Appreciating You For More Than Just Your Work!

Dear Interns, Congratulations!

You have completed your internship with us. I hope the learning was worth your time.

 I would like to take this opportunity to share my thoughts with you.

You are on the cusp of finishing your education and starting your career. I do not want to sermon you with clichés like how to find your passion, chase success, and, most of all, survive and thrive in this world not because it is unimportant, but I am confident about your that you will make it.

Deep down, I know, you are the butterfly in making, eager to break open the cocoon and ready to fly high. Still, I would like to share some essential learnings with you which I have imbibed during my professional journey.

Focus on Learning: - Be A Life-Long Learner - With job skills, learn LIFE skills too

The future of any nation can be directly measured by the present potential of its youth. Countries depend on active, informed, and responsible citizens who are willing and able to take responsibility for themselves and their communities. Life skills are enablers that help an individual effectively navigate through problems encountered in personal and professional life. It will help you take responsibility for yourself and make a positive contribution to society.

You are the architect of your own life. It’s important to focus on a few fundamental life skills that can help you become a better version of yourself. With job skills, learn life skills too - there is no alternative to both. Companies look for candidates who can handle common challenges that arise at work, and life skills help employees do just that.

Focus on Building up your network - An extra resource library

Networking is one thing. But to be able to utilize it is another. Networking is an ongoing process, not a discrete event. It helps people connect with people, people with ideas, and people with opportunities. It is an extra resource library with limitless potential provided you know how to make the best out of your network.  Just don’t ask, but be the first to give.

Networking has been one of the essential practices of successful people. It is a continuous process; you need to invest time and energy in your networks.  It should be at the core of your social and professional life right from the college days.

Creating Meaningful Impacts - Practise Giving Back

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?" - Martin Luther King Jr.

The purpose of life is to be useful, to be compassionate, being able to share ourselves and touch the lives of others. Philanthropy or volunteering for a social cause lies at the heart of human greatness. It is an invaluable act of selfless service.

There are so many important causes out there that always need volunteers to support the work they’re doing. Chose to work for a cause, you can't do everything but can do something. You can choose to join initiatives that promote child education, community health, awareness of social causes. Volunteer for a social cause that resonates well with your ideology. Inspire and create an impact, be the part of the change to bring in the changes which you would like to see in the community in which you live and operate. When you are volunteering to change lives, it's changing yours for good. You will experience the limitless joy of contributing and giving back to society. This is a mature joy, the real joy.

Cultivating Gratitude and Empathy

Cultivating gratitude doesn't cost any money or time, but nurturing appreciation opens the door to more symbiotic relationships. Practicing gratitude enhances your sense of possibility and compassion.

Express your gratitude towards your family, friends, and teachers who have been a source of learning and positivity. Appreciate your employers, mentors, and colleagues for giving you the opportunity and being a source of motivation and guidance.

Don't let the ego and arrogance cloud your judgment and kill the good of you. Don't let success make you rude, overconfident. Being empathetic will help you avoid forming biased opinions towards others, you will feel more connected and will resonate with what the other person is going through. You will eventually expand your internal sense of possibility, regardless of the challenges on your path.

Prevent Burnout - Keep Toxins Out

Don't allow the negativity of others to affect you. You can't live a positive life with a negative mind. PRACTISE SELF-CARE - Health is Wealth – Respect your Body. You only have one body to live in. Please don't fail to take care of it.

Have Mentors and Be a Mentor

Mentors will positively influence you. Make sure you build up a team of mentors for you. They can be your guiding star on your professional journey. Start building up your mentor pool from today, ask people to mentor you in the domain to which you aspire, be open to asking.

Share your learning and experience too by being a fantastic mentor. You can help others bring the best out of them. Mentoring will let you create an impact on the people and communities in which you live and operate. This is also another way to give back, make a difference, and create an impact.

Seek feedback and Give Feedback

Seek Feedback - No matter how efficient you are in your work, there is still room for improvement and growth, so it's imperative to seek Feedback from your seniors and colleagues. This will only make you progress in your personal and professional Life.

Give Constructive Feedback – While giving feedback, keep your emotions under check. Your objective should be to give constructive feedback not criticism. Don’t make it a personal attack.

Learn from Challenges and Failures

It’s ok to fail, sometimes failures bring the best out of us, provided we are open to learn from our failures. "There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people meet to rise"- William Fredrik Halsey Jr.

Handling Criticism:

"Criticism, like rain, should nourish your growth without destroying your confidence." If untrue - Disregard, it. If justified – Learn from it. Being able to handle criticism well requires several other life skills, including Apologizing, asking for Help, Coping Up, Giving and Receiving Feedback, Professionalism, Perseverance, Resilience, Self-awareness, Thoughtfulness, and Willingness to Learn.

Social Life: Don’t get trapped in your job and become a workplace slave. Lead a healthy social life. Your chair is replaceable but your family members aren’t. Invest in your lifestyle from day one, make it a ritual to build up a harmony between personal and professional life. Work is a part of your life but not your whole life. Understand that you have a family who needs you too, don't neglect them.

Life is not easy for anyone. It's not going to be easy for you as well. Despite challenges on your path, Dare to be all you can be.

Remember, your wings already exist. All you have to do is fly.

In the end, I would like to express my heartfelt Gratitude and Thank You To all our interns of #2020Year and also to ask for "Kshamavani" - for any reasons during your internship with us, if you have ever felt offended or hurt, I seek your forgiveness. I am not perfect.

From the desk of Sarla Sharma to all our interns at

Pioneer Management Consultant Pvt Ltd and Her Career Foundation