Industrial internships: What is It?

Industrial internships are an integral part of B.Tech life. One has to do an internship by any means. Now AICTE has made internships mandatory. What is an internship? What is the purpose? Why is it there in the B.Tech course? In B.Tech you are to go to any kind of industry to gain practical experience for a limited period. Now a day, students have to do internships not less than four weeks in his B.Tech course. To apply for an internship, you apply through proper channel of training and placement cell of the college to the desired industrial body. These industrial bodies may be government-run of privately owned entities. The government of India has made the training of students under corporate social responsibility. For this they have cell and they claim tax benefits & other perks from government. Therefore, this is their duty too to train. This was the Indian government's endeavors to strengthen the quality and skills of human resources.

In the olden days, we had workshops for forging, metalworking, milling, textile making, etc. People used to be an apprentice before entering formally into the respective trade. The apprentice learned the nitty-gritty of the trade and become an expert after time. But, due to time constraints, the same concept has been applied to a lesser scale through industrial internships. Students are exposed to the real working environment and absorb as much as they could during the fixed time tenure. The students’ confidence gets boosted and skills are also developed as they learn to operate machines and work on various things. Now, what is the right time for internships? In my view, you can apply for internships right after 3 rd semester in your four-year course. When you do an internship earlier, you become free to do other things. Going to internships outstation generally is time-consuming and very taxing. Hence, one should complete it earlier.

The question comes to your mind that where I should go. You can go to any kind of industry; government or private. It does not matter much. There are very few people who will ask you about your internship but you are required to be prepared. Mechanical Engineering students like to do internships in OIL, ONGC, IOCL, Coal India, Sail, GAIL, State Transport workshops, Indian railway, etc. These are core sectors. If you do internships in core sectors, you get to know different types of mechanical engineering processes. It is always said that seeing is believing. You get practical knowledge. After completing the internships, you get a certificate and you are to submit the certificate in the time of industrial viva along with a report.