By Ravi Kumar

In this Modlingua Live talk, recorded at the close of the 2018 summer internship, Ravi Kumar tells interns why an internship should be treated as professional training and not as a casual pastime. The video is titled "5 Critical Mistakes to Avoid in Your Internship for Aspiring Linguists" on YouTube.

What the video covers

The speaker thanks the participants of the 2018 internship programme and notes that the number of active interns fell as the weeks went on. In his view, many people take an internship casually, and that attitude makes it hard to build a good working environment and to prepare for the job market.

Professional habits the speaker stresses

He argues that employers expect basics that nobody teaches on the job: reporting on time, self-initiative, self-learning, teamwork and voluntary work. Students who are used to depending on teachers, and on parents, may carry that dependence into the workplace, where competition is tough and warnings can lead to termination.

These are the speaker's views and experience. Workplace rules differ from company to company.

Linguists have many career options

The talk reminds interns that a language graduate is not limited to translation, interpreting or teaching. The speaker lists researcher, transcriptionist, script writer, content writer, social media professional and journalist among the paths open to linguists, and says skills and technology, including working with artificial intelligence, are what most people need to add.

Questions to take away

• Which professional habits do you already practise, and which do you still need to build?
• What skills beyond translation could widen your options as a linguist?
• How can you use an internship to learn teamwork and self-initiative?

Related reading

Thinking of joining a programme? Read the FAQ and guidelines for summer interns at Modlingua.