The One With Everything About Internships

DISCLAIMER: It’s a long-ass blog.

Club selections have long been over, and Sympulse results are fresh out. Some of you will find great teams while some will look for other productive things to spend their first year on. Talking about productive things, how can we start with the list without discussing internships first?

While we spend an enormous amount of time telling you that college activities are not the be-all and end-all of CV building, internships might actually be. As a management student, whatever domain you choose, the only thing that materializes the theoretical ‘knowledge’ you gain in classrooms is an internship.

But ‘How do I get internships with no prior experience?’, ‘What kind of internships actually add value to the CV?’, ‘Where do I look for internships?’, ‘How to make the most of an internship I’m doing?’ and many more of such nail-biting questions must be keeping you on edge.

And where you face troubles, we come to the rescue. So we wrote this detailed article after a lot of research and taking advice from many experienced people. It will cover everything you need to know about interning in your first year (and will give you some time-tested tips on getting good internships). So let’s get started!

Can I Get Internships with No Prior Experience?

That is the ENTIRE point of internships. It is supposed to be a learning experience, which means you don’t necessarily require any prior experience to land an internship.

Then on what parameters do the interviewers judge you? They test your attitude, basic management skills, communication, and most importantly your interest in the organization. And the best part is, that you can easily ‘fake it till you make it’ with a little practice before the selection rounds (more on it in the later parts).

Now, coming to the more important question…

What type of Internship Will Add the Most Value to Your CV?

It’s both a blessing and a boon that you will find THOUSANDS of internship opportunities out there with ‘fancy’ designations. You have marketing, HR, finance, business development, many more, and then the oh-so-lucrative- Campus Ambassadorship. Many of them won’t even require you to go through an interview or selection rounds (and that’s your first red flag).

While choosing the right internship for yourself, keep these points in mind-

• Your work profile during the internship must be relevant to the specialization you’re planning to take. If you’re yet not sure about your specialization, you can also take up general management roles.

• Some internships have unnecessarily long work duration ( going up to 6 months in some cases). It’s advisable to take up an internship for a minimum of one and a maximum of 3 months. If you make longer commitments, you won’t have the option to leave if the work is no more valuable to you (without losing the certificate/compensation).

• Paid or Unpaid? Both are fine. However, don’t take unpaid internships for skills that can be capitalized on by the company directly (for example, content writing, graphic designing, etc). It’s basically unpaid labor and an unfair tactic for cost management by startups. You can go for unpaid internships for profiles like Digital Marketing, HR, Finance, General Management, etc

• ALWAYS ask your recruiter, clearly and in written communication, your exact role during the internship. The amount of follower-fetching, story-posting, WhatsApp-message-forwarding gigs we have in the name of ‘marketing’ internships are overwhelming. Make sure you gain some skills/knowledge out of it rather than just a namesake certificate.

• Startups or Big Brands? It’s best to first work with a startup and then apply for an internship in an established organization (preferably in your 4th sem). The former teaches you skills and the latter gives you a gist of how these skills are needed in the corporate world.

• Campus Ambassador roles are mostly namesake, so if you’re going for one, make sure you are doing something worthwhile while you ‘represent’ the company on campus. (Don’t take sales work as Campus Ambassadorship).

• Look for roles that put you a little out of your comfort zones. So if you’re an introvert, try sales roles. If you are a little irresponsible, try management. If you suck at a particular skill, take up the role that requires you to learn it. If you talk too much, STFU (oops! Advice to Self)

• Lastly, don’t start interning before doing thorough research on the company. Check their social media handles, website, and reviews on Google and sites like Glassdoor and Indeed.

• If you are still unsure about an internship opportunity, ask a senior or faculty mentor you trust, and we also are just one message away :)

And finally, the question that you desperately want to be answered…

How to Find a Good Internship?

As a management student of the bEsT BBA college in India, you have A LOT of sources from where you can get good internship opportunities. Some of them are-

• Online Internship Platforms: There are several online platforms tailored specifically for students where you can find internship opportunities. The most common names are Internshala, D2C, LetsINTERN, etc. BUT the problem with these platforms is that they are saturated with mediocre (and sometimes scammy) internship programs. So make sure any internship you choose checks all the points listed in the previous answer.

P.S. Don't get tricked into buying unnecessarily expensive Internshala Courses or taking their promotional Student Partner program as 'internship' (both are not-so-useful, in our opinion).

• LinkedIn: It’s not exactly an internship platform (more like Facebook for corporates), but you’ll find plenty of internship opportunities on Linkedin. If you haven’t yet made your LinkedIn Account, start now. The best way to search for internships on Linkedin is by exploring relevant hashtags, using the LinkedIn job search feature, and expanding your network of corporate people gradually so that opportunities land directly in your feed.

• Internship Cell: Though it’s not a regular source of internship opportunities, you can keep a check on the internships rolled out via the cell. The Internship Cell ensures that the company is legit, and the roles are befitting the students. You can also blame the cell if it turns out to be scammy, *wink wink*

• Referrals: This is another way of filtering out good companies to work with. You can ask your seniors what companies they have interned with and how their experience was.

Tips to Land Your First Internship

Now the struggle to land that dream internship begins, somewhat shadowed by a lingering fear of rejection. While the following tips won’t guarantee selection, these will significantly increase the chances.

• Keep your internship application (if any) detailed but your resume shouldn’t be longer than a page.

• Please don’t mention that online course in your resume whose content you don’t even remember *inverted smiley emoji* (If you do, don’t head to the interview without a little revision).

• Even if it’s an internship interview, dress professionally (Pyjamas under a shirt work though).

• A little practice goes a long way. So prepare and practice your answers to basic interview questions- the WHYs, the HOWs, and the WHENs (the sTrEnGhTs and wEaKnEssEs). Do not head to an interview call without listing out your exact skills/qualities relevant to the work.

• If possible, you can get a recommendation from a senior who has previously interned with the company.

How to Make the Most of an Internship?

So you found a good internship for yourself? Kudos! Here’s how you can get the best out of it.

• Take up tasks that are related to your work profile. Don't bust your ass getting clients if what you applied for was an HR internship.

• If you’re working in a start-up, you can always bring a fresh perspective to the table. It will help you ascertain whether your ideas are feasible and work in the real business scenario.

• Make sure you are continuously learning something new or assimilating something you recently learned. You can also keep a work journal to track what all you gained from the internship

• Actively participate in team meetings if you have any, as this will also help you be more familiar with other members of the team as well as the leadership besides your manager/team lead.

• If the company has hired students from different campuses, it’s a great time to expand your network and make good work relations outside the college.

• If you’re doing the internship with ongoing academic commitments, which is mostly the case, make sure you don’t overwork yourself and keep your everyday internship work limited to 3-4 hours max.

Voila! Now you have your one-in-all internship guide that covers most of the things related to internships. It’s time to put everything into action. We understand that you might still require more information/explanation in certain areas, you can always hit the google search bar or our DMs.

Signing off!

Image Credits: Freepik.com