Ace your Internship Experience
Know about the transition from campus to corporate!
Prepared well for cracking the interviews. But clueless as to what happens in a corporate experience?
So don’t worry, everyone starts clueless, but as time passes by, you’ll be amazed at how many different things you’ll end up knowing and learning.
With so much information already available via the internet, I thought of summarizing it all and curating it for someone who will be interning with a particular company.
During my exploration phase of how to ace my internship, I figured out that are a lot of resources that say how to get an internship offer but very few as to what exactly happens during an internship.
Through this blog, my intention is to share all the tips and valuable guidance I received in my journey. The thoughts expressed in this blog are of the people I networked with and the points I kept in mind during my internship.
PS: It may happen that certain points change from company to company. I have tried to give an overview here.
What exactly is to be done in the internship?
Your Manager/HR will assign you some Task/Project/Proof of concept on which you will be working for the duration of your internship. In addition to this, there are multiple sessions organized for understanding the company culture, interacting with senior leadership, training programs for different technologies.
What is the technology stack we get to work on?
Usually, the process of assigning a project differs from company to company. The stack totally depends on what team you would go to and would differ for everyone. So whenever you get to know your team, ask all the requirements from them since they would be the best to guide you on the prerequisites.
Once you get to know the tech stack, try to read the documentation of how these technologies work, that’ll get you started with it.
How do I differentiate myself from equally qualified colleagues?
A key differentiator is how well you work in a team, as teamwork is an integral part of any firm’s culture. Another is how much of a self-starter you are. It’s important to complete an assigned task thoroughly, but it’s differentiating if you go the extra mile. For example, do more analysis than your manager expects for the project and an additional task no one asked you to do, but that you think could help the team. This demonstrates your interest, understanding of the product, how you can fit into the team, and how useful you can be.
What if I need more time to complete a project? Won’t that reflect badly on me?
No, it won’t reflect badly. If you think a project will take a few days longer than you were asked to deliver, then you should let your manager know as soon as you realize it because missing a deadline could have a cascading effect on other people’s timelines and the date of delivery to the client. Communication is the key.
What if I don’t understand something that I’ve been asked to do, or I get stuck?
Definitely reach out to your team members. How you express your problem matters more than the fact that you’re stuck.
Here’s one approach: Convey to the team saying that you’ve done so much already for the project and you are at a point where you need some guidance. Offer a suggestion about the way you think you might be able to solve a problem, rather than simply saying that you’re stuck and you don’t know what to do.
What if I’ve made a mistake? What’s the best way to deal with that?
We all make mistakes. We’re only human after all. Just make it known that you understand how it happened and have the know-how to ensure it doesn’t happen a second time. Report to your manager as soon as you realize the mistake — doing so will demonstrate your integrity and that you’re someone who wants to do the right thing.
What is the process for getting PPO?
It differs from company to company. The majority of companies take interviews in addition to the work you did during the internship and then take a final call. Focus on completing the assigned tasks diligently and keep a hold on your Interview Preparation.
General Tips
- Be mindful of other people’s time. Ask your manager if you can chat at some point about an idea you think might add value, or pick a time when he or she doesn’t look too busy.
- Prep yourself before you talk to your team/manager. For example, write down the points you want to get across ahead of time so you know what you want to get out of that meeting.
- Having a good knowledge of object-oriented design would definitely help. Because most of the time you’ll have to follow object-oriented design principles to write maintainable and clean code.
- The basics of using a version control system like Git should be clear.
- Do not assume things. Communicate with your team, and your manager as much as possible
- Don’t complete the project assigned to you for the sake of completing it or take any shortcuts while doing it. Connect with the project. What problem will your task solve? Insist on the highest standards. Whatever task you do, no matter how small it is, do not compromise with its quality!🚀
- Be Proactive. Show interest in the culture of the company, understand what the company does, why it does. Network with your peers and colleagues.
- Ask Questions. Even though your questions might be silly, do not hesitate to ask them even to senior management. This helps to get a clear understanding of the issues!😇
- Connect with people on LinkedIn who already have experience working with your respective company. Reach out to them asking for beginner tips and insights on the respective company’s culture.
Now that you have read the points, you can read more about my internship Experience in particular at Morgan Stanley here
If you have further queries, please feel free to reach out to me via Twitter, LinkedIn, GitHub.
Some more useful references:
