InternFeel: In which course are you presently enrolled? Please tell us something about yourself – your interests and areas of specialization.
Sitanshu : Hello, I am Sitanshu currently pursuing my B. Tech in Electronics Engineering from Symbiosis Institiute of Technology, Pune. My interest lies in reading, travelling and exploring culture of different places. I love to play lawn tennis, cricket and pool.
IF: Which internship did you opt for? Give us a few details-stipend, duration and location.
Sitanshu: During my second year of engineering, I got a chance to do my Internship at IIM Ahmedabad under the guidance of professor who was a Padma Shri awardee. It was completely a non-technical internship. It didn’t have any stipend but, in the end what mattered most to me was to work under a Professor who was a Padma Shri awardee and also experience the life at IIM-A campus. It was a 4-week internship and I stayed in the campus of IIM-A.
IF: How did you come to know about the internship? Which channels of information did you utilize?
Sitanshu: Since, I like exploring different fields hence I constantly kept looking for internships in management side and came to know about this internship through one of my friend. I definitely used InternFeel as one of my sources, apart form that I also used Internshala.
IF: Briefly describe the procedure for application. What are the eligibility criteria for this internship?
Sitanshu: There is no stipulated procedure to apply for such internships. You need to figure out the area in which you are interested, then find professors related to your interest and then approach them. Some institutes also have a internship program for which you have to keep yourself updated with application dates.
IF: According to you, what are some common mistakes that you feel applicants should avoid in the internship application process?
Sitanshu: One common mistake that I feel students do is, that they give up too early thinking that they are not qualified for this or they have GPA/ skill-sets not matching this internship. But I want to mention that, what these internships require is your overall profile and not only your GPA/ class rank. I had people with very high GPA and also very low GPA with me there, so GPA by no means should be a barrier for you to apply.
IF: Let’s talk about how competitive the selection process is. What qualities of yours do you think helped you to have an edge in the selection process? What key attributes were the selectors looking for?
Sitanshu: I am not sure about the competitive process, but I can say that the professor under whom I did my internship received hundreds of internship application a day, and I had three other interns with me during my stay there. For me, I spent a lot of time on my cover letter and resume which probably stood me apart for this particular internship. But, surely my interest in the field related to prof’s and research into that field might also have made me stand apart.
IF: What kind of groundwork did you do post-selection and before beginning the internship?
Sitanshu: Nothing as such. I just had to confirm my accommodation at the campus.
IF: Please give us an overview of the work/research project you carried out during the internship period, including its future prospects, and your role and responsibilities.
Sitanshu: I worked on Social Entrepreneurship and grassroots innovation. I developed market entry and expansion and expansion strategy for a upcoming and indigenous business. Later on one product of that company was awarded “Most Innovative Product” by ministry of rural development. I also got a chance to help organize SATTVIK food festival whose aim is to stimulate demand of local crops and their varieties from dry regions so as to generate market based incentives for their conservation.
IF: What was the best feature of the work ethic of the organization and the internship? What was it that you liked about your workplace?
Sitanshu: The best thing about the internship was the flexibility it offered. There were no fixed timings, we even used to stay till 3 in the night and used to come by 11-12 in the morning. Also, the people there were very friendly and helpful.
IF: Were there any special events during the internships?
Sitanshu: I was indeed very lucky to be interning at IIM-A during the winters as they have their cultural fest ‘Chaos” during last week of December. Hence, I got a chance to attend concerts of some of the best singers like Salim-Sulaiman, Coke Studio.
IF: Let’s now talk about some negatives. What were the glitches and problems that came your way, which you think your juniors should be careful to avoid?
Sitanshu: The only negative is that you don’t get to explore Ahmedabad as a city, as the campus itself as a lot to explore in it 🙂
IF: Was this your first internship / training?
Sitanshu: Yes, it was my first internship.
IF: How much difference has this internship period made in your intellectual capabilities and mindset. In broad terms what are your gains and takeaways?
Sitanshu: This internship would be one of the best learning experience in my academic careers in a way that it taught me number of things within a short span of 4 weeks. I met and made friends with some of the amazing people at the campus. It gave me a perspective, to look at things from a different manner and also instilled a lot of confidence in me.
IF: Any advice for juniors that can help them in getting internships in future and for deriving the best learning experience out of it?
Sitanshu: “Chase your dreams, your dreams do come true”. Also, your college GPA has a very little role to play while you apply for such internships, where they look at your overall profile and not only your GPA, although you need to have certain minimum GPA but it is NOT the only deciding factor.
IF: What are your future plans and how much of an impact do you think this internship will have on it?
Sitanshu: My future plan is to gain some experience in management consulting/ finance sector and then go for master’s. This internship will definitely have a large role to play in my future plans since, it is very much aligned with my interests.
IF: Any views about this initiative of InternFeel, and how beneficial it would be? Any suggestions/feedback for improvement?
Sitanshu: You are doing a great job, it gives a different perspective and all the relevant information that a student wants regarding the internship that he wants to do, in his/ her interested field.
