Vishal Shanbhag is one of our interns who successfully completed his internship during the last year. At that time, Vishal was pursuing his Post Graduate Program in Advanced Construction Management from NICMAR (National Institute of Construction Management and Research) Pune, India.
The specific thing about his internship is that we conducted it online. Although I work online for few years helping construction companies, the year 2020 was special due to the covid-19 pandemic. This was the time that almost all people started working from home.
One day, I received an email from Vishal looking for an internship opportunity. Honestly, it was a bit tough time for me due to the workload, circuit breaker period and limited work opportunities in Singapore. But, I wanted to admire his incredible resilience during the tough period. In that period of crisis, where there was a pandemic and locked down cities, he wanted to find an online or distance based internship opportunity by facing the challenges he may end up with. This was the reason for me to consider him as an intern before checking his qualifications and work experience.
During this internship period, Vishal Shanbhag engaged in various activities & work ranging from Contract Management, Tendering (Pre & Post bidding) & Project Management.
We found Vishal as a hardworking and sincere professional during the entire training period. Below is the interview with Vishal Shanbhag about his experience as an intern at Sihela Consultants.
We wish him all the success in his future endeavours!
1. Hello! Let us know about you
I am Vishal Shanbhag, currently pursuing my Post Graduate Program in Advanced Construction Management from NICMAR (National Institute of Construction Management and Research) Pune. I completed my Bachelors in Civil Engineering from Walchand College, in my hometown, Sangli, Maharashtra. I have 2 years of experience in the Construction Industry from Shapoorji Pallonji Co. Pvt. Ltd.
2. Why did you choose Sihela Consultants for your internship?
I was selected and placed in L&T Realty company for my Summer Internships from my institute NICMAR. As we know, the internships got revoked due to COVID 19 Pandemic. Thus, we as students who were affected due to this had 2 choices ahead. We either had to go through Mini Project offered by our Institute or we had to find Internships on our own. As it was difficult to find on-site internships due to pandemic, I started looking for online (Work from Home) internships. I had an online subscription to Sihela Consultants regarding Contracts management lessons. Out of curiosity, I mailed one day to this mail ID regarding Internships. I received positive feedback & thus went on ahead to receive my Internships.
3. What is your experience in an online internship?
Being from Civil Engineering background, this was a new experience altogether. It was a great experience to learn new things right from Tendering process & its various aspects.
4. What is the most remarkable thing about your internship experience?
The most remarkable thing I learnt is the understanding of the pre-construction stages of a Project. This knowledge was something I always wanted to learn. The entire tendering process was explained in detail with ease by Amila Ma’am. This was done by giving daily tasks in proper sequence which helped a lot. And gaining tendering knowledge from Singapore state further improves our knowledge as to how international processes work.
5. What type of support did you get in your internship?
Proper communication always helps in the clarification process. The feedback system was really good here. Amila Ma’am gave timely feedback on every task, every doubt. She even kept us busy with general information & documents pertaining to Singapore standards for construction.
6. Can you give future interns some advice for a successful internship experience?
Absolutely. I would recommend the future interns to first subscribe Amila Ma’ams’ Contract Administration lessons & to go through her blog thoroughly. Secondly & most importantly, never feel shy to ask doubts, be it anything. Seeking clarifications while learning is the most important aspect of learning. Keep learning new things, share new things.
