Takeaways from an IHS Markit Internship
In a Summer internship, one tends to go into the experience open minded like an empty book, observing others’ perspectives, stories, learning about the industry and trying to gauge what’s the right fit for oneself. As interns we listen to senior leaders’ perspectives and try to be like a sponge and soak in any drop of wisdom we can, with the hope that after an intense 9 weeks we will have some sort of direction as to perhaps where we want to steer our careers. The IHS Markit internship served as a wholesome experience because we were encouraged to investigate uncharted territories, explore our interests, break out of comfort zones, contribute ideas, meet as many people as we can and have a whole lot of fun in the process. Here are some of my key takeaways from the internship experience which I think adds value not just in one’s professional life, but personal life.
1) Innovation
One of the biggest challenges, for our generation, is to resist becoming a prisoner to the consumerist society we live in. Trapped with excessive stimulation around us, and organizations competing for our attention, it takes courage, authenticity and a touch of flair to attempt to create more than one consumes. Creating allows you to expand your horizons, it puts you in a vulnerable position with the potential to fail and more importantly it leads to innovation. Excess consumption can provide us with the false sense of reality that we are productive with our time or are busy and therefore placing illusionary importance on ourselves and on our time. In society we add value by creating, whether that be creating a computer program to improve a workflow, or simply a YouTube channel showing off book reviews. Ask yourself the right questions with each problem you face. ‘Could this be better?’, ‘How could I make this better?’ We add value in society by creating. One of the most enjoyable experiences of the internship was participating in the Early Careers Innovation challenge where we got to work with interns’ firm-wide and pitch a solution to a real-world problem that we noticed within the organization. This provided us with the challenge of thinking quickly on our feet and creating under pressure to address a real-world problem.
2) OKRs
It is important to have a system to measure success, whether that be for individual or collective goals. Working at a data company you tend to be spoiled by having so many metrics to measure performance by. Objectives and Key Results is a tool used in organizations to measure performance, whereby an overarching objective is accompanied by various measurable and timely key results which act as an indicator of progress and sets the tone for the likelihood of achieving the ambitious objective. OKRs can also work for personal goals. For example, a personal objective may be to build relationships during the internship. That’s the end objective but a key result to monitor progress may be to set up 10 coffee chats by the end of week 1.
3) Servant Leadership
A leadership philosophy that caught my attention was Servant Leadership. Servant leadership is a style in which the goal of the leader is to serve those around oneself. This is different from traditional leadership where the leaders’ focus is the performance metrics of the organization. The traditional hierarchical structure is impeded and suddenly, we all work to serve each other. This is something we can apply in our daily lives as well as in the workplace. Whether it is in a sporting team or in a family environment the experience can be made more fruitful by serving those around you which makes sharing the spoils at the end of the day all the much sweeter. If we don’t work and hustle for each other than the wellbeing of the organization becomes somewhat redundant. Conveniently this leads to the next point which is the importance of investing energy and focus on the people around you and asking, ‘how can I help’?
4) How can I help?
As a fresh intern with limited time to impress we want to get out of the blocks swiftly and initiate groundbreaking work to get an edge in the rat race. It’s important to not get overwhelmed by that rush of adrenaline and instead appreciate the context of where we are. Take the time out to understand the mechanics of each problem and look for ways to add value. Sometimes it’s the micro gestures which add value to the situation. In order to make an impact all it takes is for yourself to ask one simple question at the end of each day. ‘What did I do today to help someone?’, whether that be my teammate, my manager or someone on the way to work. Try to put yourself in a position where you are frequently asking your teammates and leaders around you ‘How can I help?’ and organically one will start to make an impact and add value.
5) Network
One of the beauties about IHS Markit is the diverse array of people that are at the organization. I caught up with 50 + people for coffee chats and it’s safe to say that no two people were the same, rather everyone was beautifully unique in one way or another, whether that be having a hidden talent to show off during happy hour or a life-experience that could be a story from a movie straight out of Hollywood. At IHS Markit we are blessed by the fact that everyone comes from a different cultural and educational background, and it all adds to the experience of learning more about the world around us. With that diversity comes the opportunity to broaden our networks if we are willing to reach out and learn about this lucrative network of talented individuals within the firm. Leaders in the firm are very willing to make the time and engage in dialogue with young folks. This is inspiring, because it ensures young folks like me stay grounded and motivated to be that leader for the next cohort of interns that come through, paralleling the notion of servant leadership aforementioned.
My last 2 cents would be that you are never going to be the smartest person in the room, which is the best thing that can happen, but you can always be the most energetic person in the room. Whilst exhibiting that raw energy, be humble enough to ask for help and show your weaknesses because those leaders around you will want to help you be the best version of yourself. Be open to hearing others’ ideas and opinions about what field you should go into at work and then shape your own opinion after hearing from all the experts as well as your own experiences but always be open to change and never say never to any surprise. The internship wasn’t a zero-sum game, instead as teammates we thrived off each other’s feats and accomplishments and collectively as an organization we all won, providing a wholesome experience for all involved. From diving into intense project work to even having passionate debates regarding what happy hour game we should play, it was a whole lot of fun! Interning at IHS Markit was a fruitful experience because of the organization’s inclusive culture, emphasis on innovation, diversity and openness between individuals.