also have fun. Summer internships give you a slight advantage as to where you kick off your career. But don't forget to enjoy the journey. Have an enjoyable learning process! Enjoy being pushed! Enjoy being challenged!

Even if your first presentation is completely dismissed by your boss, enjoy it, because it will give you a completely different thought process. These are eight weeks of your life, that you are not going to get back. Have fun to whatever degree that you can during these times. Catch up with your peers on a video call but do not let the circumstances drag you down. Be easy on yourself. It's okay to get disappointed at times but don’t let it depress you.

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