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Summer Internships and the COVID-19 Breakout

By DU Beat April 21, 2020

The global lockdown is particularly inconvenient for students considering the upcoming summer internship season.

2020 will turn out to be relatively hard for students because many companies have stopped campus recruitments till the pandemic subsides. Ideally, most summer internships begin in the month of April but amid the Coronavirus lockdown, many organisations have revoked offer letters, or have cut down on the duration of the internship from 8 weeks to 5 weeks depending on the duration of the lockdown. This is posing to be problematic for students from Business-schools (B-Schools) considering how internships are important for students.

Several companies have resorted to offering virtual internships. Many students have a postponed joining date. International internship projects have been cancelled until further notice. Many companies that usually offer summer internships are considering postponing the internships to autumn months.

Tejasvi, a student of Lady Shri Ram College said, “First year students have limited options in terms of internships opportunities, and with the ongoing lockdown, students may find it harder to find internships for a few months, but many colleges of Delhi University have Internship Cells that are actively working to bring forth opportunities for students.”

Students in first and second year are actively seeking internships but many companies are providing short term internships with extremely low stipends. Many students of B-schools as well as Delhi University reported a deferred joined date. Sectors like banking, insurance and financial services witnessed a delay in offers made to graduates.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has taken a step forward by requesting all branches of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to conduct special recruitment drives to assist students who may have lost their jobs or who may lose their jobs due to the COVID-19 breakout.

Students can seek internships or short-term projects on LinkedIn by connecting with representatives of various companies. Apart from LinkedIn, there are several platforms for students providing internship opportunities. Many recruiters are stepping forward to help students to provide them with internships in these stressful times.

Feature Image Credits: Devdiscourse

Suhani Malhotra

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Internship Woes: Finding the Right One

By Kartik Chauhan July 19, 2019

Internship is devil’s own word. It materialises during first year, solidifies in your second year, and makes you question your whole existence in the third year. In short, it is the experience you get, which makes you decide that you don’t want to do a particular kind of work if you don’t enjoy it, or you want to do it for the rest of your life because it was fun.

While interning there are several woes that a person faces which are not only downright exploitative, but also back-breaking in the amount of work and energy one has to put into it, while getting the bare minimum in return. So, an internship should not be done for the sake of doing something, you need to evaluate your interests, choices and the nature of the work before taking any decision.

The worst kind of internships are those which pay the bare minimum and stress you out so much that instead of learning anything, you feel completely drained out and exhausted. The best thing to do if you are feeling completely worn out and low is to skip it instead of holding onto it and ruining your whole summer.

The tragedy of internship situation here is that there is no fair renumeration for the work and time you put into it. Instead of learning about the organisation, you learn that the corporate world is maybe not for you.

“I joined a company, they promised me a certain amount by the end of the month. Even though some days I was unable to cope with the work pressure, they still promised to pay me the whole amount but in the end, they backed out of the deal and didn’t even pay me the half of it.” Says a student from Kamala Nehru College.

Don’t get me started on the unnecessary promotional work that they make you do, which is not even in your job description. To all the freshers starting out, there are lot of attractive pseudo-internship offers that are nothing but companies making you do elaborate promotional work. If you are into marketing, carefully choose the company that you want to work for. It should be authentic and legit. Your time should be valued, taken seriously and directed at things you enjoy doing.

Another student elaborates, “The work they make you do is sometimes completely opposite to what you were supposed to do. They will assign you menial chores and make you do work like filling excel sheets and documents due to which your confidence really takes a blow. At the end of the day, you don’t even feel like you have done anything productive.”

The situation is not that bleak. If you find your calling and right atmosphere, you will grow in the field that you love, while doing the work that nurtures your skills and puts them to right use. Don’t get dejected when one internship crumbles and falls apart. It just means that it wasn’t meant for you, look for another.

Feature Image Credit: Fastweb

Antriksha Pathania
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Beyond the Obvious of Delhi University Colleges

An Aspiring Intern Cyber-bullied by a Company Associated with Internshala

By DU Beat May 16, 2019

On 15th May, 2019, a girl named Paridhi (@the_centaur on Instagram) posted a series of stories, revealing the cyber harassment one of her friends faced while applying for an internship on Internshala.

Internshala is one of India’s largest website providing students with ample opportunities for internships at different companies across the country. As of 2018, the platform has 3.5 million students registered and 80,000 companies associated with them.

On 15th May 2019, a girl named Paridhi uploaded stories talking about the kind of cyber harassment one of her friends underwent with regards to an internship offer from a company named Zvaari.com. Paridhi’s friend went on Internshala to look for an internship, and was contacted by a person from the aforementioned company, who made claims about working with graphics for Nike, Facebook, and Apple. But, to her, these did not add up to the information present on the website. The person also asked her for a deposit of INR 2,400 to provide her with a secure laptop for work purposes, claiming that the money would be refunded. After realising that this offer did not sound safe, the girl decided not to go for the internship.

Thereafter, she received explicit and inappropriate images and messages on her WhatsApp. After multiple such complaints were reported to Internshala, they mailed applicants an advisory note to inform them that they have blocked the company from using their platform as the company “violated their policies”. Unhappy with such a response, Paridhi used her Instagram account to post her disgust for this issue and she gathered support from her followers to repost her stories so that Internshala would take some concrete action.

Part 1 of the stories shared by Paridhi. Image Source: Instagram account of Paridhi — Part 1 of the stories shared by Paridhi.
Image Source: Instagram account of Paridhi

Part 2 of the stories shared by Paridhi. Image Source: Instagram account of Paridhi — Part 2 of the stories shared by Paridhi.
Image Source: Instagram account of Paridhi

Paridhi’s stories garnered an immediate outrageous reaction and Kavya, a worker from Internshala, went ahead to message a private apology to her. She updated her on the situation and told her the actions Internshala is willing to take to further strengthen their verification procedures, in order to avoid anything like this in the future.

When DU Beat contacted Kavya, she responded by stating, “This is a very unfortunate incident and no student should have to experience this. We deeply apologise to the students for the extremely poor experience. We have a huge sense of moral responsibility towards our students and while we are handling this issue, we are also looking on ways to strengthen our internship authentication process further so as to avoid any such issue in the future.” She also went on to elaborate the verification procedure undertaken by Internshala, and added that in this particular case, the employer had registered from an official email address, had provided a functional website link, Facebook page, and his phone number was verified via a one-time password (OTP) so that he could be traced if required. Kavya went on to add that Internshala has acknowledged the student’s complaint and, as per the standard operating procedure, has blocked the employer account on the platform and sent an advisory email to all the other applicants of the same internship. She also stated that given the gravity of the situation, they are also exploring possible legal actions that can be taken against the employer and have informed the student about the same. She stated, “We are deeply pained by this incident and are committed to providing all necessary support to the affected students.”

This form of cyber bullying and harassment has increased over the years. Girls receive explicit images, texts, and even rape threats on their personal mobile numbers. For it to happen via a seemingly secure platform, popular among the youth, like Internshala speaks a lot about the lack of cyber security, as well as the sexually violent and frustrated mindsets of men who feel safe enough to harass girls under the veil of technology. Such acts of oppression against females are examples of power struggle and hypermasculinity girls all over the world are fighting against.

Social media, in such cases, has turned out to be a boon in some cases by empowering the violated ones to speak about the problems. These people, or their well wishers, have fortunately come up, sharing their stories of such unfortunate instances on their social media platforms and garnered support from people. More power to these young women who are not shying away from taking a stand, going out there and telling their stories. It is a jarring world and support does change things.

Feature Image Source: Instagram account of Paridhi (@the_centaur)

Sakshi Arora

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Campus Central

What To Expect From Your First Internship

By Khyati Sanger August 8, 2018

When we go for our first internship, chances are we would be nervous plus excited about the work and the atmosphere of our workplace. It is beneficial to arm yourself with the knowledge of what to expect out of the internship so that you are not caught off guard. Here is a list of the same.

To learn some ‘inside tricks’

If you are interning in a particular field, you will inevitably learn some tricks that only the professionals in that field are aware of. A layman or a college society would not be able to teach you these ‘inside tricks’. For example, hacks on how to identify and tackle a company’s jargon as a journalist.

To grow your network

You must expect to grow your network from your first internship. You now in contact with the people of the company that you are interning with. Your network has already grown. You will also create contacts with the ‘customers’ of these companies. For example, you might get in contact with a known industrialist who needs to be interviewed for the newspaper you are working with.

To be heavily overloaded

Expect to be slogging at your first internship if you take it seriously. This your the first experience of being in an office and contributing to run a company. Whatever work you will be given would feel like a ‘burden’. This will happen particularly for two reasons. One, the task will be new to you as you try to figure out what exactly is expected out of you. Two, the work might be more than what a typical college student can do. Nevertheless, go on even when you want to quit the most and you’ll be the proudest at the end of this tunnel!

To get freelancing/permanent job

If you work well, the company wouldn’t hesitate to give you freelancing or even a permanent job if you are in the last year of your college. It is so because they have invested their money, time, and energy in you and have made you capable of the output that is expected out of you. It is definitely more feasible for them to continue with you rather than going through this process all over again with somebody else. Therefore, if you do the work well, chances are you might get hired!

To take a certain pride

This is your time to take pride in yourself! Expect your first internship to fill you with a confidence you have not seen before. You must earn your first stipend for this internship. To be able to show off the economic value of your services will definitely make you feel good about yourself! However, even if you don’t earn from your internship, your contribution to the company in the form of your work, ideas, and initiatives will also be a badge you can wear on your sleeve. The social validation will make you smile. Not to mention the fact that your CV will love it, too!

Feature Image Credits: Lets Intern

Khyati Sanger

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How to Dress for an Internship

By Vijeata Balani February 10, 2018

Dressing for an internship is nothing short of a challenge for a college student. The perfect balance between dressing according to ones age while also looking professional is something most people are unable to master. Read on to find out how to dress appropriately for your internship, based on where you are working.

An internship is a sticky sartorial situation: you have to look professional and put-together but maintain a college student’s style and budget. An internship, for most students, is the first step into the professional world. It is easy to feel lost in this new world and looking the part is a tried and tested way to feel more confident. Read on to find out how to navigate through the complicated world of dressing appropriately for work.

DRESSING FOR A HIGHLY FORMAL SETUP

While interning at an investment bank, a consulting firm, a government agency or a big-time company- In the aforementioned work environment, you will see a lot of people in suits. However, suits can be stuffy and look unnecessarily formal for an intern. Since you’re not a full time employee, you don’t need to walk around looking like Hilary Clinton every day. If you are buying a three-piece suit, ensure that you coordinate it with polished-separates and keep your accessories simple and professional.

Corporate Dressing while interning at a high-flying company like Ernst and Young. A pencil skirt or a pair of trousers in the summer, and an added jacket of bold color in the winter would add a pop of color without looking too garish. It is important to stick with simple cuts and solid colors, and not to go too crazy with the accessories. A neutral side bag and a simple watch to keep the bold jacket under control would look impressive.
Heels aren’t necessary to compliment your corporate image. Instead, remain firmly planted on the ground with a pair of loafers. Black or nude closed toe kitten heels are another comfortable and stylish alternative.

DRESSING FOR A SEMI-FORMAL SETUP/ BUSINESS CASUAL

Business casual styles of dressing are typically seen in office environments like that of marketing, public relations, management, advertising, education. Business casual can be tricky for new interns since there are no set guidelines to this dress code. In general, however, business casual can be understood as a slightly less formal version of professional dress.
Unlike in a corporate environment, a business casual dress code gives you the chance to display your personal style. But that doesn’t mean you can waltz into the office in your worn-out denims. Khaki’s and button downs paired with loafers or a formal dresses and neutral shrugs are safe bets that can help you ace the business casual look.

Business Casual Styles while interning with the media– For an internship in the field of journalism and the media, you need to be prepared for a fast-paced work environment in which you will have to deal with deadlines and researching. You can get the business-casual look by wearing something casual like jeans, and pairing it with something a bit more structured, like a tailored jacket in winters. For the summer, a simple white shirt worn in a relaxed state by keeping the top button undone or wearing a more casual knit tie with it, along with trousers or semi-formal skirts is ideal. What is also useful about this combination is that it can be elevated to business attire for a last minute meeting with the addition of a tie kept in your desk drawer and a blazer thrown over top. Flat sandals are acceptable but interns need to stay away from the rather informal flip-flops.
DRESSING FOR A CASUAL SETUP

Casual and comfortable clothing can be worn while doing research, working in start-up or while working with kids- With a casual dress code, you can wear denim, flats, and skirts, but it is not true that all the rules go out of the window. Interns would still need to keep their look polished if you they to be taken seriously on the job.

Casual work outfits while interning with NGOs- In such casual work environments, the focus is on your job and not your wardrobe, and you will probably be working long hours. However, casual doesn’t mean sloppy. A comfortable pair of jeans and a casual shirt or t-shirt would make you appear put-together for the job in summers, without appearing stuffy. In winters, the addition of a dark coloured lightweight jacket would make you appear ready to embrace the nuances of work that come with a casual-work environment.

Feature Image Credits: MM LaFeur
Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak
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The Vitality of an Internship

By Oorja Tapan January 22, 2018

Almost all of us at the University of Delhi face the question of whether we should go in for an internship for the sake of work experience or not. It is an important choice to be made on the basis of the trade-offs like losing out on social life, college attendance, holidays, and so on.

While all of us entered the varsity with more or less the same percentages, what makes us stand out at the end of our graduation is the amount of experience and learning we had gained. In order to notch up our networking skills, decision making, or just being responsible, we delve into various opportunities to improve our CV. An internship allows you to develop your existing skill-set, learn beyond your field, gain prior familiarity and compatibility of the job environment, and form a network of professionals. Whether it is paid or unpaid, an internship offers you experience and prepares you for the ‘big bad world’.

There are more chances of companies hiring you if you have interned already in their organisation or have prior work experience than someone who is just a novice. There is always a cost-benefit analysis involved while grabbing any internship opportunity. You have to cut your time off from outings with friends so as to attend office or meet deadlines at work and even lose out on going home during semester breaks. It is true that college life comes only once and maybe, right now, we are too young to live a mundane lifestyle. We have to compromise on our college attendance, internal assessments and even, semester exams’ prep while interning. What is required is ‘fine-tuning’ of college life and internships.

Another important thing is to be aware of our career choices. For an MBA aspirant or one who wants to seek placement, an internship will make a mammoth difference in your CV while for a UPSC aspirant, it may not be of much use. Work-from-home internships are better to do during semesters. At the same time, remember that you are in college who is supposed to have fun with your peers and make memories. Choose wisely and decide the right time for venturing out on a new internship.

Feature Image Credits: Blush

Oorja Tapan

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My Experience As An Intern At Teach For India

By Nidhi Panchal August 8, 2016

1st July, 2016 was the day when I stepped through the mirror into the ‘Looking Glass House’, just like Alice did in ‘Through the Looking Glass’. And yes, just like Alice I also felt that I had stepped into a world which was similar to mine but, with several strange differences. I cannot describe my Teach for India (TFI) experience without lending images from this wonderful text by Lewis Caroll. Alice becomes a different person after her journey through the Looking Glass and so did I, after this internship.

The world I had stepped into was unlike anything that I had ever seen. All my life I thought I knew everything about the impoverished and marginal community of our society, the people living in slums. I thought I was aware about the challenges they face. I thought I knew about the educational inequity and loopholes in our education system. But little did I know that ‘I thought’ too much and hence, assumed ‘I knew’. Everything that ‘I thought I knew’ just came crumbling down the moment I stepped into 4th grade classroom of MCD School in Saraipipal Thala.

I expected the worst; the unruly kids, lazy government school teachers and yes, dirt everywhere! Alas! I was wrong about a lot of things. Here’s how my one month went as TFI intern.

1st and 2nd July were Friday and Saturday. The attendance was low, with only 5 and 6 kids present each day. The class teacher told me that the kids will definitely come from Monday and, they did. The moment I in stepped in class, I was wished by a chorus, “Good Morning, Didiiiii”. I was taken aback by their enthusiastic, happy response.

This first week was the hardest week; I was stripped off all my pre-conceptions. Every time I saw something which was not what I had believed, it confused me even more and felt as if everything I knew was a lie. Each day of this week I heard a new child’s story which made me feel a little more grateful of my life and childhood.

Now with all the kids present, the teaching began. As my TFI fellow had pointed out, “If you don’t have a plan for the kids, they’ll have a plan for you.” The kids in my class had unlimited energy, constructive as well as destructive. I was assigned to teach English and Science. My first foray into teaching began with a poem. This poem gave me an insight of the level of the kids. There were kids in the class who were unaware of the basic sound and letter recognition and hence, were unable to read. Thus, I made it my goal to teach them sounds and basic reading before my one month gets over.

My days flew thinking, planning, talking about just my kids. I didn’t know when I started referring to them as ‘my kids’ but, I did. All the things in my life faded into insignificance. With my BOY assessment, my days were spent assessing each child on a motley range of criteria’s and my nights were spent filling the tracker.

This assessment further helped me in recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of my kids. As my assessment came to end, so did my internship. I could not teach all my kids to read. All of them had different learning capacities; some could only learn letter sounds, some 3 letter words and some to read sentences. But, with each little milestone that my kids achieved, I smiled little more and felt a little more alive.

I may not have done much, but I did what I could in one month. Change is a slow process. One could not expect to move mountains but, it’s the baby steps that count and the will to continue. It’s all about ‘one child at a time’. Being with these kids for one month taught me to smile in the face of adversity. Their happiness and zeal was infectious. And yes, their lack of resources showed me what today’s privileged kids are losing, with their lives heavily dependent on technology.

I learnt that my biggest flaw was that my opinions about the education system were based and influenced by what I had read in newspapers, heard from others and seen on television. We often go through life forming opinions, passing judgements over our flimsy assumptions, but it’s the first experience and in-depth insight that really matter and help. I realised that most of the policies fail because the real situation is misconstrued by the policy makers. Though this TFI internship was short, I stepped into an alternate reality. However, I wish that there was no disparity between, my kids and my reality. In the kids company, I learnt to unlearn. Before I met them, I thought they needed me, but it was I, who needed them!

One should definitely work with TFI as an intern if, planning to join the fellowship. An intern does most of the things that a fellow is expected to do and gets a peek inside TFI culture as well!

Featured Image Credits: Zeba, TFI

Nidhi Panchal
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Arts & Culture

Why Anyone Looking For An Internship Opportunity In Journalism Needs To Connect With SUNO

By DU Beat July 2, 2016

We demand freedom of speech but do not realise that the information we get through the mouthpieces of mainstream media reach us through a process that is not exactly free. The stories we hear, read or see are often biased. They are presented to us through the prism of the media house’s own lens created from a mixture of political, geographical, ideological and pecuniary elements that the house could be influenced by.

A journalism student who lands in any of such media houses might end up becoming another automaton programmed to work in the assembly line of the house and forced to follow a coloured thought-process. Imagine the future of journalism in such a scenario. This makes the need for a fair, free voice for everyone exceedingly important, and this is why we created SUNO.

SUNO is a unique app that lets the user tell stories to a fast expanding readership comprising new age, educated men and women from around in the world. It won’t be an exaggeration to state that SUNO could be like the Oracle of Delphi in the hands of a journalist who has a nose for news. Its advanced features empower the user to present the story in an interactive and attractive way too.

An intern will learn the ropes of journalism better with an app that lets them at least report on whatever they think is worth reporting. At SUNO, an intern learns the two most important aspects about journalism – fairness and impartiality.

So why wait? Join the SUNO Internship Programme here.

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Travelling vs. Interning: What should you do this summer?

By Shraman Ghosh June 11, 2016

Does the concept of summer “vacation” really exist in college? There are usually two ways people spend their summer – interning or feeling guilty about not interning. For those of us who break our back making it to college twice a week, a 9-5 job in a cubicle is hardly our idea of a vacation.

Although I’m not discrediting the value of an internship, those who’ve already done one internship at some stage should consider taking a trip instead this summer because whereas travelling isn’t really something that you can put in your resume (in most cases), you’d be surprised how much it can help you in the long run. Here are a few ways how:

1. Travelling helps you learn a lot of new things about yourself:

Know yourself. Image credits: blog.trip4real.com

Whenever you visit a new place, there’s a certain level of adaptation that’s required even if it’s for a short period of time. If you’re travelling alone you’d be surprised as to how many realisations you can have about yourself, which is always a good thing in college considering most of us spend the majority of our college lives roaming around as headless chickens who look the other way whenever anyone asks us “beta, what plans?”

2. You learn a lot about a place:

Explore new places. Image credits: blog.touristly.com

Even if you revisit a place you’ve gone a dozen times with your parents in the past, being in college gives you a certain degree of independence. Use it to explore the city more. There’s definitely more to a city than the mainstream tourist locations, the knowledge of which truly makes you a “well-travelled” person.

3. Gives you the mental peace required for the upcoming semester:

Find your peace. Image credits: plaidzebra.com

Despite how much you study (or don’t), the summer semester in particular has a tendency to be extensively soporific. A nice holiday in the weeks leading up to it can put you in the right frame of mind to tackle it head on.

4. You get to meet new people:

Meet new people. Image credits: funjet.com

Internships may be a great forum for networking but travelling helps you meet a lot of people who may be like-minded or have a completely different outlook on life, both of which help shape your thought process.

5. You have fun:

Have fun. Image credits: colosoul.com.au

Whereas following a “YOLO” strategy indefinitely may not be a wise decision, college life is all about experiences (not just the “work” kind), and traveling definitely accounts for that.

So if you’re still confused about whether or not to intern, don’t worry too much about it. Maybe this summer you can try something different!

Feature Image: knowrisk.com.au

Shraman Ghosh

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DUB News

LSR student bags 1.4 Lakh internship from an American Bank

By Lovleen Kaur April 14, 2016

Recently, a student from Lady Shri Ram College for Women bagged an offer of 1.4 lakhs by an American bank for a two-month internship. Likewise, another LSR student was offered 1 lakh for a two-month internship at Ernst and Young.

During the year 2015-16, a total of 279 internships were offered to the students, out of which 97 were paid ones. A total of 79 companies offered internships and recruited interns. In the previous year, LSR had secured a large number of placements among Delhi University colleges, consisting of offers from various startups and reputed firms. Dr. Kanika K. Ahuja, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, LSR, and the convener of the placement, said, “We receive phone calls every day from companies offering internships to our students. Out of an outgoing batch of about 900 students, at least a third of the students have done internships, making it highly attractive for potential recruiters”.

Shaina Ahluwalia, internship coordinator of the placement cell said, “2015-16 had been one of the best years in terms of placements as well as internships. We’ve noted a remarkable rise in the highest paid internship from last year, a rise in department-wise internship recruitments, as well as a qualitative increase of the diverse type of internships our students receive”.

Tanima Nigam, another coordinator added, “I would always hope that we manage to break the internship record by increasing the availability of jobs and encouraging students from diverse backgrounds to believe that the placement cell is capable of finding them what they are looking for”.

During the last session, LSR had witnessed the highest placement offer of 29 lakhs per annum, with a total of 112 students getting placed.

With inputs from Times of India

Lovleen Kaur

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