The career value of an MBA internship.

url copy“Knowledge is Power” and “Practice makes a man perfect” are the two valuable rules for a successful life. A sound knowledge and learning is incredibly important for any type of career in general. The progress of a person who stops learning comes to a standstill until he starts learning again. But theoretical knowledge is not just enough to give perfection to your work and there are some things which you can only learn through real performance and experiencing. Practical knowledge leads to the deeper understanding of the concept by the process of doing and experiencing. This is the reason why the career value of an MBA internship should never be ignored. Even if you earn an MBA degree from one of the most prestigious MBA institutes, it will be of little importance if you learnt skills only in the classroom and did not find application in the real business world!

Internship helps in improving the required job skills

An MBA internship is an introduction to the real world of business and provides an opportunity to the student to understand how the things work in the real commercial world. The internship shows why the certain things learned in the classroom are so important and how the business theories work when applied. It makes the student understand that the tedious study material used in the classrooms is not just for curriculum but actually is so important when we work in real business scenario.

An internship gives the MBA students a chance to shine and develop their skills. What they have been taught in the classroom, they can apply it beautifully to the real job world. The required job skills like interpersonal and team skills are also improved while doing the internship. The ability to work with others is an important trait required for succeeding in a job and that is well nurtured while doing an internship.

Internship increases the chances of getting a good job

No one can deny the added advantage of doing a quality MBA internship when sitting in job interviews. A recent survey showed that the 74 percent of the companies surveyed prefer those candidates who have done internship before considering other candidates. Some companies hire only the candidates who have done internships and reject those who have not done it. Moreover after undergoing a full internship period you develop a lot of self confidence and you are able to face the real time work scenario questions with full confidence.

A positive impact on the graduate’s salary

The addition in the value by MBA internship can also be seen by the fact that the salary offered are higher in the case of candidates with MBA internships. Even if you got an unpaid internship, you should consider its impact on your future salary. The graduates with internships applying for jobs are offered a better salary package than those MBA graduates without an internship. Recent surveys have shown that those MBA graduates who have undergone internships got 84% salary increase over pre-degree earnings whereas those without internship got a 70% hike only over previous earnings. This really confirms the fact that an MBA internship has a positive impact on the graduate’s salary.

An MBA internship provides a great chance to turn your internship into a job!

A number of surveys have shown that employers convert more than 1/3rd of their interns into a full time hires. Employers are happy to absorb the interns as regular employees because they already had the opportunity to observe the strengths and skills of the intern and they are able to see the real performance of the candidate in the real time work scenario. Many employers accept the fact that the performance of the interns in the full time job is superior to those recent college graduates who just started with the company. With a positive approach and full sincerity it is really possible to earn a job offer in the same company where you do your internship and this is a great opportunity for both the employer as well as the intern. Employer has the idea of the working of the employee and the employee (intern) is already familiar with the working conditions and culture of the company.

A great way to connect with the professionals

During your internship you are exposed to excellent professional connections within the company as well as outside the company. Your company may be working with other financial institutions, consulting firms and service providers. During your internship assignment you may get a chance to visit these institutions and that will prove beneficial for you in the long run. Make sure you invite the people you meet during the internship to join you on LinkedIn and other social networks and ask for other professional references. Do not make connections only for the sake of getting a job but also make contacts which can help you as coaches and mentors.

An MBA internship helps you to choose a career path

If you are wandering that which industry or field you would like to choose as a career in, then an internship is a great way to help you find the position you feel comfortable with. Make sure you collect all the information you need in this context during your internship. Talk to your supervisors or peers and ask all the questions you require to evaluate the positives and negatives of your decision.

Thus an MBA internship is a great fulfilling experience and you should take it very seriously and perform it with your sincere efforts and full devotion. Internship is not only a key to add experience to your MBA resume but it can also help you to jumpstart your career in multiple ways. During my MBA days I have seen a number of students performing their internship just for the sake of getting a good grade. But this should not be the only aim of your internship as the real benefit of an MBA internship lies far beyond than that. By reading this article you would have certainly got glimpses of some of the major benefits of doing an MBA internship and the career value of it. An internship done honestly and sincerely will help you to get the most out of your MBA graduation and will definitely help you to practically apply all that you learn inside your classroom lectures.

Contributed By : Ashish Singh Parihar (Class of 2008, IBS Pune)

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