A life changing experience – Content writing internship at The Hindu
About the Author: Anugraha. S (in the middle), from St. Joseph’s College of Engineering, takes us through her exciting internship experience at The Hindu.
Although I was pursuing a degree in engineering, my heart was always in writing. So, I decided to do my post graduation in MA Publishing from London and started working towards that right from my first year of college. After many virtual content writing internships, in my final year, I landed my first substantial writing internship at ‘The Hindu’.
One of my friends had started an internship at The Hindu. When I saw his Facebook post, I messaged him to inquire about the selection procedure. He told me to mail my CV to the authorized person and I did that right away. I hoped that all my virtual content writing internships and blogging would help me get the internship. One afternoon, I got a call from The Hindu office confirming my selection for an internship, which would start the following month. I was elated but also worried if I could fit in a month of the internship with my strict college schedule. Finally, I decided to go ahead and nervously landed at the office with my laptop and the official offer.
After talking to the editor, I opted to work with the Metroplus division. Luckily, I made friends with another girl who had been interning there for 2 weeks, who showed me the ropes. It was a pretty straightforward and free workplace. I had to pitch story ideas to my editor and if she approved, I could go ahead with it. For the same, I had to single-handedly organize the photo shoots and interviews. We were also given assignments as and when the editors saw fit, to cover events happening in the city like concerts, book launches etc.
The timings were so relaxed that I only went to the office when I needed to get a story approved or had to arrange for a photo shoot. A typical work day included walking in at 10:00 am and getting my pass for the day (that I was so proud to wear and took a lot of selfies with). I would go to the Metroplus office and sit with my laptop to work on my story, research for new story ideas, schedule interviews, and wait to be assigned a story. Most of the interviews and events were scheduled for the evening, so I used to have lunch in the mess with the other interns and then resumed my work. After an evening coffee break and checking in with the editor, I’d leave for my interview location or home to finish the stories. In just the first week of my internship, I had the joy of seeing my name printed as the by-line of an article.
After that, there was no holding back. I fervently researched story ideas, interviewed people , and went around the city to cover events. The staff writers were always ready to help, and I had at least one of my articles published every week. I felt like a real journalist. The one-month internship taught me more than what I had learned in four years of college. I learned how to effectively communicate, apart from developing my investigative writing and research skills. I also got used to a typical work environment that I absolutely loved. By the end of the month, I had close to 10 articles published in the newspaper, with some of them appearing on the front page!
I’m now sure that this is what I want to do; I’ve chosen writing as my career. Thanks to the skills learned at this internship, I managed to get a job as the content writer for a multinational company which came to my college for campus recruitment. Now, I plan on taking up the job and improving my writing skills for a few years. I’m sure the experience will help me get my dream university for my post graduation. This internship at The Hindu has certainly been life changing for me.
Editor’s Note – Take the first step towards your dream career; apply for similar content writing internships.
