Internshala

Economic Times ran a story about internship portals in the Power of Ideas section on 24th May, 2013. This is an excerpt from the article:

“29-year-old Sarvesh Agrawal set up Internshala.com in 2010, when a close friend studying in the London Business School, was unable to find an internship opening in India. The IIT Madras graduate says his portal now aggregates global internships from a number of universities including Harvard, Carnegie Mellon and Arizona State University in the US.”

Read the article here.

Quotes from Internshala’s founder, Sarvesh Agrawal, and CampusIntern Hanshika Gupta, were featured in Careers360 magazine’s April 2013 edition. Sarvesh spoke about how companies are realizing the value of internships and Hanshika shared how she manages studies and work during a remote internship. Read more…

The Hindu recently featured Internshala’s popular contest, My 1st Stipend contest, in an article about the youth’s increasing purchasing power and financial empowerment. The article consider’s the role of paid internships and sees My 1st Stipend as a case in point. Read the article here.

LiveONBlogs, a chronicle of start-ups, entrepreneurs and photography, recently interviewed Sarvesh Agrawal, Internshala’s founder. Read as Sarvesh talks about Internshala’s journey, why it is unique and advice to young entrepreneurs in the interview.

Internshala is happy to announce the results of Internshala Career Scholarship for Girls 2013.  Congratulations Swati Shanker!

Swati is a very talented 3rd year student of National Law Institute University, Bhopal. Her long list of achievements impressed us, as did her will to struggle despite all odds. Swati chose to buy a laptop with the scholarship award, and can now research and work freely on projects and internships. She hopes to one day provide free legal aid to those who cannot afford legal services.

Internshala Career Scholarship for Girls was instituted on 29th December 2012 due to the sad coincidence of the Delhi rape victim’s passing away on the same day as that of Internshala’s second anniversary. We have aimed to advance one girl’s career every year through  an award of Rs. 25,000.

The response was overwhelming, but we had but one scholarship to award. The selection criteria were four-fold:

1. An element of fighting against odds
2. An element of achievement
3. An element of purpose
4. An element of need

Applications for Internshala Career Scholarship for Girls 2014 open on 29th December 2013. See the original post for eligibility and other details.

Internshala founder, Sarvesh Agrawal, delivered a talk on 2nd February 2013 to students of IIT Roorkee on The Power of Internships & How to Get One as part of a pre-Cognizance 2013 workshop.

The full content of his presentation can be viewed below.

The Internshala Career Scholarship for Girls is an annual award of INR 25,000/- meant to help advance one girl’s career in her chosen field. Instituted in 2013, the inspiration for this scholarship lies in the sad coincidence that the Delhi rape victim’s struggle for life ended on the same day that Internshala celebrates its anniversary (29th December). The scholarship is meant to recognize a girl who has fought against odds to pursue a career of her dreams in any field (Academics, Sports, Arts etc.).

Applications for the Internshala Career Scholarship for girls have now closed. Thank you for the overwhelming response.

Internshala Career Scholarship for Girls 2013 FAQ

Who is eligible for the scholarship?

Any girl (an Indian national) between the ages of 17 to 23 years (as of 31st December 2012) with a career objective is eligible to apply.

What is the scholarship amount?

The scholarship is a one time reward of INR 25,000/-

What is the purpose of this scholarship?

The scholarship is meant to advance the girl’s career in some way – be it through travel assistance for a foreign internship or competition, payment towards a specialized training program, a major project, special equipment etc.

What are the selection criteria?

Your application will be evaluated on the following criteria:

1. An element of fighting against odds – these can be financial, societal, physical handicap or anything that might have put obstacles in your path.
2. An element of achievement – you must have done remarkably well in your chosen field, be it academics, sports, music or arts.
3. An element of purpose – the purpose for which you will use the scholarship amount.
4. An element of need – everything else being the same, the scholarship would be awarded to someone who is in greater financial need (family income, absence of any other scholarships etc.)

How and when will the amount be paid?

Wherever possible, the amount will be paid directly towards the cause at the time of the need.

What is the application process?

The application process would be a 2 step process. In the first step, you need to submit an application (form below) basis which a short list for an interview (in person or telephonic) would be announced. After the interviews, the final winner would be selected and announced.

What is the application deadline?

Please submit your application on or before 5th February 2013.

When will the results be announced?

The short list for interviews would be announced on 17th February 2013. After the interview, we hope to announce the final result by 17th March 2013.

How many candidates would be shortlisted for interview?

There is no lower or upper limit for the shortlist. We would shortlist as many deserving candidates as possible.

How would you verify the information provided by an applicant?

At the time of interview, all the selected candidates would be required to furnish all necessary documents and proofs.

I have a question that is not answered here.

Please write to jai@internshala.com and you would hear from us shortly.

Internshala reserves the right to entries and to the final decision on the applications, evaluation and selection process for this scholarship.

PS – I had written the post below before the sad news of passing away of Delhi rape victim came in and as a resident of Delhi-NCR myself I feel both ashamed and scared and its difficult to be in a celebration mood. To the victim and her family – We are sorry! As a mark of respect, the celebration image associated with the post has now been removed.

Today, Internshala turns 2. For those interested in trivia, 2 years ago on 29th December 2010, we registered the domain www.internshala.com and the landing page went up. This is how it looked on the day of launch.

Since then, it has been a dream run. One just has to read the student and employer testimonials sprinkled around the website to get a sense of impact Internshala has made and the lives we have touched.

Read more…

19th August 2012 – Abhishek Syal, the founder of ARISE (Act to Rise for Innovation in Special Education) was recently interviewed by The Hindu as to why he developed a software for visually challenged students to explore maps and diagrams. While discussing about his noble venture and the motivation behind it, Abhishek mentioned how tie-ups with NGO’s and web-based start-ups like Internshala have helped him create awareness and spread the benefit to more students. The entire article can be read here.

17th July 2012 – Deccan Herald ran an article on internships portals and how they have changed the scene completely by ensuring a level playing ground for all regardless of the college or city they hail from. It also talks about how internship portals offer you an added advantage by offering a chance to convince the companies of your capabilities beyond what the CV shows. The article, which covers Internshala as an example of one such portal, can be read here.

Yes, Internshala is hiring!

While we can not promise that it will be an easy thing to get selected or to work for Internshala, what we do promise is that it will be more rewarding, more fulfilling, and more satisfying than anything that you have ever done. If in doubt, read some of the articles in this team diary section to  know what we mean.

About Internshala

Founded by IIT alumni, Internshala aspires to become one stop destination for internships in India. Born in January 2011, in last 1 year Internshala has won many hearts (see testimonials from students & employers), built a brand for itself (15K students follow Internshala on facebook), and is known for a string of innovations that are changing the internship landscape (see Internconnect to get wowed!) in India.

More than the tremendous business potential, what gives Internshala team a kick is the enormity of the challenge ahead of us – to bring a culture of meaningful internships in India and make the world a little better place for the millions of students who helplessly struggle to get an internship today.

Join us now – life will NEVER be same again!

What you would be working on

1. Build a world class technology platform that would drive the innovation in the world of internships and lead the cultural change regarding internships in India (if this sounds a mere lofty statement to you, we should definitely talk once)
2. Build and lead a team of fellow engineers

Read more…

Many of you would have come to new cities for your internships; cities that you would call home for next 2-3 months. While you learn, earn, and make new friends in a new place, would it not be great if your internship could be much more!

What if on one of the weekends during your internship, instead of facebooking or sleeping all day long, you could meet up some of the industry leaders and professionals whom you have admired on TV, or in newspapers and get answers to some or all of the career related questions that you may have had for long? What if on one weekend instead of hanging out with your regular friends, you could make new friends; not just any new friends but 250 brightest students in India who would be leaders of tomorrow.

Curious to know what we are talking about? Do you have it in you to be a leader of tomorrow which India can look up to?

Internshala presents InternSaturday (www.internshala.com/internsaturday) – a first of its kind event in India, modeled on the lines of world famous Stanford summit or St. Gallen’s symposium.

What is the event all about: – A platform for interns in a city from all over India to get together for a day to interact and network with each other and corporates. The day would include events such as Keynote, theme based panel discussions, mentoring sessions, soft skills workshops, case study, a brand quiz and so on.

Who can attend: – ~250 pre-final year (graduating in 2013) students, from a pool of ~50,000 students who are either interning or have just finished their internship in Delhi-NCR at the time of the event, from all over India will be selected to particpate in the event. The marketing efforts would reach out to ~3lac students all over India.

When would it be: – Last Saturday of June 2012 (30th June 2012)

Where: – Delhi-NCR (the exact venue would be updated soon)

Why should one attend: – Build network with industry leaders & fellow interns and get career advice at a critical juncture of your career. Add a new dimension to your internship experience.

How to participate: – Log on to www.internshala.com/internsaturday and let the magic unfold :)

6th May 2012 – Hindustan Times published  articles on how websites like Internshala, which facilitate intern-employer relationship have brought about sweeping changes in the internship scenario and made it more democratic and accessible. They also talk about how having an organized platform has benefited both the sides of the table with companies getting competent  interns and students, better payscales and a range of options to choose from. The complete articles can be read at the links below -

1. Websites for interns find many takers
2. Range of jobs, dedicated platform useful: Students

Dear readers,

I am happy to present to you the first ever Internshala weekly newsletter. With this we  have not only fulfilled a year long dream but have also kept the promise that we made to our users couple of weeks ago when we disabled the email alerts on the portal (read complete announcement here). With launch of the newsletter we usher into a new world which is different from earlier system in 3 distinct ways: -

1.  The email would now reach you on time so that you can act upon the information when there is still time.

2. Newsletter would enable us to send fewer emails  than earlier for same amount of information which means lesser emails in your inbox. Yes, we are cutting down on the number of emails that we want to bombard our users’ inbox with :)

3.  A better and less intrusive unsubscribe feature – so that  you do not continue to receive communications from us even when you no longer read it or need it.

In terms of content and design we would evolve over the weeks but we promise to  stick to our core philosophy of delivering exceptional products and services. Do tell us how do you like the newsletter or what we could do better by writing to us at editor@internshala.com

Wish you all the best for ongoing/upcoming/recently concluded exams and hope you have a great summer ahead!

Yours sincerely,

The Editor, Internshala

Logo image credit: – http://www.cjnews.com/images/stories/columnists/editors_desk.jpg

10th April, 2012- The Rediff.com recently published an article from Internshala that mentioned 11 tips that every student should follow  to land an internship of their dreams. If you are looking for ways to find a meaningful internship that will shape your career and give you an edge over your competitors, your search ends here. Read the complete article here.

Image Credit:-http://im.rediff.com/getahead/2008/jul/18slide4.jpg

What are we doing? – We are temporarily disabling email alerts for new posts feature for couple of weeks as we undergo a technical enhancement to come up with a better solution.

Why are we doing it? – Over time as number of subscribers have grown (yes, we are a BIG community now), the email alerts have become painfully slow where in some emails now reach the reader post deadline! This is because of a restriction placed on us by our web host service provider in terms of maximum number of users that we can send the alert to in a day. Since number of readers are far more than this limit, the emails get queued up and get delivered over a span of few days, resulting in poor reader experience.

Read more…

Dear Employer,

Recruitment of an intern is as serious a process as that of hiring a full time employee. While Internshala may not be able to eliminate the pain completely, we would try our best to make the experience as hassle free as possible for you. This guide is an attempt in the same direction, a collection of a few pointers accumulated over our experience of helping hundreds of other organizations with their intern needs in past 1 year.

Read more…

Got a question? The answer may be right below!

What is Internconnect?

Internconnect is a platform for you to connect with fellow students who are heading to the same city or even same company as you for an internship or first job. Connecting with them will help you solve any problem (most notable being finding an accommodation) that you may face in the new city and build a network of new friends who are in same life stage as you.

Is it useful for me?

Internconnect is useful for you if you are: -

1. Already have an internship  want to connect with fellow interns in the same city or same organization upfront before start of the internship
2. Going to a  new city for your first job and want to connect with other fresh graduates in the same city or same organization upfront
3. Looking for an internship and want to leverage your network (social network + same college students) to reach out to companies/organization

How does it work?

Fairly simple! You log into Internconect with your facebook account and provide information on your internship (status, location, organization etc.). Internconnect will start displaying information of other people who are heading for a job/internship in the same city along with if you have any common friends on facebook. You can always refine/expand the search criteria basis city, organization name, gender, college etc.

Once I find fellow interns/fresh graduates that are relevant for me what do I do?

You can contact them on facebook (the id is provided in search results, drop a message) and start talking if the person responds. Plus, Internconnect also tells you how many friends you have in common with the person, making it easier for you to trust and connect with other person.

Do I control who can view my information and can contact me?

Oh yes, absolutely! You have complete control over who can search you and who can not. You can specify if you would like only those people with same gender, from same college, or atleast with one common friend to be able to search you. You can also specify if you do not want to appear in any search results. However if you make yourself invisible from appearing in anyone’s search results, you also would not be able to search anyone. The whole app is built on the concept of “Share with whom you trust” :)

If your questions has been answered, head over to Internconnect and check it out yourself!

I am “Looking for an internship”, how can Internconnect help me?

Once you register, Internconnect will start displaying information of people in your network (college or on facebook) who already have an internship or heading for a job. It would also show you which city, which company and what profile they have got the internship/job  in. Depending on your interest area and how closely you know the person appearing in search results, you can reach out to them on facebook and ask for guidance/contact and make your internship hunt more streamlined.

But the search results are empty, what do I do now?

You do not need to do anything but wait for few days. As more and more users sign up for Internconnect, the network will start becoming stronger and the search result tables would start getting populated and you would be able to find people who are relevant to your hunt. You can also help by sharing this with your friend and encouraging them to join.

What are the privacy concerns I should be aware of?

Internconnect provides you with sufficient controls and layer of protection in terms of who can find you and contact you. The controls provided by Internconnect plus the privacy control settings that you may have enabled on your facebook account should hold you in good deed regarding your safety and well being. However, its an online world, and hence exercise caution while responding to friend requests or messages from people that you do not know well. If you come across any suspicious behavior, do let us know at internconnect@internshala.com

I have found and connected with relevant fellow interns and I no longer wish to be contacted by others, what should I do?

Please change your search preferences (“Who can find me”) to “No one” and you would stop appearing in search results of other users. Its THAT simple :)

Sounds awesome! How much do I have to pay to use this service?

Internconnect is and will ALWAYS be free :). It is built on the simple idea that students as a community would want to help each other out and is driven by Internshala’s vision of bringing a culture of meaningful internships in India. At Internshala, we’d continue to innovate and delight you to remove every pain point that  you may face in your quest for a meaningful internship experience.  Stay tuned!

You guys are awesome, how can I help you?

If you like Internconnect, please do share it with your friends by inviting them to join (the option is given in the same menu where you can edit your profile, search preference, logout etc.). Internconnect is built on the power of community and we need as many students to use it as possible to make it work. Help us to help you :)

If all your questions are answered, head over to Internconnect and check it yourself!

If your question is not answered above, please write to us at internconnect@internshala.com and we’d get back to you in 48 hours.

The first stipend for a student is like a dream come true. It signals the transition from the ‘learner’ phase to the ‘earner’ phase. Its recognition of you finally having arrived on the world stage. Its a milestone that you would always cherish.  Truth be told, a matter of great personal pride, a first stipend, however small, is special in so many ways.

You may have already earned and spent your first stipend, or may be going to earn one this summer. Or in distant future but may already have grand plans on how you would spend it. Internshala invites you to share those experiences and dreams with rest of the student community.

If your experience/plan/dream is interesting enough and well narrated, it would be selected for publication on Internshala. And as a token of appreciation, you would receive mobile recharge worth Rs. 100/ – . What more, if your entry is liked by the readers of Internshala, you would also win a cool limited edition Internshala t-shirt :)

So go ahead and tell us, what did/will you do with your first stipend? Please use the form below (or click here) for your submissions.

And in case you are looking for inspirations/ideas on what to write, check out this cool post on what Internshala interns did with their first stipend or what other students who have won this contest earlier have to say here

Read more…

7th March 2012 – Sarvesh was recently interviewed by N2MN change maker Brototi Roy regarding the motivation behind Internshala and journey so far. The full interview can be accessed here