Hack The Exhausting Internship Process

Aug 15, 2024

Aakash Dave

As you get back to school, one thing that will be on top of your mind will be finding internships. May it be for fall, Spring or summer, everyone is on the lookout for the perfect opportunity. Although you might have plethora of options to go to, Let’s get you the blue print for the same.

Without any further ado, lets get to nailing it down. First and foremost lets list down what may not workout for us:

✍️ Binge-applying on Job portals

🙋🏻‍♂️ Randomly reaching out to alumni

😓 Constantly stressing on getting internships even before you are ready

All the above mentioned is almost done by everyone, making the probability of your resume standing out go down. Because let’s face it receiving a 1000 applications for a single job post wouldn’t help you shine out. Similarly, reaching out alumnus like many others would add much luck neither would just hitting apply even before you are ready. And by ready, I mean able to contribute meaning fully.

Having to know what not to do, let’s get to work on what to focus on! We split this into four steps:

✅ Identifying the career choice

🧑‍💻 Finding a right company

👋 Getting in touch with management

⚡️ Sending in the request.

Mind it, none of these steps have any jobs portal application. We call this “Hacking the internships” its based of our most loved book among university students.

Identifying the career choice

Know this is crucial even before you consider interning anywhere. Unless you are sure of your craft or what you want to be doing, it just going to be an endless chase into the abis of interning land which mostly will lead to a bad experience overall. How do you find this for yourself is the question. If you already have the answer, just hop on to the next point. If not, here’s the idea: list down what interest you the most and explore options and the impact you can create via that domain.

Finding the right company

Once you are sure about which direction to move on, then you can confidently start shortlisting companies that work with your thesis. Its not just about picking your dream company but more about how you can help that company meaning fully. For example pick a company who’s product or service you actually use and would be open on contributing to its development, making it better or just learning from the overall development cycle. Whatever you do, have a prominent rational behind it.

Finding people in-charge

With choice of companies ready, let’s look at where to find these people?

Well, a simple web or google search should work. Let’s say your focus was community experience on Tiktok, you can literally just google “linkedin people community at Tiktok”. If you are interested in contributing building Apple’s AppStore, look for “linkedin people Appstore” or whatever floats your boat. The game is to find the most available and reachable person who you think will care for you. Prep a list of these leads and get ready to draft your email.

Writing to the management

Are you still Holding that thought from Step-2? This is going to be your ice breaker when you directly pitch yourself for an internship. Not only this will outshine you, but demonstrate your critical thinking towards their company or products, which is what will get you a referral and network. Additionally, do your homework, research them, having a common point to open the conversation. This shows efforts and builds credibility.

Lastly, being concise with your offer and ask is the game! These are busy people, so the quicker your email, the better you chances of receiving a response and not getting your mail down their “read later” list.

BTW, this is us, doing all that LIVE and in-action for the members of the community and their peers.

📢