We have Sunanda with us today who talks about internship experience at Farah Khan Fine Jewellery. When probed about any unpleasant experiences she had, she said, “Many other companies where my friends interned at, the seniors were not even bothered about what they were learning. But here even Farah ma’am herself used to see my work and progress. It amazed me.”
Read on to know more.
InternFeel (IF): Please tell us something about yourself. Where are you studying currently? What are your hobbies and interests?
Sunanda Sahu (SS): I am a student of NIFT Kolkata, semester 7, Fashion and lifestyle accessories department.
I like doodling and I do it a lot as it helps me in putting my ideas on paper and after I joined NIFT I even learned photography which interests me quite a lot. I do caricaturing and make comic stripes as well.
IF: Tell us something about your internship including stipend, duration and place?
SS: I did 2 months of internship from Farah Khan Fine Jewellery in Mumbai. I applied directly through their website, sent my portfolio to the designer and got selected. At the same time I was trying for many other jewellery as well as lifestyle product making companies. Apologies but I can’t disclose my stipend. I did get paid and it also depends on our work.
IF: How competitive was the selection process? According to you, which qualities have helped you have an edge in the selection process? Also, what were the key things that selectors were looking for?
SS: It was not easy to get selected in a brand like Farah Khan Fine Jewellery (FKFJ). I sent my portfolio after which I waited nearly about 1 month for the final reply.
In a jewellery brand like FKFJ, the first thing that they see is your visualization and implementation and also how good you are at thinking out of the box. Also, they prefer students from a jewellery background.
IF: Could you please highlight the work/research you carried out during your internship period?
SS: I started with the brand research for FKFJ as well as other international brands and then moved on to trend analysis for the next season.
After which I also got a chance to design 2 pret and 1 couture collection. A few of my pieces went for production as well!!
IF: Can you give us interesting details about your experience – good and bad?
SS: The best part was getting scolded for my pret collections by Farah Ma’am and then coming up with new designs and couture collection which she appreciated a lot. I faced a hard time working there as I also came face to face with my weaknesses
But everyone, and by that I mean head of design department, Farah ma’am, all the other designers and other creative people support you a lot and the whole experience is motivating by itself.
IF: How do you think this internship has helped you grow? In other words, what are your key takeaways from the internship?
SS: First and the foremost thing I learnt is professional behaviour is really important. It also made me realize where I stand not only in the Indian market but internationally, what are my weaknesses and how I should work in order to improve them. I also learnt a lot about branding strategies.
IF: Has this internship had a decision altering impact on your career? Do you now think of a different future path as compared to before doing the internship?
SS: This is a tough one! Actually even before this internship I was not sure about going into jewellery field and to be honest, I am still thinking about it.
But yes, it gave me a lot of exposure about this field to consider it as one of my options when I think in long term.
IF: Lastly, do you have any words of advice or caution for students aspiring for this internship and reading this piece?
SS: I would like to say that sketching is the most important thing whenever and wherever you are going as well as a very good knowledge about 3D is important.
That’s where I faced a lot of difficulties and nowadays many students open pintrest before thier sketch books which according to me is a big no-no!
One should completely avoid doing that because it decreases the imagination power of a designer.
We’d like to thank Sunanda for gem of advice she had and the lovely interview. We would like to wish her all the best for her future.
