After graduation, Rahul accepted a position with a well-known IT firm. He worked there for 1-2 years before moving on to earn an MBA at one of the IIMs (he was fortunate not to wind up at an obscure institution). When asked why he was taking an MBA, he said that he no longer enjoyed his IT work. When questioned more about what he intended to do next, he was unsure. Think of a career-changing internship.
What happens next: Rahul takes out an education loan to cover the high IIM tuition. And when it comes to placement season, all he cares about is finding a well paid job. Even if Rahul did not like the profile, he would have to stay with it for at least the next 2-3 years. Rahul is back in the same boat he was in before his MBA: he dislikes his work and is unsure what to do next.
What might Rahul have done differently instead of just following the trend?
A placement. Yes, completing a career-changing internship is the most logical alternative when you want to change careers but are unsure of what to do next.
Why is an internship a viable option?
It is rather straightforward to grasp. Consider Vinayak Khare, an Electrical Engineering graduate from NIT Hamirpur. After graduating, he worked for a year in a core firm; he disliked his job and applied for an internship. Vinayak is presently employed as Internshala’s Digital Marketing Manager.
Getting into a reputable B-school, according to Vinayak, requires intensive and committed preparation. And if you are fortunate enough to get into one of the best B-schools, you will be wasting two years of your time and money without knowing what you want to do next.
Here are four reasons why I believe a career-changing internship is a good idea if you want to change careers:
- Internships provide you the opportunity to explore and learn what you like and dislike. If you didn’t enjoy your last marketing internship, don’t panic; you don’t have to continue with it; you may go about researching other choices. Do three to four internships to determine which career path is best for you.
Consider the following example from Chanukya Patnaik: Chanukya formerly interned with Internshala as a Business Apprentice. Prior to that, he completed a research internship [while still in college] with a Professor at NUS Singapore and opted not to pursue a career in biotechnology. He is presently the Marketing Manager of Codechef, a Directi business.
- Internships are NOT expensive: Unlike business schools, internships do not need you to pay a large tuition. On the contrary, you are paid a stipend, which is generally sufficient to cover your own needs.
- Finding an internship is simple: You don’t need to put in a lot of effort or time to obtain an internship. With India’s start-up culture quickly expanding, it is simple to locate a 3-to-6-month internship with a fresh and exciting enterprise. Many start-ups would be delighted to hire someone with prior job experience as a consultant.
- Last but not least, internships give you new skills: Every internship you complete teaches you something new. If you come from an IT background and complete a Digital Marketing internship, you will learn about tools like Google Analytics and Microsoft Excel, as well as how to produce clear messaging, analyse data, and calculate the ROI of marketing efforts. Someone with a marketing background who understands just the fundamentals of Photoshop and is undertaking a design internship will have the chance to learn advanced design programmes such as Illustrator, CorelDraw, and others, as well as strengthen her design sense.
If you want to get an MBA because you want to work in finance or have a specific reason*—great! Otherwise, an internship is an excellent chance to try out multiple career paths without committing to one.
*If your motivation is to study business, dear aspiring businessman, consider the return on your first investment, which is two years of time and a lot of money 😉
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