How 5 internships helped me build an attractive resume
About the Author: Sourav Panda is a 3rd-year Biotechnology student of Haldia Institute Of Technology, West Bengal. He shares how he completed five work-from-home internships within a year to rebuild his resume.
In my 2nd year of college, I lost all my academic and extra-curricular certificates along with my mobile phone and laptop in a theft at my hostel. It was a devastating incident that left my resume completely empty since I was only able to retrieve my mark sheets and transcripts, not my extra-curricular certificates. All my achievements and awards became non-existent, but I was not ready to give up! I decided to restore my resume by gaining more extra-curricular experience. In my search, I learned about Internshala from an interview of a GATE topper on Quora in which he mentioned how one could get internship opportunities. After reading the interview, I immediately registered myself on the platform and filled the resume details. I was amazed that they had internships even for first-year students.
Since my college was in a remote area, I started applying for work-from-home internships. I finally got selected for a data science internship at CSIR-CDRI, a prominent central government research institute. Initially, I took a selection test conducted by Dr. Sukant Khurana wherein I was tasked with finding information sources for data mining research grants. Once I passed the test, he conducted a telephonic interview where he asked me why I wanted to do a data science internship and what my future plans were. Soon after, I got the mail that I was selected. It was the best feeling ever! During my internship, I worked in data collection, pre-processing of data, and deep searching. I remember Dr. Sukant Khurana once called me and asked if I wanted to lead the data pre-processing work for a month. I agreed to lead the work and made a lot of contacts from diverse places and disciplines.
Even though I then had my first letter of recommendation, my resume still didn’t look very attractive, so I applied for more internships. I had always wanted to work with a biotechnology company, and I finally got that opportunity when I was selected for a content writing internship at VAV Lifesciences, a biopharmaceutical company. Their selection process involved a telephonic interview with the brand executive wherein he asked me about my writing experience to which I replied that I wrote on Quora and was an avid reader. During this stint, I got to learn about digital marketing, writing and managing a blog, and product promotion. I realised that my writing skills were not just restricted to academics and more importantly, I enjoyed the work. When my three-month internship ended, I was offered an extension with an increase in my initial stipend, which I gladly accepted.
Not completely satisfied with my resume, I kept applying for more internships. This time, I got selected for a content typing and content review internship at a startup called Exambazaar. Their selection procedure consisted of a typing test followed by a telephonic interview with the founder. There, I learned how online educational platforms are set up and how brand promotion and sales were carried out for a product on an online platform. Since this was a virtual internship, it gave me a lot of freedom to schedule my own work throughout the week. The work culture of the company fascinated me; I admired everyone’s dedication towards their work and enjoyed talking to the team. The founder always asked the interns for feedback and suggestions for improving the work process.
By then, I had realised that my skills and interests lay in content writing and content development. This became evident when I was selected for internships at two online educational companies. One of the companies was New Rubric Solutions, specifically their SetMyTest platform, which hired me after an assignment and a Skype interview. There, I developed questions related to various concepts of biology and after the four-month internship, I also received an extension to keep working with them. The second company was Gradestack Private Limited (GradeUp) where I worked as a content developer and provided solutions for biology questions. These two internships helped me revise the concepts of biology which would be useful in the preparation for my master’s entrance exams.
Through Internshala, I secured five internships in just a year, something I never would have thought possible for me! These internships improved my communication skills and helped me understand the value of time management and teamwork. I made connections with a lot of people from various places and academics backgrounds. Internshala helped me in realising the skills I never thought I had and in building such a long resume that now I have to minimize my list of achievements! I received multiple letters of recommendation, certificates, and contacts of a lifetime. I even got a part-time job at a USA based educational company as a subject matter expert in biology. I also bought myself a new mobile and laptop from the stipends I received from all my internships.
Throughout this time, I was motivated in part by this quote from Sylvester Stallone in Rocky – “Nobody is gonna hit as hard as life, but it ain’t how hard you can hit. It’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. It’s how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”
Did Sourav’s determination motivate you to get an internship? Apply now to these work-from-home internships so you can win at life without getting off your sofa!
