My experience as a Flipkart Runway Intern 2022
If you don’t have time to read the entire thing and want a brief of what’s in it, then the following two lines are for you. If you want to know whether you should apply for Flipkart, you definitely should. If you have received an offer and want to know how it’ll be there, I have just one word for you- ‘Amazing’. Now let’s talk about this in a bit of detail.
Hi everyone! I’m Shreya Banerjee, a pre-final year student studying Computer Science at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus.
How I got the Internship?
I was among the 15 girls all over India (from among 11,000 applicants) to get a chance to intern at Flipkart after my B.E/B.Tech second year through the Flipkart Runway programme.
About Flipkart Runway Program
It’s an excellent program conducted by Flipkart every year for girls who are about to complete their second year of B.E/B.tech. The application process started in the first week of April 2022. The top performers of Flipkart Runway get a chance to intern at Flipkart in the summer after their second year. The program includes one Online assessment round and two technical interviews ( both eliminatory). There’s also an SOP submission round but that is non evaluative. The people who don’t get the internship offer also get various mentorship benefits and a chance to interview. This program is exceptional in its true sense because it gives you an early corporate experience, which in my opinion, will play a huge role in your future career.
For more details , visit this link.
Online Assessment Round:
The online assessment round consisted of 30 MCQs to be solved in 45 mins. They were based on computer fundamentals such as OOPs, DSA, DBMS, Computer networks, OS etc. The questions were medium-level. I would suggest people practice from Geeks for Geeks Topic-wise MCQs section. I found that very helpful. The main thing that one needs to keep in mind to clear this round is that not only does it matter how many questions you answer correctly, but it also matters how fast you do it. For our test, we had extra points for each question depending on how quickly someone solved it. The exact points I don’t remember right now, but they’ll be written in the test instructions.
Technical Interview Rounds:
The first interview round had easy to med level questions, and the second had med to hard level questions. My first interview went very well, and I solved four questions in 45 mins. They even gave me a question I had seen before, so I informed them the same (yes, it’s okay to tell your interviewer that u have solved that question before instead of wasting time by pretending that you haven’t ).
My second interview was not as good as the first one. I took a lot of oof time on the first question as the approach did not strike me at once. So, we couldn’t finish coding the second question entirely, but I adequately explained my approach to the interviewer, and he seemed satisfied. Both the interviewers were interactive and very helpful.
For the technical interview rounds, I suggest everyone practice DSA just as you would for any interview. I prefer Leetcode and Geeks for Geeks, but I don’t think the place you are practising from matters if your concepts are sound. Also, brush up on the standard data structures and algorithms popularly used and revise time complexity since that is something every interviewer would like to test you on.
My Internship Experience:
My fellow interns and I were fortunate to complete our internship at Flipkart’s Bangalore campus.
One week after the interviews, I got a congratulatory mail, and my happiness knew no bounds. In the days that followed, our HR explained the upcoming process. They booked our flights and cab from the airport. We even got accommodation in an excellent hotel for the first 15 days of our stay in Bangalore. The hotel staff greeted us with a bag of goodies and a welcome letter.
The onboarding process was very smooth, and team allotment happened right after. My team was very prompt and had already laid out our entire timeline for the project on the very first day. The team was very welcoming. They always gave my ideas a safe space. They were accommodating, and my mentor dealt with all my stupid doubts without ever getting irritated. The work culture was fantastic. People work and enjoy in a very balanced manner. My mentors were considerate of the things that were lesser known to me. They guided me on how to get started with various new technologies. Apart from work, I had multiple outings with the team in these two months. We even participated in a hackathon which was for employees within the company. We coded solutions, played games and had fantastic food in the office all night. At the end of my internship, my project got a lot of praise from the team and the manager. I learned more in those two months than I would have in college. The team gave me a huge farewell party on the last day before coming, leaving me in tears. The two months flew by so fast. I never knew I would love the place and the people so much.
My key take aways :
My technical skills have undoubtedly leapt. I am more confident about the technologies that I use. I also know how to get started with new technologies now, which I think was a bit difficult for me before. I have also realised the importance of work-life balance now. Something that was never in my mind before this. I have also gotten a vast insight into the workflow of things. I learned about the different roles in the industry other than SDE (just out of curiosity).
All in all, my summer was way more fruitful than I ever thought it would be. I learnt a lot; I enjoyed it; I networked, made new friends, and explored a new city. My last advice: If you get a chance to work/intern at Flipkart, take it. I am sure you’ll have a fantastic experience just like me.
Hope this was helpful!
If you have any further questions or if you have any suggestions for my article, reach out to me on Linkedin :)
Previously, I have also written two more articles, do check them out and let me know how they are:
