Letter to Amma – Introducing the superheroes of ops team
Dearest Amma,
I thought I was moving to Gurgaon from Madurai to work in a startup called Internshala that basically plans to be the Amazon of internships. The plan was to enjoy a new work culture and meet some amazing new humans. But amma, did you know that my team, the ops team, actually contains folks who make Rajinikanth films look like the Teletubbies? They’re all damn superheroes, Amma. I know you’re more sceptical than the time when Kamal Hassan formed his own political party, but allow me to explain.
To begin with, did you know that the team has singlehandedly managed a solid 6500% growth rate in just 5 years? I’m not joking only, ma! The team (which then consisted of 1 person) went from posting 3000 internships in the entire year of 2013, posted 2 lakh internships in the year 2018. Think of all the amazing opportunities that lakhs of Indian students have availed, thanks to the unrelenting efforts of these amazing folk. Do you remember that time when Sivakumar uncle’s daughter landed that internship at Disney? That was all because of the six superstars who worked the ops team every single day to bring these opportunities to Indian students who would otherwise have not had a platform to find internships.
It’s not just the surreal growth rate that is admirable, of course. Every single day I see these people handle calls from all kinds of employers, whether they be sweet, demanding or just plain difficult. We even had a call one day from a guy who thought we were the Paytm customer care, amma! And of course, who could forget the time someone asked an intern out on a date? It takes a bunch of superheroes to deal with these calls day in and day out, Amma, and to work so much to make sure employers have a pleasant experience on the website.
Internshala has also taught me that rejections are a good thing. You see, we have to reject a bunch of internships every day, maybe because they don’t offer a stipend or because they don’t meet our Terms and Conditions, to name a few. This ensures that every single internship on our website is posted keeping in mind the students and their welfare on our platform.
Overall, amma, Internshala has shown me what relentless dedication towards excellence looks like and the importance of prioritising our users above all else. It’s been just a month since I’ve landed up here, and I cannot wait to see what else is in store.
My love to Appa and Anna, and I hope you all make a trip up here soon. I promise you, paneer isn’t as flavourless as you think it is.
Warmly,
Harshita
