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The most threatening sword of Damocles that hangs above all of our heads today is a two lettered, innocent sounding word ‘CV’. It appears as if one step in the wrong direction will jeopardise one’s future forever. It’s a weighty word though, inspite of the ease with which it can be spelt and said. Say it aloud among a group of college-goers and the atmosphere will be mixed- a pall of gloom on the side of those who feel like their all-important two page document is filled with exaggerated achievements in a painting competition at school, and jubilation and smugness on the side of those who have done eight internships, presented six research papers and published ten. The future is quite secure now, isn’t it? After all, isn’t that what they said? A good, long CV will get me a good job, and a good job means good money and a good life.

We spend our college lives, putting together that document-line by precious line. Don’t get me wrong- I am not saying your CV is not important or advocating rebellion against the established order of things. It definitely is a significant document, both in terms of higher education and employment.

But it’s time we watched what really goes into it. Doing an internship merely because it may add another fancy line to your CV is both redundant and a waste of your time. That piece of paper is meant to be a record of your dedication towards your goals and the ability to work towards them. Therefore, the number of internships you have done and research papers you have published will matter very little if you cannot identify your goals and justify your choices. Saying I interned with XYZ organisation because I wanted another line on my CV is certainly not an option.

Thus, building a CV should not be the only motivation to do anything in college- be it an internship, volunteering with an NGO, or publishing articles and research papers. College, after all, is the perfect opportunity to discover yourself, identify your interests and then pursue them as a career option or course for further education.

Image credits: www.global-workplace.com

Abhinaya Harigovind

[email protected]

th of May. Students need to send their resumes and application form to [email protected]. For more details visit: https://cdn.ducic.ac.in/ducic/NewsEventsCommons/Summer%20Internship%20CIC%202016.pdf The application form can be downloaded here: https://cdn.ducic.ac.in/ducic/NewsEventsCommons/summer%20internship%20application%20format.docx   Image Credits: du.ac.in Srivedant Kar [email protected]]]>

If you’re one of the lazy souls who were too reluctant to sacrifice their winter vacations for an internships, luckily, you’re in a good space. It’s not too late because part-time internships are always available. You can easily juggle between college and a part-time internships. It helps you gain the likely experience of a full time internship. Added are the perks of flexible work hours and attractive incentives.

  1. Become a Campus Ambassador

A whole range of companies are recruiting campus ambassadors to manage their promotions in the respective colleges and areas. Companies like wooplr, vogue, koovs, uber have successfully gathered a lot of happy interns!

  1. Join a Start-up

Start-ups provide excellent learning opportunities to college-goers. Start-ups are a platform where you’re actually made to do some real hard-core work, be it ground work or sophisticated analysis.

  1. Bring out the designer you!

If you have some knowledge of graphics designing, you can definitely look up a job in this field. Various agencies and companies need designers to manage their websites and social media platforms.

  1. Write your heart out- Content Writer

If you have a flare for writing, a plethora of options are available for you. Companies need write ups for their blogs, websites and other media handles. All you have to do is bring out your best hand at writing and prepare articles on the said topics.

  1. Business Development Interns

All companies need a strong base of business development interns to formulate strategies and solve the issues of customers. If you can crack quick solutions to problems, this is your world!

  1. Social Media & Marketing

Social Media is present everywhere. Companies need to be hugely active throughout and they on-board a number of interns to take care of their marketing and promotional needs. This is one field where you can always find something that suits you.

  1. Be the change, join an NGO

Have the zest of doing something towards the bigger goal, betterment of society? Join an NGO and help yourself as well as the society. NGO’s are extremely vibrant nowadays with a host of activities planned for the members.

What now, once the ordeal is over? Nothing planned? Well take some hints from us, and live a little after the torture of a month.

1. Work/Internship

While mostly applications have to be submitted well-in-advance, you may still be able to find work or pursue an internship after your exams. It is a great opportunity to learn something and add it to your CV, and even a better way to make contacts in the industry.

2. Join a course

There are enough online/offline courses in the market. Go and learn something that helps you in future or maybe just boosts your interest. It does not have to be academic only.

3. Go on a trip

While road trips are the quickest and easiest, even visiting your extended family is not a bad option. A trip or maybe just a change of atmosphere will refresh you, and even give you a new zeal for the term ahead.

4. Binge on TV/Movies/Books

It is the right time to visit or re-visit those characters and their journeys that you patiently waited for all this time. Start reading a new series, after having devoted time to your course for six months. Relax and have the time of your life.

5. Social Service

It is harmless to utilize your time by teaching or volunteering for an NGO. It may just give a purpose to your life. Or just go to an orphanage or old-age home, and spend some quality time with people you don’t know. It will not only make you feel better, but will bring a smile to somebody else’s face.

6. Research

No matter what year you are in, it is never too late or too early to look up the internet. Even if you are sure, what you want to do in life and what your career will be, search options and maybe probable routes to achieve your dreams. Gain some knowledge and be surprised, if not confused!

Finally, sleep. You deserve it.

 

Ayesha Sareen

[email protected]

Image credits: http://24.media.tumblr.com/

 

The Central Placement Cell has begun its registrations of both placements and internships for the academic year 2015-16. The varsity’s CPC serves as a platform in providing quality placements to students in reputed multinationals, government organizations, NGO’s and private companies. It acts as an interface between companies and students, channelizing talent towards opportunity.

The CPC assures logistic support to companies from the very beginning of the recruitment process. The university is equipped with a variety of infrastructural facilities such as the Conference hall, Library, Equal Opportunity Cell (to empower students with physical disabilities), Training Laboratories, International Relation, etc. to facilitate the entire process.

The registration is quite a simple process. Interested students can create a login ID with a password at the CPC official website http://placement.du.ac.in. Registered students will be eligible to receive updates regarding placements and internships via emails and text messages. They’ll be provided with regular assistance and counselling for employment and entrepreneurship. The procedure includes a pre-placement presentation by the company, followed by the main placement process carrying a written test, group discussion and personal interview. The steps may vary as per the company’s discretion.

The recruitment process pumped up last year with over 850 students getting placed and pay packages weighing as heavy as Rs.8 lacs per annum. Multinationals like HCL Technologies, Wipro, Accenture, Genpact, and Tata Capital are in close liaison with the CPC. There was great hike in internship offers as well.

Tanya Agarwal

[email protected]

Having completed an entire month in office, if I were given a choice again, chances are I might never choose to do an internship at all. In hindsight, whilst doing an internship is sometimes enriching and enlightening, not doing an internship also has its merits. Yes, internships are a part of your college experience, but not doing one doesn’t mean you haven’t lived your college life well. Yes, doing an internship is a good way of having a productive summer, but not having one is not the end of the world. So, here we are bursting the bubble, and breaking the myths.

 

  1. Internships are overhyped

     

    Contrary to popular belief, not getting an internship is NOT the end of your career. If you haven’t applied for an internship at some big ass corporate house, you will not end up living in your parent’s house forever. There are a bunch of other ways to kickstart your career. I am, in no manner implying that internships are completely futile. But they are not the only avenue for you to build your resumes or pick up skills and learnings. Don’t just do what everyone else is doing. If you utilise your summer well, you can work on defining your personal brand effectively too!

     

  2. Internships won’t solve the perpetual existential crisis

     

    There are other, far simpler ways to discover your potential and work on your skills. You could translate a new interest into a hobby, or take up some projects to hone your existing skills. You can enrol in an online course, or take up some research work based on your educational background.So stop panicking, or wallowing in jealousy. Just breathe.

     

  3. Internships might be a costly affair

    Keeping aside the fact that most of the internships available are unpaid, most paid internships too are a farce and often a trap. In case of unpaid internships, you need to finance your commute, eating expenses, inter alia. In case of paid internships, while the stipend will only barely cover your travel and lunch expenses, it might not necessarily bring life back to your wallet. And then there are internships for which students have to pay to intern with a company. Now that is another issue altogether.Hence, it becomes extremely difficult for an outstation student, particularly, to do an internship. If however, you do decide to take one up, be mindful of the return on your investment.

     

  4. It gets tiring

     

    With 12 hour days everyday, I am not just I’ll-take-a-nap-and-be-okay-in-the-morning tired, I am more like I-need-to-sleep-for-an-entire-month tired. How I wish to sneak away each weekend to recharge my batteries. Overtime, what I have realised is that I would have liked travelling uninterrupted for an entire month more than spending most of my days in office. Taking care of those pangs of wanderlust is a whole lot easier during the break than during college days. Plus, when you travel you’ll always have a cooler story to tell later on!

     

College offers an interesting proposition of permutations and combinations of fun and learning, and sometimes you really ought to choose well. My internship has taught me a lot of things, of which the most important lesson is: If I hadn’t taken this internship; I would have been just fine.

 

Image Credits: giphy.com

Surbhi Arora

[email protected]

 

In between the season finale of Game of Thrones and the return of Suits, a major chunk of our summer break has gone by. While we all started the break binge watching our favourite shows, some of us went ahead and started drafting a plan for our career. Some started to complete their bucket list of summer plans they made during exams. And then there are some who are still hiding behind their laptops, parked in front of their TV, doing absolutely nothing. If you belong to this category of people, jolt your bones awake! 

Here are 5 reasons to get off your beloved couch this summer!

No one likes a couch potato, not even themselves

Waking up around noon and taking a nap right afterwards seemed fun in school. In college, it’s not quite so. Summer break is a perfect opportunity for you to introspect and hone your talents or discover new possibilities altogether. It’s the time to be proactive and enthusiastic about the future without the hustle and bustle of college life. If you want to have a stalker-worthy Instagram feed, do something other than napping and watching TV.  A little of this introspection and hard work, will go a long long way.

Get a Summer Job/Internship

In between the internet bills, college tuition, lunch money and other innumerable expenses of a college student, there is hardly any money left to do anything else. Taking up a summer job or an internship could possibly bring your wallet back to life. To top it all, these internships will also add some colour to your resumes.

Hit the gym!

Use the calm time of the break to lose that “examination weight” already. Hit the gym or do some yoga, do something! Go for a walk,get together with a bicyclist group,enrol in a swimming class or join a sports team.

Here are some tips to get you started!

Travel is non-fattening and flying helps the economy

If you are fortunate enough to vacation in luxury hotels and resorts, then I might strongly dislike you, stalk your Facebook feed and wallow in jealousy almost all the time. If you ever get an opportunity to discover a new place, seize it! Start with discovering your own city, or travel a brand new place. Travelling is multidimensional, exploration is educational. It moulds your life in a way that you envision things with a clearer mind, and it helps you understand your own self better. Plus, you’ll always have a cool story to share about your adventures and escapades later on. If you wish to discover Delhi, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!

Turn a new interest into a hobby

If there’s a certain thing you like to do, follow it up religiously. If you love to read as well, you could start a blog and connect with other bookworms. If you wish to volunteer with your local organizations, you can do it now without the daily interruption of college. If you love to draw, you could build up an entire portfolio of sketches ready before college! Here are some projects to help you get started.

Here’s to a more productive summer, whatever is left of that anyway. Cheers!

Image Credits: giphy.com

Surbhi Arora

[email protected]

The dynamics of landing your dream job have changed drastically. Earlier, to land that perfect job, you were only required to show up for an interview with a printed resume. But now, even bagging that interview has become highly competitive. In an increasingly difficult job market, any edge you have over your peers, technical or otherwise, will help you distinguish yourself from the rest. Companies are always looking for employees who are willing to take an extra step, a tad bit more initiative than their peers. And in a highly advanced job market like this, a thorough research about the company and their job profile is imperative. LinkedIn provides the perfect platform encouraging its users to strategically network.

Apart from connecting a user to potential employers, LinkedIn is the leading provider of various services. From University finder to job openings, this social media platform offers a lot of services to engage its users effectively. Plus, it helps a user establish their personal brand. With innumerable advantages as these, I am surprised LinkedIn still goes unnoticed. LinkedIn is truly your link to career growth and advancement. Here’s why:

  1. LinkedIn is your online resume

    An effective LinkedIn profile is a preferred means of shortlisting candidates over going through tons of hardcopies of resumes. You can continue updating your profile as and when you acquire a new experience/skill and a potential employer can learn about it in real time. Any interview you give, chances are the companies will surf through your social media presence before delivering the final verdict. A profile on LinkedIn, if correctly edited, can help you get past those glassdoors.

  2. LinkedIn helps you connect with people with similar career trajectories

    with a plethora of career choices to choose from, a little help from an experienced professional can go a long way. With Directors, Partners and Managers of huge companies on LinkedIn, a user has a chance to directly contact the employees of a particular company. You can also constantly update your “Interests” column and meet like-minded people and exchange your view points with them. With a similar user interface as Facebook, LinkedIn is also easy to use and understand. And you can connect and network with important people easily. LinkedIn is slowly, but surely, becoming an effective platform to build mentor relations with professionals. If that’s not incentive enough to create a profile on LinkedIn, I don’t know what is.

    In addition, you can also learn of job vacancies and volunteer opportunities before most people do if you keep in touch with your network. Interested employers also contact you regarding job offers, hence increasing the multitude of job opportunities for you.

  3. You can shortlist Universities and create personal websites for free

    There’s no denying the fact that a positive social media presence not only helps increase your visibility, but it also helps you connect with your employers directly, before and after the job experience. Many people opt for jazzy, personalised websites for themselves, but chances are these might just cost a lot. LinkedIn provides its users the platform to create user-friendly, free of cost branded.me websites by converting the user’s profile into a customised website in a span of two minutes.

    As per their database, LinkedIn also helps a user to shortlist universities and colleges for further studies based on the company they want to work for and the location the user would prefer, hence helping a them make the right career choice.

  4. LinkedIn is the ultimate platform to stay connected and network with people

    Companies are always looking for employees who are self-starters and people who are motivated and enthusiastic. Exactly the kind of skills you can list in the “Skills” section of your profile. From Microsoft excel to Financial forecasting, you can list whatever experience you have and explain how you applied an existing skill in a professional environment. A user can list ‘Projects’ that they undertook in college or in a job as well. I know it seems frivolous at times, but it is essentially important to convince a potential employer of your worth. And LinkedIn is a far simpler way in order to do just that.

LinkedIn is an effective way to advance your career not only because you can connect to thought leaders, think tanks, corporates and professionals and seek professional help whenever required but also because it gives you the freedom to build your personal brand. And it helps you leverage and capitalise on this personal brand and move towards the right career path. You can aid your peers, endorse them and ask for recommendations in real time. You never know who might stumble around your profile. If you haven’t updates it in a while, you should definitely go do it. And if you don’t have a profile yet, what’s the hold up?

Image credits: www.colby.edu

Surbhi Arora

[email protected]

Come summer and the hunt for internships begins. With two months at one’s disposal, internships can be a constructive way to  spend this time (at times with monetary rewards). Full- time or part-time, before you head out with your internship search party, here are few things that you should keep in mind:

Have a one-page CV ready

That CV is one of the most crucial elements of your internship application. Customise it for the role that you are applying and make sure your strengths are highlighted. As the popular notion goes, it should ideally be a one-page CV listing your work experience, academic record, awards, skills, student leadership and relevant co-curricular activities (yes, you being the tennis champion of your locality isn’t relevant for a sales job).

Apply first for the job and then for the brand

If your passion lies in corporate communications, then having a sales internship in Google shouldn’t be a priority. Yes, it is Google and is a fancy name to have on your CV. But the profile is not your thing. Move on.

Small teams mean more experience

In the age of MNCs and corporate dominance, don’t aim to work in that swanky office with unlimited food and coffee. It is a great place to network and build contacts, but in terms of job responsibility you might not get a lot of opportunity. With the start-up culture in boom, working with an idea you admire can be interesting.

Think of the field

Think of the kind of field you would like to work in. Internships can also be a good way to figure out whether you enjoy working in a certain profession or atmosphere. Confused? It is okay to be confused. The solution lies in experimentation. Experiment with varied internships till you find your calling. For the more clear headed, work on growth in that particular field. Use your internship experiences to build a network.

Start that hunt

We have initialized you into the mental framework you need for that internship. What about the internship itself? Well, start that hunt. While there is a utopia around the idea of approaching recruiters, the action in itself is inevitable. You can either apply for organised internship programs that several companies release between January and April or create your own opportunities. Create a database of places and profiles you would like to work for, list their contact details and start contacting. Interested in working with a media house? Call, email (read spam), call and check – repeat this cycle until you get a response. Persistence is the key. You could also use portals such as LinkedIn in your hunt.

Internships in India require initiative

Sadly, a lot of internship opportunities in India turn out to be unpaid. This means that your presence actually doesn’t make a difference to the people in the office. But if you want it to make a difference in your CV, you need to make certain things happen. When in a media house, you could sit and send those two tweets a day, or take initiative, write a story and get it published. Remember one thing – it is okay to ask for work. Active and passionate candidates have higher chances of converting that internship to a job opportunity.

Wishing you all the best to secure that internship!

imagecourtesy:collegerebellion.com