No more interns, please
Current internship culture needs to be replaced with a more structured one.
LAHORE:
“Wasted talent is almost a proverb”, they say; it holds true for Pakistani business students. This is so because Pakistani industry is quite unpredictable. Employers do not know who to hire, and employees do not know who to approach. In the confusion, both end up being prevented from achieving their true potential, discouraged by the firm belief that nepotism and incompetency are inherent in the system.
The problem lies with the irresponsible academia, the indifferent industry and the disconnected-from-all government. Business schools are supposed to teach what the industry requires, or at least trends in modern business; yet, they keep sticking to outdated techniques. Their teachers live in disconnect with actuality: they are not connected to successful entrepreneurs of the local industry, or flourishing multinational organisations.
Business schools need to take successful professionals, entrepreneurs and organisations on board. For business students, spending time under their supervision should form part of the coursework. Students should be sent for obligatory hands-on experience in a field of their interest. Teachers should make sure that students are given a structured plan in this regard, for which they submit a detailed report when they return.
On the other hand, organisations needlessly limit their personnel needs to experienced individuals and usually lack a structured system to groom fresh business graduates. They need to start regarding interns as potential employees, or at least individuals who can contribute to their respective organisations. They are new to the organisation, with fresh ideas and an ambition to improve the system. These ideas can be listened to, worked on, and executed – if needed, with necessary alterations. Interns should be encouraged to criticise the existing system, and speak for what they think is right. This practice will help interns become professionals, while improving products, systems and the internal culture of organisations.
The government also needs to step in and make sure that every business school has an understanding with business entities to hire a specific number of interns, provide them the opportunity to exercise their skills in their respective departments, and submit a report of their experience to the government, the organisation they work for, and their schools.
This should form an evaluation mechanism that can gauge the productivity of both business schools and organisations. Pakistan needs to move on this path if it wishes to tweak its human resource potential. The internship culture employed today only wastes time and efforts, and should be immediately done away with.
The writer is a training specialist at Mobilink Pakistan
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2012.
“Wasted talent is almost a proverb”, they say; it holds true for Pakistani business students. This is so because Pakistani industry is quite unpredictable. Employers do not know who to hire, and employees do not know who to approach. In the confusion, both end up being prevented from achieving their true potential, discouraged by the firm belief that nepotism and incompetency are inherent in the system.
The problem lies with the irresponsible academia, the indifferent industry and the disconnected-from-all government. Business schools are supposed to teach what the industry requires, or at least trends in modern business; yet, they keep sticking to outdated techniques. Their teachers live in disconnect with actuality: they are not connected to successful entrepreneurs of the local industry, or flourishing multinational organisations.
Business schools need to take successful professionals, entrepreneurs and organisations on board. For business students, spending time under their supervision should form part of the coursework. Students should be sent for obligatory hands-on experience in a field of their interest. Teachers should make sure that students are given a structured plan in this regard, for which they submit a detailed report when they return.
On the other hand, organisations needlessly limit their personnel needs to experienced individuals and usually lack a structured system to groom fresh business graduates. They need to start regarding interns as potential employees, or at least individuals who can contribute to their respective organisations. They are new to the organisation, with fresh ideas and an ambition to improve the system. These ideas can be listened to, worked on, and executed – if needed, with necessary alterations. Interns should be encouraged to criticise the existing system, and speak for what they think is right. This practice will help interns become professionals, while improving products, systems and the internal culture of organisations.
The government also needs to step in and make sure that every business school has an understanding with business entities to hire a specific number of interns, provide them the opportunity to exercise their skills in their respective departments, and submit a report of their experience to the government, the organisation they work for, and their schools.
This should form an evaluation mechanism that can gauge the productivity of both business schools and organisations. Pakistan needs to move on this path if it wishes to tweak its human resource potential. The internship culture employed today only wastes time and efforts, and should be immediately done away with.
The writer is a training specialist at Mobilink Pakistan
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2012.