Internship
The expert in anything was once a beginner…
We all have asked and may have answered these types of questions:
- Which is the most exciting workplace to work/intern this summer?
- How do I get an internship at Microsoft if I am from a tier 3 college?
- How do I become good at competitive programming within 3–4 months so that I become good enough to grab an internship at one of the top-notch MNC? I haven’t started competitive programming yet, and companies will arrive in August for the internships.
- Are interns given useless work? (of course a big NO!!!)
- Should I intern this summer or work on my project?
- How do I get an internship at Google?
- Do you have any advice for Computers Science Majors looking for internships?
- What are the best ways to get an internship (computer science) at startups or product based companies?
- What if my branch is not related to CSE or IT Industry but I have skills and projects. How should I apply for internships?
- What is the procedure that Google India follows to hire interns?
If yes then it’s obvious this article is for you, if no then also you must have a look at the context of the article to get rid of exertion and toil in your career.
Firstly I would like to talk about some internal workings of the brain and your work through some words like “perspiration” and “imagination”.
The Perspiration
The best solution to any problem is available with only one who has invested a good time solving it and since I did, I promise you, you won’t be disappointed.
Please note that I focus on companies that provide On-Campus interviews for internships, in Indian colleges. Also, as these are just experience-based ideas, you are free to take any other path that you find better, but be generous enough to write them down in comments.
You must have heard this famous quote of Thomas Alva Edison-
Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration
Let me get it straight to you. You need to work hard, very hard. Right from the first year in your college. I believe, since you have taken CS/IT like one of your engineering branches, you already know that Coding is the key. But, Coding is not the key, the key here is Problem Solving.
It is problem-solving, a setting of your mind that helps you to get easy answers to any problem that you face in your day to day life, within time. You might not notice, but the way you carry out your task mostly determines whether you will be able to complete it or not.
Explore GeeksforGeeks and work on your DSA(Data Structures and Algorithms) skills then quickly move on through problem-solving platform just like Codechef (my fav), hackerrank, hackerearth, SPOJ and many more. Please mind that you need to focus on the details of the problem and how beautifully it gets solved. Now, since we have moved past the competitive coding part, I would like to take up the development part as well. This mainly comprises of the projects in which you might have contributed and the applications that you might have developed.
I would recommend you start a practice that I follow i.e Competitive Driven Development. It sounds similar to a development standard, but this is different.
CDD enables you to write efficient codes. As you will learn more about data structures and develop your competitive skills, the problems that you face when developing an application will get more easily solved and the application will also be innately FAST!
The inspiration part
Here too, I won’t be beating around the bush but be to the point and wrap up fast. Instead, I will take references so that you are ready with the right outlook of personality, exactly needed.
Don’t make yourself alone, ever. Also, avoid distractions! You might have heard this many times. We all get to listen to this all through our childhood, don’t we? But, taking a bit mature perspective on this will make you realize that distractions are all those things in your life that pull you down. Everything that gives you a feeling of remorse or sadness, not immediately but later, is a distraction. Do you know the cool fact about distractions? We tend to go after them just for the temporary happiness they provide, and this is all they can provide.
I repeat myself, Patience and hard work will pay off. For me, jealousy was/is and will be a pinching point that helps me boost up my work. Find Out your way to keep boosting up yourself and always try to raise and achieve more and more.
Now comes the main point topic Internship as we have got dedication and perseverance.
Now comes a question, “what is an internship and how it is useful?”
An internship is a hands-on way to learn new skills at a company or organization rather than in a classroom. Internships are a great opportunity for high school students, recent high school graduates, college students, and even adults looking to explore a career change.
Completing an internship can expose you to the workplace, letting you see what goes on in a certain industry, which is helpful information as you consider various careers. It can help you understand whether the field or industry you would like to work in is the right path for you. This can help you avoid the costs of obtaining a degree in a field that is not a good fit for you or that you are not interested in.
In addition to gaining valuable work experience, an internship helps improve your soft skills. You also get the opportunity to get valuable professional feedback from people who work in the field. These skills are highly sought after by employers today.
Just like a job, you must go through an application process to get an internship. Applying and interviewing for internships enhances your job application and interviewing skills, which will be helpful when you apply for a job. An internship on a resume differentiates you from other job seekers and you more competitive.
Internships are temporary. They can last from a few weeks to a few months, with varying work hours. But they can lead to long-term benefits, such as job opportunities in the company and increased knowledge about the industry. Besides, your supervisor and colleagues can be a reference for a job, college applications, or even scholarship applications.
While many internships are unpaid, the benefits of completing an internship are priceless.
People often think that having a certain degree or company on their résumé will ensure lifelong job search success. Not true. The way you interview may count for even more. It’s competitive out there, and you must know how to effectively interview to get multiple offers — and ultimately the job you want.
He shared this life-changing piece of wisdom:
Act like you are interviewing them.
The symbol for Timid personality
5 Ways to “Act Like You Are Interviewing Them”
1. Own the Introduction
First impressions are critical — the first 15 seconds of an interview can determine whether you get the job. Often, people wait for the interviewer to initiate the handshake and conversation. But you should do this instead.
To make a strong first impression, take control of the interaction with each person you meet. Each time you meet someone new, stand up and offer your hand first — and give a strong handshake. Ask them a rapport-building question like, “How’s your day going?” Be enthusiastic. And smile.
This approach not only shows your interviewers that you are the confident team member they seek, but it also sets you up for success by making you more confident. Acting confident leads to actual confidence — which will make you more effective in the rest of the interview (see #4).
2. Ask More Questions During the Interview
During my failed job search, I viewed the interviewers as the question-askers and myself as the question-answerer. I politely waited to speak until addressed. And this approach failed miserably.
Instead, make each interview a two-way dialogue. This is probably the most effective way to act like you are interviewing them.
So, how do you turn the interview into a two-way conversation?
Ask questions during the interview. From the moment the interview starts, make it a conversation by asking lots of questions throughout the conversation. For example:
- Beginning: Ask how your interviewer is doing when they sit down.
- Middle: Ask questions about the role of your interviewer’s background. Ask questions as they come to you during the conversation.
- End: Ask good questions that you’ve prepared in advance (see #5).
Think about the interview as a conversation with a friend. In other words, if you were chatting with a friend, what questions would you ask her?
In one interview where I asked a lot of questions, the interviewer never got around to asking me a single interview question. I led the conversation, and it ended up being a very casual, informative, and enjoyable conversation. And I got the job.
Note: Interviewers are usually receptive to the two-way dialogue approach (probably 80 percent of the time), but sometimes more-formal interviewers like to stick to their script. If you sense that the conversational approach is not working, let it go.
3. Form a Connection — And Show Your Personality
People hire people they like — according to research.
At a past company where I worked, one of the top ways we assessed a candidate was by asking ourselves: “Would you want to be stuck with this person in an airport for eight hours?” Because we travelled a lot. And, well, it happened sometimes.
Feel free to be yourself and show some personality. It’s okay to laugh — and even to enjoy the conversation. You don’t always have to be serious in interviews. Seriously. Take a cue from your interviewers — if they seem more relaxed, then it’s okay to be more informal.
Research also shows that people like people who are like themselves, which is why you should aim to find connections with your interviewers. Research your interviewers on LinkedIn beforehand to find things you have in common (like the same school, past employer, etc.), and then try to subtly drop this into the conversation during the interview.
4. Exude Confidence
Admittedly, this is a tough one. It’s hard to feel confident when you feel nervous and wants to impress. But it’s possible.
In her TED Talk, Amy Cuddy, a professor at Harvard Business School, suggests that your body language can make you more confident. Go into the bathroom before your interview and spread your arms to the sky (no one will know) — strike a power pose. Continue to act confident even if you don’t feel it, or to put it more simply: fake it till you make it.
My friend listened to his favourite Pearl Jam song — “I Believe in Miracles” — before every interview he’s ever had. Do whatever it takes for you.
A confident verbal communication style is important as well, and the best way to nail this is to anticipate questions and practice your answers in advance — here’s a good list to start to use in preparation.
The most important question is “Can you talk me through your résumé?” or some variation thereof. It’s almost always the first one you’ll be asked in an interview — and it’s your chance to make a great first impression.
The key to this question is not to tell your life story in chronological order. Instead, highlight the themes in your background that make you a great fit for this particular job — and keep it short (no more than a few minutes). If interviewers want to know more, they’ll ask.
A few other tips for exuding confidence: Make eye contact, mind your body language, keep your answers concise, and cut the filler words (the “likes” and “us”).
5. Ask Good Questions at the End
Always be prepared to ask questions at the end of an interview. Asking questions demonstrates your interest in the position and that you’re thinking about how you can contribute to the team.
Plus, this is your opportunity to continue interviewing your interviewer. What do you want to know to help decide if the role is right for you?
Top questions that can offer a good insight into the job include:
- What do you like most and least about working here?
- What are your top priorities right now?
- What are your goals for this year?
- What’s the team structure? How does this position interact with other people on the team and within the company?
- Can you tell me about some of the projects you’re working on?
Why You Should “Act Like You Are Interviewing Them”
After taking this approach, I realized that it made sense for a couple of key reasons.
For one, when you act like you are interviewing the company, you’re displaying ownership and confidence — two of the top traits hiring managers to seek.
In a recent survey in Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager, top managers were asked what they seek in job candidates. They responded, “We want people who are problem solvers and are willing to take initiative.
We want people…who act like they own the place.”
What better way to show these qualities than your interview style?
Additionally, you should be interviewing them for your purposes, not just to demonstrate ownership and confidence.
Most people approach the interview as a one-sided thing: impressing the company. But you should be interviewing the company to gauge their impression on you, too.
Tier 3 college students can get an internship as good as Top Tier colleges, provided that they follow the right steps.
With the rise of the tech startup ecosystem in India, the number of tech jobs and internships are at the peak. Today, a large number of companies hire fresh graduates from college because college freshers bring fresh thinking, they are quite agile and they can easily be moulded into any domain.
College freshers should consider this as a great opportunity to grab through which they can enhance their Software Engineering skills and also get a flavour of how things work in the industry.
First, let us note 2 key points:
- Generally speaking, the opportunities are available for the following profiles — Back-end Developer, Frontend Developer, Full-stack Developer, Machine Learning Engineer (or Data Scientist), Android/iOS Developer, etc.
- Most companies perform recruitment via a 3-step process — screening round, the first round of interviews and finally, the second round of interviews. (It may vary from company to company)
Let’s talk specifically about Back-end Development.
Any Web or Mobile based application today is generally connected to a cloud-based Back-end and therefore, by knowing the nuances of Back-end Development, you bring in a lot of knowledge on the table. If you have a decent exposure to Backend Development, you will certainly be eligible for a lot of companies, particularly startups.
There are many Backend Development frameworks in multiple programming languages. The choice of the Backend framework usually is driven by your proficiency in the underlying programming language.
So, if you are proficient in say JavaScript, you can start with NodeJS or any other related JavaScript framework. Other than the underlying programming language, the differences between these frameworks aren’t significant at the beginner level. Note that for advanced features, the frameworks may differ completely. However, for beginners, either is fine.
Django, NodeJS and Ruby-on-Rails are quite popular in the startup world. Spring and Codeigniter are common among corporates. You can choose 1 accordingly.
You should note an important point — although it could be a big plus point to know the framework that is used by the company where you are applying, it is not necessary. For instance, a company that uses NodeJS as its backend framework would certainly appreciate the fact that you know Django and have demonstrated good projects in Django. A good company understands that problem-solving ability and the ability to learn new things are far more important than knowledge of a specific programming language or web framework and that smart students can pick-up any new skill in almost no time.
How to learn Backend Development in Python?
Django Girls Tutorial is arguably one of the best tutorials for picking up Django. Django is a well-known Python-based Web framework. It is fast and easy to learn. Most importantly, Django is currently being used widely among startups and therefore, there is a huge market out there for Backend Development in Django. Career-High is also built using Django as the backend framework.
What should you aim for?
To catch the attention of companies, you should aim for a decent project in Django. For instance, in the Django Girls Tutorial, the blog project is a great simple project that you can put on your resume.
I don’t know the key points to remember while applying for an internship or placement. What should I do? Refer here…
- Have a decent GPA/CPI (try to keep to above 7.5)
- Have eyes on LinkedIn/Internshala posts for an internship at good MNCs.(Also do upgrade your Github and LinkedIn Profiles)
- Startups are open doors for everyone and easy to get into. Web/Android/Backend development is trending.
- Write good internship proposals to HRs of your dream companies and mail them mentioning your technical skills. (Same if writing to a professor for college internship)
- Try to improve your Communication/Writing skills and English spoken.
- Have good hands-on Competitive programming. Participate in Coding contests on different platforms.
- Be good with DSA skills like basic functions/operations of Linked lists, trees, and Graphs.
Data Structures are asked in almost every interview. Also get some basics of Operating systems, Database management, Networks, and Java. - Be good with Algorithms, sorting functions, and time complexities too.
- Get in the depth of your projects. You have to know everything about your projects from scratch to end.
- Have a good customized resume. Avoid writing unnecessary things. (I would like to include simple but main points that you should take care of while writing up your resume. For example: if you are learning any language or databases make sure that you know why are you learning that specific one and why not another tech, what is +ive points and -ive points of your tech learnings).
- Try to get a telephonic interview before having a face 2 face interview. (If possible). It will save you time and money.
- Don’t panic or demotivated if rejected with 2–3 companies. It happens.
- Believe in yourself and hope for the best. :)
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Cheers,
Harshit Jain
