Internship for students at JML: how and why we do it.

- How did the idea to attract students for internships at JML arise? How long have you been implementing this practice?

- Many universities now attract practitioners as lecturers. For example, three years ago I was invited to lecture on railway transportation at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. I prepared a small course on this topic, and the logical continuation was the introduction of industrial practice at our company's base for students with an in-depth interest in supply chains.

- What do interns do and what functions do they perform in the company? How is the training program determined?

- It is determined primarily by the length of the internship. Those who have joined us for a short period of time work with documents, data collection, and reports. Those who come to us for a long time, we give more serious and responsible tasks. All newcomers learn the structure of the company, peculiarities of the organization of the work process, work with personnel and other business processes. The set of work tasks also depends on the trainees' qualifications - we have trainees from 2nd, 3rd and 4th years of study. It is clear that everyone has their own level of immersion in the practice of logistics. The motivation and activity of each student also affects what he or she will do. Some are interested in sales, some are interested in working with suppliers, some prefer to work with numbers and are interested in analytics... In the end, everyone completes an individual learning task within the framework of their professional interests, including a general block with a company report.

- How are your classes organized?

- Our work with students, in addition to remote tasks, involves a series of mandatory offline events and meetings. At the same time, the classes take place not only in our Moscow office, but also on-site. For example, we visit a container terminal and see for ourselves how it works. I think this is very important, as logistics is not an abstract sphere, despite the fact that it allows most issues to be solved online. Still, we deal with concrete material objects - transportation, containers, terminals, cargoes, etc., and with real live people of all kinds. And with real live people of various specialties. This is important to understand and not to forget when moving to the electronic plane.

- What advantages does this practice bring to the company and to you personally, as the head of this area?

- Firstly, it is an opportunity to “grow” competent professionals in the industry, to “have a hand” in the formation of reliable and competent personnel in logistics. Including directly for work in JML. Secondly, thanks to this, we have developed and implemented the practice of training for new employees of our company. And of course, it gives a certain expert status and a good reputational resource. And for me personally, communicating with another generation allows me to look at familiar things in a new way, to refresh my view on many professional issues, to notice and evaluate some modern trends.

- How do you assess the competence and level of training of today's young professionals? What are the differences from yourself at their age?

- Nowadays, as a rule, young people try to decide early on their choice of direction and specialization. Besides, today there are more opportunities to find their place, to choose a specialization, as educational institutions offer much more options. When I was studying at university, for example, it was impossible to get a diploma in logistics - there was no such specialty. There were broader options: economist, specialist in foreign economic affairs, etc. I also noticed that today's students are more conscious: from their first years of study, they are already thinking about their future career, their earnings, and making plans for professional growth. When I was their age, I moved more by inertia and lived for today.

- What would you like to wish for current students? What advice would you give them on their professional path?

- It is important to get a high education and to enjoy your work. And at all its stages, even if it is routine (and it is inevitable). If a person does his work thoughtfully, gives each step meaning and inner value, then everyone around him will feel it. This will be reflected in the results of work and in the inner satisfaction with life in general. Be able to find this value both on a daily basis, in every work process, and at all stages of your professional growth.

Students' feedback on the internship at JML Moscow office (internship supervisor - Andrei Mironov)

Yaroslav, student of the Higher School of Management of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration:

Thanks to the internship at JM Modern Logistics, I got acquainted with the sphere of multimodal logistics and, in particular, rail transportation. Many thanks to Andrei Mironov for the opportunity to see with my own eyes the work of the container terminal and get answers to the questions I was interested in!

Grigory, 4th year student of the Higher School of Management of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (trade business):

On the results of the internship:
- Formed a general idea about the work of a freight forwarder: what is outsourced, how the margin is laid down, what are the risks;
- Understood that the transportation business can be profitable, despite the almost complete absence of its own assets, due to the connection of intermediaries and high turnover;
- Performed an individual task on modeling the opening of a representative office in a new market using Igor Ansov's model.

Victoria Zelinskaya (1st year of Master's Degree Program at UCR, RANEPA):

JML was my very first logistics internship after the second year. As a part of our work experience with Andrei Mironov we studied in detail and on real examples how the company works, what CPs it has, what documents are needed for railroad transportation.
We almost completely considered all the processes throughout the CP; from finding customers, calculating the rate for container transportation, tracking containers to their shipment to the railway stations (we visited Kuntsevo railway station), customs clearance and analytics on transportation. I was able to “feel” it with my own hands. I think it was a great immersion in logistics for a start-up.

Student of the Presidential Academy, Logistics in Trade:

“I had an internship last summer. I can say that it was very pleasant that in the first meeting Andrei found out from all the students who came to him about our interests and hobbies, and then gave individual tasks based on our answers. Overall, I liked it, it was interesting. The atmosphere was friendly.”