How I interned with a start-up during my first semester break
About the Author: Shivansh Soni is a student of O.P. Jindal University, Bhopal. He shares how he secured an internship despite being a fresher with no work experience.
I was eager to gain experience in the corporate world so, after I completed my first semester, I began applying to internships at various start-ups. Throughout the interviews that I gave, I observed that the companies were looking for freshers with experience, which seemed to be an odd combination. While I was on the lookout for internships, I came to know about Internshala through my college’s placement cell and applied to a few internships available on the platform.
I got shortlisted by a couple of companies like Nocializer and Party Scenes. I received a call from an employee at Nocializer who confirmed the information that I gave while applying for this internship and set up a telephonic interview with Mr Sanju Nair, the founder of Nocializer. At the scheduled time, Mr Nair called me and asked me to give a brief self-introduction. He then explained what my tasks would be if I were hired and inquired about my social media marketing skills. I had no prior experience in it; I mentioned that I had a few friends who could help me with the tasks. He also asked me why I started applying to internships at such a young age, and we discussed the number of hours I would be able to put in.
Soon, I received an email stating that I was selected by Nocializer, which is a social networking app that helps people socialize with each other, as a sales and marketing intern. My responsibility as an intern was to obtain 300 sign-ups on their app within a month. After getting the sign-ups, I was required to send an Excel report including the email ids of the people who signed up through me for keeping a track. To ensure that they made successful sign-ups, I asked them to share a screenshot with me along with their email ids. I was able to complete my task of getting 300 sign-ups within a week. Mr Nair himself congratulated me on this and extended me the opportunity to introduce business-to-business commerce in India for Nocializer through Nocializer Biz. The idea behind Nocializer Biz was to communicate with people near the business location and convert them into customers. As a part of the Nocializer Biz team, I had to convince a few salons, cafes, convenience stores, and restaurants to advertise using our app, which would help them find new customers. I first approached a Jawed Habib salon and persuaded them for using our platform for their advertisement needs, but by their response, it was quite clear that they weren’t interested. Then, I went to Kafe Kulture, a local cafe which was a hotspot among teenagers. I explained the importance of social media marketing, and how the Nocializer app would help them get more customers for free. I successfully got their permission. I realized that I should target places which are popular among teenagers and have owners who might be open to the idea of social media marketing. By the end of the week, I was able to get 3 cafes, 2 salons, and 2 convenience stores on board. In the last week of my internship, I gave a brief presentation about Nocializer’s competitors in the market and with that, my stint at Nocializer was officially over. I was extremely happy to have done this internship because I learnt to communicate in a corporate setting, gained the confidence to put forth my views and lead presentations, and became persuasive.
Are you a fellow fresher lacking experience? Don’t let that hold you back anymore. Apply to exciting new internships here and take your first step into the professional world now!
