Wikipedia defines an internship as a duration or period of work experience offered by any organization, to interns, for a stipulated period of time. It’s a great opportunity for students who want to gain practical exposure during their studies. It’s more than that. It lays a strong foundation for a successful career.
An intern can work in the organization for 1-6 months on a contractual basis. It could be for fewer hours or fewer days of the week than a regular employee, or even full-time. Most of the work may not be compensated, but nowadays, companies pay a nominal amount as a stipend. As per a survey published in the India Skills Report 2019, 84% of the students are interested in doing internships. An internship is beneficial for a student as they get to polish their skills and also works well for the organizations as they recruit interns to be full-time employees, which gives them a great idea about the potential beforehand. An internship can prove to be a very resourceful method for students to gain work experience and also help in their holistic development; in the sense, working on real-time projects, gaining collaborative skills, developing sector-relevant skills as well as interpersonal skills.
Let’s look at how you can land great internships.
1. Walk-in
This is to date, one of the best ways to market yourself and put yourself out in the plethora of opportunities. Once you know what you’re looking out for (you need to sit down and do some real introspection!), do thorough research of the companies who’re in the industry of your choice. Find out if they take interns or have summer internship programmes. If you’re not able to figure out any information from their website, contact them using the details given. Send them a cover letter along with your resume and just walk in! Yes, that works like magic. You’ll know your answer instantly, and if your approach is good, you might as well land an internship of your dreams!
2. Career Cell
Every college would be having a placement cell that is responsible for getting jobs for students. Although some may not provide internships, you can always check with them for their contacts and approach those companies. Such companies would already be aware of your college and courses, and it would be easier to approach them. Some colleges have tie-ups with big MNCs, and they recruit interns by the dozens. You need to find out and accordingly take action.
3. Network
Focus not only on social networking but on professional networking also. Your LinkedIn profile, if kept updated, will prove to be a boon for you. You need to talk to your LinkedIn contacts from various walks of life and understand their professional experiences. You could always ask for an internship as a favor and see where it goes. Start networking. Talk to friends of families, peers, neighbors about where they work and about internship opportunities. Dig, dig and dig till you find gold.
4. Job sites
With the advent of the Internet, even the job-search has gone places. Various job boards like Naukri, Monster, TimesJobs etc. have internship opportunities listed on them. You can choose your preferences like the location and choice of field, and accordingly, look at the options available. It may not be necessary that you may find internship opportunities always. In such cases, send emails to all companies which have relevant full-time job openings, and convince them to hire you as an intern. Some unpaid work might find your way, but no harm!