Recently I was receiving lots of requests regarding how to find internships in India and aboard. Over the years, I have seen these findings in India which prompt me to write this article about finding the internship. In terms of internships out of India, will write about it some other time. Let me know if this ever helped you or not.
Getting any internship is kind of knocking the right door at a right time. So to do that you should know how to knock, which door to knock and when to knock the door. Confused? To simplify this let me explain what I meant to say here.
How To Knock - Most of the battle of getting an internship will be won, if you know how to apply for the internships i.e. How to Knock. Apart from a resume to showcase your knowledge and grades there are few skills needed to make this thing to reality.
The most important thing which is needed here is the network. The network of peoples whom you know directly or indirectly, who are working in various companies, those who works in relevant fields of yours, where you are looking for your internship. So chalk down the list of such peoples and ask for this internship favor directly. The chances are some will have something relevant for you or they will provide some different sources which will be relevant to the internship you are looking out for.
The networking can be from peoples in your batch, senior batch, college professors, neighbors, relatives, other than college friends, any friend of friends, internet friends, acquaintances etc. I am sure if you chalk down that list it will be at least 50-100 peoples and from that if 5-10 really helped you out then chances are you may get at least 1-2 internships and that's what you need.
Now if you don't have any network, although that will be an excuse but if that's true or you are too shy to approach anyone then don't worry, there is solution to this kind of problems too. There are many websites which provide information about internships across India, so you should register to those websites and apply to those organizations. Some of these websites are http://internshala.com/ and http://www.letsintern.com/. There are many Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts which are been created for this purpose to help peoples with no direct networks. Find them and get involved to know the information relevant to your desired internships. Keep checking on the official website of the organizations, many of them list the intern requirements there but most of them got quickly filled by internal reference within the organization so having someone who can approach the right person internally is also needed.
Even if you have tried through networking approach, I will recommend you to try this online approach too and this will increase your probability of getting internships.
Which Door to Knock - If you have planned and executed the first point properly you will be already aware by this time, which companies are actually accepting interns. This means first step will also give you answer which door to knock.
It will be better to categorize all the organizations at your end in respect of easy to get in, to the toughest one to get the internships based on the skill-sets and resources you have. Usually getting internship at small startups may be the toughest as they may need someone who are ready to work from first day of internship with no or minimum training, although at the same time if you can fit to that requirement with your technical skills then it will be easiest to crack. Similarly getting the internship to a big organization may be tough if you do not have right reference internally but if you have then it may be a cake walk for you.
Keep your eyes and ear open about internship recruitment's nearby to your place you are currently in. There may be many which don't list out there requirements but if you approach them you will surprise to find yourself getting an internship very easily. Apart from many small startups there may be big or midsize training institutes like NIIT, Aptech etc. in nearby community who may need peoples but don't advertise their need and will be happy to give you internship, if you approach them at right time.
Even if you have approached all organizations nearby your community, still don't loose heart if some or many don't accept your requests. Also there is no point in getting dejected by approaching every organization when truth is only some accepts the internships, that's why you need to keep your eyes and ears open through your sources about all the requirements nearby.
When to Knock The Door - This is applicable only for an internship. Some organization accepts only for summer internships, some for winter, some for both and some at any specific month of the year. When an organization going to accept for an internship will be the key for your preparation and also knowing the right opportunity in advance. In this case too the work you do at first step may give you some idea about various organizations. Which is important to set your own expectations.
The above steps will help you in getting the internship but there is no end of the world if you don't receive any internship and your friend or someone else does. You can utilize that time of internship for self-improvement and prepare yourself for the bigger challenge of on or off campus recruitment.
What should you prepare at your end for the internship? Before or after you get that.
- Groom Yourself Properly - No bathing, No shaving, No brushing your teeth and No sleep with sore red eyes and you can still attend your lectures and college but not applicable once you join an organization, even as an intern. So change yourself accordingly.
- Communication Skills - Some company may communicate internally in their local languages, but that does not mean you should assume that's how all organization works. So enhance your communication skills as much you can, it will be always helpful.
- Technical Skills - There is no guarantee you are going to get the work on the technical skills you have, but able to answer some of the basic questions on the skills you projected in your resume will always helpful.
- Semester Grades - If you have good grades it will always show that you as sincere about your study and course you are in. This does impact positively on the people's at the other side of the table. Although this may not be the must have for every organization and internships but it always be nice to have.
- Aptitude Skills - If you have good skills on this then it will help you not only in internships but also in future recruitment's. If you can polish this skills whenever you have time, it will not cause you any harm.
- Organizational Process - This will applicable once you got the internship or been called for any interview for the internship. Learn the process the organization follows. Knowing how things work in that organization or any organization will always give you the right edge over others.
Hopefully, these steps will help you not only getting the internship you are eyeing for but also in succeeding beyond that.
