Take small steps to achieve big dreams
“I applied for an internship at 10s of places and I still don’t have any internship under my belt. I think I am just not meant to do internship :(“
If these kinds of thoughts are entering your mind too, then it’s time for us to learn a lesson.
First, look at the list of places where you have already applied, but failed to land an internship. Does it include internships at big shot companies/organisations such as IITs, IIMs, International, or some really big corporate? Now, analyse your resume– closely. Does it have any major attraction in it: a good, relevant training certification; prior real work experience; or an award winning project?
If your answer to the first question is yes and to the second question is no, then imagine yourself to be the one who wants to cross a really wide river in one big jump. Yes, this is what you are trying to do. When you see an awesome internship posting, or read some great internship experiences, you fantasise, “Yes! this is the internship I want to do.”
Well, to cross a really wide river, either you should have ability to fly, or need to make a bridge across it. Similarly, you need to take some small steps: learn relevant skills, do some small internships to gain work experience – you need to learn and gain experience through lesser known but great internships at small organizations. Build relationships with people in corporate world, gain their trust and recommendation, and learn some new skills. An internship at a small organization does not require any other prior work experience, as long as you’re determined to learn and work hard. Pursuing such internships will give you a boost of confidence, help you recognize your skills, and you will learn and grow a lot. You will make lots of useful contacts– and you would have crossed half of the river; for the other half, you just need to rightly use and present your learnings from the first half, and the success will be yours.
Remember, a dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work. Go enroll in a training course, undergo some underrated internships, and then present your skills, in a style– and the world will be yours.
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