This Raksha Bandhan, IWB launched its campaign ‘Rakhi Intern’ that invites male CEO and Entrepreneurs to help us provide equal work opportunities to women in male-dominated sectors.

The mission is to get rid of the tag ‘male-dominated’ from fields like technology, real-estate, finance, the stock market, etc. and bring more women on board. Towards this, we have tied up with some companies across India that are welcoming females to intern with them and learn the ‘masculine’ tasks at work.

We spoke to the co-Founder of MiStay, Sandeep Jaiswal, who is a part of the ‘Rakhi Intern program. MiStay is an online portal that allows travelers to book hotels according to their time convenience.

Sandeep, tell us about Shwetha and how did you find her?

We’re a startup and have a small team at the moment. Interestingly, Shwetha joined me and my partner as an intern earlier this year and took care of everything from collaborating with the clients to handling the back office. After three months, we decided to offer her a full-time job with MiStay because we were in awe of her work commitment. Basically, she is our first ever employee.

What’s her role now?

She is our Business Development Manager who looks after all the clients and brings us new leads. She is also responsible for bringing new talent at MiStay.

As the only female employee, what privileges does she get to enjoy?

She works from home. She got married earlier this year and has moved to Hyderabad. Because we couldn’t let the talent in her go, we offered her the work-from-home option. Now she virtually looks after our Bangalore-based office.

This is wonderful! We’re glad you recognized her capability and cooperated with her situation.

I think it’s extremely important for a company to understand the life of their employees. We believe in offering flexibility to everyone in the team, irrespective of gender, to the extent possible which, in turn, makes them more productive. As long as they recognize their responsibilities and are able to fulfill them – there is no need of having rigidly defined rules. When it comes to the female employees, who have to handle the household chores before they reach work, why not allow them to be a few minutes late? Or, for that matter, let them leave a little early when they have to pick the kid from somewhere or have to cook for the guests. The employers can always be a little considerate.

Is the hotel industry full of stereotypes when it comes to hiring women staff?

I guess, yes, to a certain extent. We mostly see women as receptionists or in the welcoming team. There are fewer hotels that have a female General Manager. Sadly, I still come across people who say – “Women are good communicators, and shall be suitable to stay at the front desk or handle the customer care. Women can’t handle stress or late working hours and won’t make a good manager.” I, personally, know many women at leadership roles in the hotel industry, however, the numbers are still very small compared to men. I think this is not always because they are not offered equal opportunity, but also because a lesser number of women opt for roles in male dominated fields because of the perception build traditionally. I do see this changing, though.

On this note, do you think women are good at communication?

That’s a tricky question coming from a women-oriented blog. *laughs* Well, I think it’s stupid to generalize. Men, too, are excellent communicators. Many men are fluent in various languages and are extremely well-spoken. At that, I have come across women who lack these qualities.

We second you. Are you excited about the interns who will soon join you?

Yes! The bar to select the intern will remain the same as it is for the men, though. *laughs* We’re looking for women who would like to train with us as Full Stack Developer, Business Development Executive, Digital Marketing Executive, and Operation Executive. I am very hopeful they will turn up as we welcome them with open arms.

If you’re a woman or an LGBTQ person who identifies themselves as a female and wishes to intern with MiStay, write to them at sandeep@mistay.in. You can also contact us at contactindianwomen@gmail.com. Learn more about the company here.

PS:  We’re excited to introduce you to other companies that are a part of ‘Rakhi Intern’ campaign. Stay tuned! Meanwhile, know about the other two companies offering the internship. Click here and here.