Since I stay in Bangalore, I’ll be telling you what the culture here is for doing an internship. How to find them, where to find and the Procedure. It should be more or less the same for any other city as well.
So, it was in the 2nd year of my Master’s (3rd sem) that required an internship to be done as a mandatory part of the course. So in the holidays of my 2nd sem, I started searching and gathering information about it. I made a list of Companies & consultancies that offer Internships to Structural Engineering students. And short-listed the best names to work in based on my knowledge of a few good names in the field. I went in person to those companies with my resume and was possibly ready for an interview (if taken).
So I went in person to enquire about internships at companies (without any prior Appointment). A few of the companies didn’t entertain it as they don’t allow direct meetings without a scheduled appointment. But few companies did. So the Companies/Consultancies that allowed me to speak to HR or senior employees of the companies for an internship. A few of them asked for my resume and told me that they will let me know about it a few days later, while a few said we don’t offer internships to students as such. So this was my first lesson in my internship search. That is to “first get to know the companies or consultancies that offer internships to students”. As only a few companies had an internship providing culture and not all.
The Second finding during this Internship search was that Pre-booking happens for even Internships here in Bangalore. What it means is aspiring students who want to do their internships in reputed companies approach and book their seats 1-2 months prior to the actual start of the Internship. I was shocked to know this (back then in 2017) as in few of the companies said to me that they offer internships, but the seats or positions got filled already. The culture here in Bangalore (and mostly in other cities as well) is that a limited number of seats/positions are allowed for doing Internships in a particular company. This varies from company to company. Some allow 10-15 students, some even fewer. So if you want to among those limited aspirants, you need to do homework way prior to the actual start of internships (1 month preferably) and start approaching the companies beforehand.
Now, also an important question I get asked very often is: “How to get to know which companies allow for internships in their firm?”
Here’s how I found out. I used to be in constant touch with my seniors in college. I asked them where they did their internships and also about their friends. This is one simple & instant way of knowing it. Also, you may get information about this if you Google firms that offer internships in your city. The third way is LinkedIn. Just observe a few headlines or profiles of people who are doing their internships. From there, you can pick the company names where they are interning.
So here’s an abstract from above:
1. Firstly, it is important to know the firms that allow for internships.
2. Do your homework. Approach companies way before the actual start of your internships(Pre-book).
3. Go with a resume when you go to the firms.
4. It’s better if you go a bit prepared for the interview (If scheduled).
