When I was
in M.A. programme I hardly thought of doing internship with international development
organisations. I could see the similar situation with almost all of the friends
in my batch. I was looking up for best possible Indian origin organisation that
suits with my area of work of my internship is, as everyone does.
I went with
my own research design but it was not able to fit exactly into their system with
what I wanted to. Agencies cannot attend me with my own set of work in case
that is not useful or directly related with their ongoing work. So, I had to
follow their verdict. No matter what happened what I want or not, the credit
and experience is there still. So, no matter you make your design of work for
internship its better you choose the best agency relevant with your area of
study. When I mean best agencies I would consider international agencies. It
doesn't mean they are always better than Indian origin ones. As per my
experience I would suggest for international agencies either based in India or
abroad.
Yes,
understanding the Indian grass-root context is also very important for which
you can do in the first internship, called as Field Immersion. The rest second
and third internship should be focused in the areas of the sector your future
is. Coming to the point, there are two most important things which you gain
best from international agencies, which is also the purpose of internship is,
that is the reputation of the agency that will give weight to your profile and
the personal learning in terms of theory and practices.
In
international agencies I am sure you will gain high quality knowledge of
practices of your academic tools and new theories you didn’t learn from your
curriculum. They generally follow the theories and practices of International Development
course structure out of which we cannot find some in Indian curriculum, both in
UGC curriculums of MSW and M.A. Development in Azim Premji University. The
purpose of pursuing an academic degree is to gain the perspective while your
practical aptitude gains from the field or outside the class. From
international agencies I am sure will get quality practical aptitude. I have
learnt high quality result oriented reporting style of big project which I
never learnt in my class, as an example of my case. In theoretical front
international agencies will give you a scope to learn globally used methods and
tools that are not taught in Indian curriculum.
Say, in
development effectiveness I have learnt only few specially the LogFrame and few
more like project cycle management and measuring development. When I am exposed
to UN system I am also exposed to new stuffs like Planning, Monitoring and
Evaluation (PME) at higher level and Results Framework and Result Base Management
(RBM). Result Framework (RM) is another similar tool of LogFrame, but we
generally ignore this tool, because we bother more of successful operation and
process of a project rather than results of the project/intervention. In UN and
other international system results are priority of their intervention. And RBM
is the supplementary of RM. These are quite relevant to systematic review of
effect and impact evaluation which I am also exposed to. Had I with some Indian
agency I would not have exposed to these theoretical and practical tools.
Apart from
the practical tools, for development practitioner professionals a high level of
professionalism is one of the soft skill asset added in your profile.
Professional behaviour and ethics are few of the most demanded in reputed
international agencies apart from the functional capabilities. These are hardly
checked in small development organisations. Professional behaviour has lot of
impact on the overall system of the institution and hence affects the objective
of the institution. I found very unprofessional ethics in many Indian development
institutions. I never want you work under any project/programme manager who sound
you know more than her/him. I never want you to land on those organisations,
where your presence is just reduced to a mere student rather than a staffs
which is not an uncommon in many Indian organisations.
It is more
or less easy to find a right match of Indian organisation either yourself or
with the help of relevant faculties. But it is not the case for international
organisations. You are not to get discourage saying this because there are lot
out there for internship and every organisation has space for internship. To start, you need to keep researching in the
category of agency working in the sector you wish to do internship. It takes
time and hence it is better you start as advance as possible, like just at the beginning
of the semester. In this internet world I guess don’t need to suggest. You can
do just by typing your key words, e.g. ‘’international organisations working in
India in transparency”, or “internship in UN in India” and so on. Or you can
get notifications about internship of international agencies at www.devnetjobs.org, for example. I would not
suggest you always stick only within the territory of Indian for internship.
You may even try for abroad given that you have necessary stuffs like Passport (and
Visa).
I would
always suggest everyone have Passport at the beginning of your Masters
Programme. Indian students always tend to stick in India only with the thinking
that India is poor and why should I go to other country. Yes, correct! But the
idea of internship is not for work but for temporary work experience. Getting an
international exposure is not an easy job. Getting this for the purpose of
internship is far easier than any other way, I guess, during student hood. Generally
internships are not more than three months, so there is no worry for loss of
classes. You may first make up your mind about finance; it is generally paid
even though they mention it is unpaid, although you should try to find paid
ones. Just types in Google as you are handy with to search.
After all, to conclude, why I want
you to be global is that I want your perspective to be global and your tools to
be international standard. I never meant you go and work there. When I was in
Manipur I didn’t know anything about Manipur at top level of the system but I
know all these when I started looking from Delhi, capital of everything of
India. An exposure and having a hawk eye over the issue seems more effective,
for me. So, having such global experience and international standard of functional
tools and professionalism will definitely help you work better when you go back
to you native soil to become a meaningful change agent who can bring smile on
the faces of the community.
