You’ve landed a Quality Management internship. How can you make the most of it?

About 20 years ago, I was on a university internship, or industrial trainee at a manufacturing company. The internship was lasted for 2 months. As an intern, I was involved in some tasks such as: 1. Assisting in the development and implementation of quality management systems. 2. Conducting quality inspections and audits to ensure compliance with regulations and standards. 3. Analyzing data and identifying trends or areas for improvement in quality processes. 4. Participating in root cause analysis and problem-solving activities to address quality issues. I would say, these tasks has built some foundations for job finding after graduation. :-)

As an intern your goal is to learn as much as possible. You need to be a sponge. Fortunately you landed a job in quality. That means you have opportunities to work with every department in the organization. Take initiative and sit in as many improvement project meetings as you can. Ask your manager question to explain the tools and strategies they use. Take notes. Write them down. It shows you care; it’ll also help you keep yourself organized. Last tip - ask for feedback. What am I doing well? Where can I improve? Then listen carefully and make improvements. Even experienced professionals suck at this.

One of the ways to keep growing is through performance assessment and evaluation. And honest and transparent feedback from line managers, team members and even self- evaluation is a proven and tested way in determining opportunities for Improvement. Constructive criticism can provide opportunities for identifying areas of strengths and weaknesses, providing tremendous tools for learning, unlearning and relearning. QM interns shy away from feedback often times, because they are afraid of criticism and negative appraisals. However, negative feedbacks have helped most Quality professionals to identify their inner potential strengths and straightened out areas of weaknesses.

As an intern, we should set a strong mindset for learning and absorbing experience, therefore we should not afraid to make mistakes. There were mentors assigned during my internship last time, and most important is the correct attitude to learn ...

As an intern, we should set a strong mindset for learning and absorbing experience, therefore we should not afraid to make mistakes. There were mentors assigned during my internship last time, and most important is the correct attitude to learn ... Someone might be tough to you, but just ride through it, and stay strong.... :-)

In our study, there might be some of your favourite subjects in university, eg. Quality Control, Quality Management, etc, and you can choose to apply for an internship at QC department. Then it was an opportunity to related what we learned at university and trying to apply it in the real work place. 7 QC tools was one of the example during my internship 20 years ago.. :-)

In my opinion, it would not be wrong as long as we keep remind ourselves to the vision and mission of the company, and try to contribute our skills to achieve the mission. We embrace the challenges, and not give up !! :-)

Always think that you are the customer of your product. That improves the sense of ownership accountability and attachment with your learning. Such an approach will develop a great product or service because it has your heart in it along with your mind. Quality awareness and prioritization is a passion and a personal valuesystem

Customer doesn't pay for bad quality services/ product. Profitability discounted for anything less than the customer's expectations.

QMS is the system where there is an interlink among process, procedures and qualities. Primarily focused on product qualities and customer satisfactions and reducing the rejection. QMS procedures define the policies adopted by the company to produce required level of product quality to the customers and meet their requirements. To adopt QMS principles, it requires to breakdown into the following principles. 1. Six sigma 2. Kaizen 3. Gemba walk 4. ISO 9002 5. Relationships management 6.process improvement 7.Empowerment of people 8.Improvement The bottleneck is Implementation of QMS required rigorous audit and system improvement. Without proper formulations and required software development,it loose its ability to use.