Internship experience
A rendezvous with the corporate world
The season for 'apping' had unofficially begun with October, bringing with it a period of mixed feelings of worry and excitement within the minds of pre-final year students and a few 'adventurous' 2nd yearites. For most people though, the excitement about having a stint with active research or a rendezvous with the corporate world far exceeded the worry factor. Of course the idea of exploring new cultures (my euphemism for a paid holiday) was the icing over the cake!
Having had a glimpse of the life of a researcher during an internship in a University in second year, I was seeking a different kind of experience. In particular, I wanted to pursue my internship either in a multinational to have a professional experience of international standards, or in a startup firm which would provide me with multifaced responsibilities. Fortunately I was able to have both the kinds of experience during the short span of three months.
I decided to pursue my internship at Morgan Stanley, Mumbai which was one of the first firms to come for an internship through the SPO. The internship at Morgan Stanley was to be of about 2 month duration and so I would still have had one month of my vacation left. Thus I applied to a startup software firm in Dallas, US. One month was a short period and initially the company was not interested. However a few mails and a couple of successful assignments later, they finally agreed to take me.
My internship at Morgan Stanley started in the first week of May soon after the endsems. The office building Athena, was an eye candy and was equally beautiful from the inside. Things were very well planned for us interns. Mentors and ‘buddies’ were assigned on the first day. These ‘buddies’ were people who had been in a similar position a few months back and so being of the same age group, were closer to the interns than most people. They were the people whom you could contact for guidance other than technical. The first day consisted of a series of orientation sessions on company policies with a few coffee breaks during which we got to know our fellow interns. There were 11 of us, all 3rd year students from various IITs and two NITs. Some of the interns stayed at IITB while a few which included me shared an apartment close to the office thereby getting ample time to visit the nearby Inorbit mall every evening.
The next day we were introduced to our project group. I was teamed up with a fellow intern from NITW. Later that day our mentor who was the Executive Director of the division, explained to us what functionalities were expected from the software we were assigned to develop. Over the next few days we did some background reading and prepared a list of the possible technologies which could be used. After evaluating the pros and cons of each, we decided to make the application web-based using C#, XML and asp dot NET. We had regular review meetings and teleconferences with team members from across the globe. A lot of emphasis was given to the design and planning and we went through numerous design document reviews before starting the coding. The last two weeks were spent in testing. Thus we were able to experience the whole cycle of software development from the design stage to the testing stage.
All this technical learning was but, a small part of the overall experience. To be able to see the various management mantras in action through our mentor was an invaluable experience. Also, the series of regular lectures on topics like investment banking and equity research by the various business divisional heads gave us a good overview of Morgan Stanley and the field of finance. Of course there was the fun part too! Apart from the regular mall visits and Mumbai darshans on weekends, we had an organized trekking expedition to ‘Nane Ghat’, a picnic at Khandala-Lonawala and a trip to Essel World.
My internship at Morgan Stanley ended with a ritzy farewell party at the JW Marriot. The next day afternoon I boarded my flight to the US. At the Philadelphia airport, the impact 9/11 had left on the US was clearly visible. The Americans’ paranoia about security had almost cost me my connecting flight to Dallas. After a long yet enjoyable journey of over 25 hours, I arrived at Dallas. Two Indian students, Ajay and Ravi who were pursuing MS at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and who were kind enough to let me share their apartment during my internship came to receive me at the airport.
The next day was my first day at the workplace. I still hadn’t recovered from the jet lag and was sleepy through the introductions with the fellow workers. Fortunately I got ample time to recover from the jet lag the next day which was the 4th of July, the American independence day. The company was just 10 people big with these people spread across three places in the US. It completely relied on part time software developers who were paid on an hourly basis. However, in spite of being a small and relatively young firm it had become a known name in AJAX.
My work involved creation of a plugin for FLEXBUILDER in ECLIPSE for data-binding of various FLEX GUI components. It was challenging especially because of the ambitious deadline attached to it; the plugin was to be presented at a conference of FLEX users from all over the world in the last week of July.
Apart from being a crash course on AJAX, FLEX, ECLIPSE and FLEXBUILDER this internship was a good insight into a new firm's struggle to make a niche for itself in an industry with intense competition. It reaffirmed my resolve to take up entrepreneurship sometime in future, not only because a BMW 7000 series at the young age of 29 (my mentor’s car in which he picked me up from my apartment and dropped me back every day), was not what one could expect to own working for someone, but also because of the immense sense of satisfaction it gives.
I returned to India just in time for the late registration with a much clearer picture of what kind of an experience would entrepreneurship or a job immediately upon graduation bring for me.
Whether in a university or a company, an internship is a unique opportunity to explore the professional world. So choose your internship after giving it a little thought, and once you have made your decision, make the best use of this opportunity. Good luck.