Content Writing Internship with Skylerk – An Engineer Turned Writer’s Story
About the Author: Arpan Sarma from SJC Institute of Technology, Chikballapur, tells the story of how, despite being an engineering student, he followed his passion and did a content writing internship.
Everyone has a story to tell and here’s mine. I have a passion for writing but being an engineering student, doing a content writing internship especially in the 2nd year of engineering was considered taboo by the most. Why was I applying for content writing internships and not technical internships concerning my branch and the domain was the common question I faced from everyone, including my family. The greatest blow to my motivation came from my father, who blatantly asked me why I was wasting time on useless writing when there were better things to do with my life. The journey has never been easy, and keeping in mind Einstein’s words, “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”, I started my content writing internship with Skylerk Content World on 19th July 2016.
How it all happened?
I distinctly remember that 18th of July morning. Casually browsing the internet like any other day, I was trying to find some useful way of spending my semester break. I had applied for a number of internships through Internshala, but at most of them, the maximum I got was shortlisted and a call or two for sample write-ups. I had replied to them with my sample write-ups, but as most of us know it, the selection process is rigorous. Losing all the hope, and at the brink of losing the motivation, I kept going and applied at Skylerk Content World as a Content Writer. Lo and behold! My inbox echoed with a reply from them instantaneously. They too, like other companies, asked for a sample write up, but fortunately did not keep me waiting for long. I got selected and was asked about my time preference as well as word limit since it was a ‘Work from Home’ a.k.a. virtual internship. I let them know of my timings and set the word count to 1000 words per day. From the next day onwards, the work started flooding my inbox.
My work with Skylerk Content World started from the 19th of July. As per the contract, I was required to work with them for at least 2 months. Initially, I had a few problems but the team at Skylerk ensured that my doubts were cleared and taken into consideration. I was assigned a topic every day on which I was to write a minimum of 1000 words. And it had to be strictly non-plagiarized work, which means that no part of it should be copied from any media, print or digital.
The best thing about the internship was new, fresh and different topics each time. Starting from Smart Drugs to Pokemon Go, and from real estate articles to movie reviews, I have penned it all during the course of my internship. The thorough research required for each topic, proofreading what I wrote, editing it to fit the client’s prerequisites, shaped and enhanced my writing and management skills. This also increased my knowledge of a lot of working fields, both conventional and non-conventional. For example, I was assigned the trending topic of Pokemon Go. Pokemon Go was in the news for quite some time, and though there were instances when I had the opportunity to read the story behind it in detail, I did not. Surprisingly enough, the interview of the maker of Pokemon Go kept popping up in my Facebook news feed, but I didn’t read it at first. Nevertheless, as I was required to write an article on the same topic, I had to do an in-depth research about the most happening game all around. I actually found out interesting things about the company and an inspiring example of hard work that paid off. I got to know that before Pokemon Go, Niantic – the company behind Pokemon Go – had a previous geolocation based game as well, named Ingress. The concept of Pokemon Go was borrowed from Ingress, and modified by the team in a super effective and creative way which eliminated all the shortcomings of Ingress. Behind the overnight success of the game was 20 years of determination, hard work, and failures. All this information broadened my knowledge and helped me understand the real story behind the glory.
Another instance which broadened my thinking a lot was the article I wrote about Digital India. Everyone knows what Digital India is, but very few know the details. For example, how many of us know that Digital India has 9 pillars and that among those nine pillars, there is one pillar named e-Kranti which aims to redefine existing system of e-Governance? How many of us know that Bharat Broadband Network Limited has been assigned the task of connecting 2,50,000 villages through high-speed internet by the end of 2017? The list goes on.
This internship helped me come out of the little world we college students confine ourselves to and look beyond, into the coming future and the real world. To conclude, the two and half month long internship has taught me a lot which I will carry throughout my life. It has taught me about the power of words, has improved my skills, and prepared me for the future. It has helped me to know and deal with the difficulties of the workforce and enhanced my public relation and communication skills. And most importantly, it has given me exposure to the corporate world along with teaching me how to survive in it. As Benjamin Franklin once correctly said, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” True to these beautiful words, this internship has taught me a lot which I will cherish forever.
Editor’s Note – Want to follow your heart and become a writer yourself? Check out these cool content writing internships.
