Learning from the experience of an intern

Think of a room with dim light sweeping across the floor, think of a starless sky and the hum of a generator houses away. Think of a graduate rolling off bed, his arms stiff and cranky, his brains slightly disoriented due to the accumulated fatigue of the previous week’s duties.

He glances at his phone, snoozes the alarm and while he fights the temptation to sleep back, the image of Third Mainland bridge flashes through his mind, so he stifles a yawn and stretches his limp limb before getting off his bed lazily, it’s another Monday morning, another week to hustle.

“There is no job” should be the most echoed phrase I have heard in this 21st century and it is quite interesting because there is another more frequent narrative, the depressing phrase of “Graduates are not employable”. To bridge this gap, companies have mapped out different strategies of empowering undergraduates and equipping them for the requisite skills required to thrive in the corporate world and one of these strategies is Internships, but has it been effectively utilised?

Chronicles of An Intern is a scintillating tour filled with indelible lessons for interns, intending interns and entry level employees. Funto Koya, a human resource scholar in Berlin said; “Each chapter wrapped in lessons, if carefully followed, is on its way to producing ‘Unicorn’ employees – the irresistible talents that organisations need to grow; the kind of talents to watch out for while hiring employees.”

The first chapter titled “Don’t be a captive of your course of study” examines the beautiful intersection of how the author successfully explored the beauty of law despite being a student of economics and how he got his first after school job through winning a tax competition. It is not unusual to find graduates who are frustrated because of their course of study in a constantly evolving work environment, does our course of study still matter?

The following chapter titled “Always have something to say” discusses about the beautiful feelings that come from having something sensible to say per time, even as an intern. The workplace isn’t filled with robots, but human beings who engage in bedazzling discussions, both mundane and important ones. Being a goldmine of relevant information and knowing the right time to share this information is a good way to win your colleagues respect and admiration even as an intern, but can you become a goldmine if there is no deposit of gold, of knowledge?

The subsequent chapters examine the germane ingredients that help give an internship experience an irresistible aroma with lovely odor that make an intern a valuable resource.

• Leading on empty: How leaders drive their people to burnout

A very important concept examined is the concept of ‘Transferable’ skills. Interns often get stuck in the labyrinth of the intriguing intricacies the corporate world presents but in the common language, it’s not that deep.  Preparing a business pitch for your company is almost similar to preparing a presentation for your class group work or a proposal for your organisation if you were privileged to be an executive member. Simply put, no matter how difficult the corporate world looks like, there is something you have done before that can be transferred to what you are about to do at your current place of work.

Only the man whose diligence the king sees stands before the king, interesting right? Sometimes, it is not just enough to work hard, you must work smart and show you are working, this, in the author’s words, is what makes you get noticed, get acknowledged, get recommended and get promoted.

The book also contains other polished potpourri of priceless lessons whose wealth can’t be measured alongside the bonus chapter which contains the unique narratives of eight sterling interns who had amazing experiences with top technology companies and top agro-allied firms, thereby sharing a suitable industry story.

This book strives to elucidate on these two diverse views, while finding a beautiful intersection, a shore from which you can sail safely through the sea of the interns’ world.

Every reader will have an exciting experience journeying through the book, I am quite certain you won’t be an exception.