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The scorching heat of May-June, sipping on countless glasses of Glucon-D one after another, monsoon rains to soothe our sweaty bodies; I miss summer vacations.

 Nostalgia is like an unforeseen wave on the vast and uncharted seashore of blurred memories; washing down our immortal soul with the bitter-sweet syrup of the past. A frequent visitor in most minds, the nostalgia of school days unconsciously forms a subtle curve on our lips; an uninvited smile at times and a known frown on some days.

After a tiring day of online classes while you sip into a glass of lemonade, scrolling through your Instagram feed to move your eyes up from the screen only to complain about the extra sourness of the drink, your eyes fall on the calendar. Apart from realising that fact that time flies away and disappears into stardust, you notice the month: June. Your mind spontaneously retraces itself to the fogged memories of summer vacations; no studies, endless rounds of hide-seek from dawn to dusk, stealing mangoes from the neighbour’s backyard and what not.

The last working day of school before the commencement of the vacation held a different vibe to it. The sadness of being parted away from your school friends for one and a half months was muffled by the joys of relaxation from academics. You restlessly tap your feet with alarmed ears to hear the ringing of the final bell. Once the hands of the clock align themselves with the chutti time, an uproar is followed with the same. The silent corridors become a witness to the thunderstorm of students storming out of their classrooms, the whispers of gossip and rumours amidst the commotion and the lively chaos for one last time before it delves into a state of hibernation.

You bid farewell to your friends for the short long duration of the summer vacation, get up on the bus and sit on the last seat. While you slide the rusted window with all your strength to allow some air to soothe down your sweaty forehead, you take one last glance at the school. An eerie silence forms around those once animated lifeless walls of the palace-like building. You carefully store the aesthetic scenery in your mind under the album of ‘school life’ to cherish when you reunite with your lost, unforgettable friends from school.

Looking back, summer breaks for me were nothing less than a patchwork of metaphors- amber coloured evenings laced with the sound of laughter, too many hands in one single basket of mangoes, my grandmother and her lullabies, wishes whispered upon dandelion fluffs, the sea and the sunshine. everyday blessed me with a new story of its own and i count each of these stories as my most treasured memories,

–cherishes Bidisha P. Kashyap from Guwahati, Assam.

 

These days of leisure which were supposed to spin off by laziness playing the role of protagonist goes on to start with your mother switching off the Air-Conditioner (AC) or fan and waking you up vigorously. Once awake, there’s no scope that any of your family members would find you in the house anymore. You hurriedly brush your teeth, push down a slice of bread into your mouth and boom! You directly run down to the ground floor to catch up with the buddies from the same housing society or nearby areas and decide on the games to play the whole day till the sun sucks all of the Glucon-D in your body.

On some days, you lazily lie on your bed while your mind goes on a stroll with Shikari Shambu within the colorful, twisted lanes of Tinkle comics; a golden era of innate happiness without the aid of social media and mobile phones. The cravings for a dozen sweet-sour mangoes take birth within you; a desire that a single mango handed down by your mother cannot satisfy. The longing for a frizzy Kala-Khatai would grow with the passing of each minute, eagerly waiting for the seller to set up his stall in the afternoon. You decide on your choice of flavour before going up to the seller only to reconsider your decision when you see those vibrant colours gleaming in front of your eyes. After fighting battles with your own self on the choice of flavour, you decide on one and you see the seller doing his magic. You suck into the colourful ice and the soothing water snakes down your throat to calm down the heat burning inside you.

Sometimes there is a desperate desire to go back in time and wait in anticipation till the bell rings on the last day of school before summer break. The memories of enjoying summer break in our grandparent’s village,playing in the rain,eating mangoes on the porch and kicking aside studies to live a peaceful life hit you hard now as you watch them from a distance

–states Mridusmita Barman.

The vacation would remain incomplete without a trip to your grandparents’ abode in which the walls speak of love and objects resonate memories of the past. You listen to their stories; some vibrate with patriotism, some with the innocence of your parent’s childhood narrations. You move away from the hustle and bustle of the city life to embrace the quietness of the abode, romanticising the peace and trying to pack a bottle of it when you return back to the city lights that cast a fainter light than the fireflies that you chased down in your grandpa’s kitchen garden.

Amidst the warmth of the summer fairies and the evenings dyed in raspberry shades, you suddenly realise the never-ending summer vacations are about to get over. You turn your eyes towards your study table to see a pile of assignments stacked at one corner; to cry and crib about spending the holidays in a more productive manner.

Unfortunately, all of these memories now feel like an utopian dream; washed away like the dust resting on the old photograph frames by the monsoon rains of time.

 

Read Also: “Delhi Rains: Evenings of Nostalgia and Love

 Featured Image Credits: Sukriti Singh for DU Beat.

 

Himasweeta Sarma

[email protected]

 

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

[email protected]

If you are one of the DU students who often plan to go back to home because there is nothing to do during summers, then you might change your plans after reading this news.

Delhi University’s Central Placement Cell (CPC) is organizing an internship fair for students of Delhi University on 18th and 19th April, 2017. The fair which is being organised for the first time in the university will be open to all the students who are enrolled in any regular program of the university. Students of all the colleges of the university and even  masters’ students of the university are eligible for participation.  The fair will take place in the Conference Centre of the university which is located opposite to department of botany in the north campus area.

The participation in the fair would be entirely free of cost for both students and companies and would also include a free capacity enhancement session for the students by experts. “We want the students to engage to get practical work exposure during this summer. This will help them in future” says Aishwariya Jha, who is one of the student coordinators for the fair.

The students need to register for the fair through the cpc website. Moreover the option of ‘on the spot’ registrations are also available. “We advice students to register online to avoid the rush” says Aishwariya.

Students of all courses and years are eligible for internship. All they would require is to bring their resume (6 numbers) in order to participate in the fair. They can learn about how to create a perfect resume here.

Students who wish to take part can also register for the internship fair here. 

Companies who wish to be a part of the fair can mail their details to [email protected] .

 

So it’s time to reconsider your summer plans because a lot of great internships are waiting for you. Do tag your friends who ever shared their worries of searching for a summer internship with you.

 

 

Srivedant Kar

[email protected]

After weeks of pursuing various contacts, sending out polished cover letters and resumes, and juggling multiple interviews, you’ve finally found yourself the perfect summer internship. Needless to say, you’re excited about the upcoming opportunity, and can’t wait to get a glimpse of the ‘real world’. Plus, the difficult part is over, right? Surely the actual internship won’t be as difficult as getting the HR department of your dream company to open your emails, right? Well, as tough as it might be to bag an ideal internship, the main part of the experience can be slightly challenging too, especially if it’s your first internship! That’s where this guide comes in! Whether you’re taking up a marketing internship or a tech based one, these are some pointers that should help across most departments and industries!

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Follow industry related news
Chances are, you already keep an eye out for the important pieces of news around the field you’re planning to intern in. If not, take a look at some of the sites mentioned below:

Interning as an Editorial intern or at a public policy based firm? You may want to check out Kafila.
Working as a tech intern? Say hello to TechCrunch and The Next Web.
Interning at a startup? Head over to YourStory and Trak.in.
Working in the marketing department? Mashable and Mad Over Marketing  might interest you. Also, follow Seth Godin’s blog; just do it.

Reading up on industry related news will help you strike up conversations with your peers and seniors, (and participate in them, too!)  They’ll also give you a better idea of the issues relevant to the company you’re interning at. You might pick up some ideas and tips while you’re at it, too!

It is of course, imperative to follow the social media profiles of the company you’re about to join.

Make use of LinkedIn (Yes, the site you’ve been avoiding all this while)

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Now, most of us made a LinkedIn profile very enthusiastically in our first semester in college, and haven’t logged in since. It’s time to search through your inbox for your LinkedIn password, because this site can help you out immensely (if you know how to make use of it, that is!). Take a look at a few ways of using LinkedIn to prepare yourself for your internship:

  • You probably know who you’re going to be working under this summer. It’s a good idea to look him/her up on LinkedIn to make a note of their career trajectory. This will help you to gather a few conversation topics and have a few questions about their work experience and educational background in place.
  • Using the ‘People Also Viewed’ section on the right side of the profile, you could check out the profiles of other people who work at the department. You might not be working under them, but you’ll probably see them around, and hence taking a lot at their profiles isn’t a bad idea at all.
  • By searching for people who have already interned in the department or company you’re joining this summer, you could connect with a few of them and talk to them about their experience. They might have some handy ‘been there, served coffee’ (just kidding!), tips to give you. Their profiles might also give you ideas for places you could intern next year or during the winter break. Early bird and all that jazz!

 

Make sure you ask the HR these questions before hand
Before your internship actually starts, it’s important to clear out a few details with the HR department of the company. If you’re working with a small company or start up, they might not have a segregated HR department, in which case, you could talk to the person who handled your application and took your interview. Make a list of questions in advance, so you don’t have to keep sending out emails when you realise that you forgot to ask whether Saturdays are working! It’s important to know your working hours, number of working days in a week, dress code (especially important for larger companies), who you’ll be reporting to on your first day and so on. It might also be a good idea to approach the matter of an internship stipend (tactfully, of course!), just so you’re clear and aren’t left disappointed when you get to know, at the end of your internship, that a certificate and ‘experience’ is all you’ll be getting!

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Brush up on your skills

You could use the time between your last exam and the first day of your internship to brush up on a few skills that are bound to come in handy during your internship. Some common tools include Microsoft Excel (yes, you mentioned that in your resume, but do you actually know how to make Pivot Tables?), knowing your way around content creation platforms like WordPress, social media and analytics tools and so on. You’ll find tons of tutorials on Youtube for any tool or platform you may need to use during your internship, so get going!

Be prepared to learn, unlearn and make the most of the experience
This is perhaps the most important step. You might have heard tales of evil bosses and ‘useless’ internships from your seniors, while also coming across those who gushed about how amazing their internships turned out to be. At the end of the day, everyone has varying experiences, and it’s important to take the summer as it comes. You might be saddled with dull work on some days, and be given exciting brainstorming projects on other days; it’s all a part of the experience. Always keep in mind that the main thing you’ll be talking away from the internship is probably the people you’ll meet and interact with. So don’t forget to give your best smile, mingle and learn from others!

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Still looking for your dream internship? Take a look at our guide to secure internships this summer!

Image courtesy: troll.me, tumblr.com, theeye.org

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