How I finally found the perfect internship
About the Author: Dinesh Jadhav is pursuing MBA in HR from D.Y.Patil University, Mumbai. He talks about his struggle of finding a meaningful internship and how he finally found the perfect internship through Internshala.
I used to search for internships online and that’s when I first came across the Internshala platform. At the time, I thought it was named like that as a marketing gimmick to get more traffic. I didn’t think it really worked. However, in our college’s IT lab, I saw some of my classmates using Internshala website. Intrigued, I asked my faculty about ways to find internships and even he suggested me to check out Internshala. That’s when I realised that it was a legitimate website which actually helped students. I decided to create an account myself but then forgot about it.
I was a member of college’s Placement Cell, so I had contacts of various companies with me. I tried calling, emailing, and messaging all of them. I either didn’t get a response or there wasn’t any internship available with them. Hardly 10% of the companies said they were looking for an intern, but the work expected was more of clerical/receptionist profile rather than an HR. I accepted one offer as a backup plan and kept looking for more. I was more interested in the core HR functions, so I was not happy. I asked my family members, relatives, classmates, old work colleagues, and even our faculties but most of them didn’t have any information and some took my resume just for the sake of it. I was worried and frustrated at the same time to see how difficult it was to get even one internship. I was even ready to do an unpaid internship – I had become that desperate.
Finally, I remembered about Internshala and thought of giving it a try. I registered on 15th April 2016 and found that there were some core HR internships available. I was happy and applied to 8 internships till 25th April 2016. There were no other internships of my interest left; I kept studying and checking my email. On 1st May 2016, I was shortlisted by FlexiLoans, a startup working in Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). I got a call from the company’s co-founder, and I was hired after a brief interview. They had seen my profile and were sure that I was the right candidate for the role. I was ecstatic that I had finally got a core HR internship.
I was the first and the only HR person in that company. So, technically, I was the entire Human Resources department. I handled end-to-end processes of HR department like – finding required positions, creating JDs and posting them online, signing up with job portals, shortlisting resumes, preparing and sending offer letters, joining formalities, entries in the HR system, creating company & leave policies, allocating leaves, creating employee database, salary calculations, creating salary slip format, tax breakup, setting up & running reimbursements and incentives, and creating appreciation certificates/ letter of Internship/ termination letter. I even created the company newsletter and formed tie-ups with colleges.
After my internship got over, the company wanted me to continue working which I gladly accepted. Now, I work for them after my college hours, and I’m also the editor of the company’s corporate newsletter. Sometimes, I speak with Shobha Saini from Internshala for help regarding internship postings. From finding an internship through Internshala to using the same portal to hire interns for my company, I’ve come a long way.
Thank you, Internshala, for providing me an opportunity to build a career of my choice. I strongly recommend every internship aspirant to try Internshala. I’ve also created a YouTube channel to help future interns/ MBA aspirants prepare for internships and have posted videos explaining how to use Internshala platform effectively like:
How to Use Internshala App
For students: How to use Internshala
For employers: How to make the best use of Internshala platform
Editor’s note: If you are also planning to build a career in the corporate world, check out these cool MBA internships and HR internships.
