the intern

An internship is something that lets you take a peek into what is in store for you once you start working. Sarvesh Agrawal tells you the advantages of doing an internship before starting your career

An internship helps you discover your real career interest and equips you with required skills and connections in the field so that you can turn your passion into a career. To tell you why everyone must do at least one internship during graduation, here are a few case studies:

The first story is of Pratyush Benjwal. He has been drawing and sketching since childhood. He even designed covers for his parents’ books (both are writers) when he was 15. However, under peer pressure, Pratyush opted for the Science stream after his 10th grade. The subsequent two years and one attempt at various entrance exams made him realise that engineering was not for him. He then joined a graphic design institute. Soon after, Pratyush did his first internship in designing graphics for merchandise. He followed it up with four more internships in graphic and web design, social media, content writing, and even wall painting. These internships helped him discover his true love — UI/UX design for web and mobile applications — and paved the way for him to land his dream job even before completing his graduation.

The second story is of Sania (name changed) from NIT Bhopal who, like many engineering students today, was confused between whether she should go for an MBA or an MS after completing B.Tech.  However, a summer research internship at University of Pittsburgh left her in awe of the beauty of engineering and she discovered her true calling — a research career in chemical engineering.

 Most students in India start panicking when they are about to graduate because they have little or no clue about what to do next. Even worse, many are not even aware of, let alone have, the skills that today’s jobs demand. And then starts the mad hunt for a job, any job that one can lay hands on.

On the contrary, if you have done a few internships before (even school students have started applying for internships these days), you will have a clear idea of what you want to do next. Also,  you would have the skills required in that field and would know enough people in the domain who could write a recommendation or two for you. Think of an internship as a test drive for your career before you commit to one.

Other than this, there are more advantages of doing an internship:

• It builds your soft skills and develops your personality: learning to write an email, making a presentation, working in a team on a tight schedule, learning to prioritise, decision making — all of these are useful life skills which are not taught in college but can be learned in the real world environment an internship provides.
• You gain a lot of practical knowledge: learning Computer Science theory in a classroom is useful but nothing compares the amount of knowledge you would gain while building an actual web application used by millions of users across the globe.
• You learn to live on your own: For many students, an internship would require moving out of home, earning a stipend (your first paycheck), and living entirely on your own, which includes managing your finances, day-to-day chores, finding a place to live, attending office and still being able to find time to relax on weekends. An internship makes you feel all grown-up and independent like nothing else ever will.

So what are you waiting forIJ Start looking our early, build your resume, send in your applications and land yourself a dream summer internship. An internship is one of the most exciting college life experiences — don’t miss out on that.

The author is an alumnus of IIT Madras and founder-CEO of Internshala.com