Have a clear understanding of your requirements, and convey the same to students – Flick2Know

“We would hire a less skilled student with better learning capability rather than someone who is very skilled but inflexible towards learning new stuff.”, says Apurv, Co-founder at Flick2Know, while talking about attributes he looks for in a prospective intern.  Many students do not take their internships seriously; and because of their careless attitude, company/organization has to suffer losses- waste of time and resources. In his discussion with Internshala, Apurv shares his views on how can such situations be prevented. Below are excerpts of our talk with him:

1. What is your philosophy of having an internship programme at Flick2Know?

Ans: After running a startup for more than three years, I believe that interns are very important for start-ups. They carry great enthusiasm and least expectations, which is the core of start-up culture. Having interns in team offers great flexibility and provides capability to execute things faster. It also helps us in experimenting things without compromising with our regular schedule.

2.Have you ever done any important project in which interns played a critical role? Please elaborate.

Ans: When we’re developing our dashboard, we ideated two models- but we’re gravely confused about with which to go ahead, as we’re unaware of market conditions. Well, the time was quite challenging for us- we’re in dilemma and could not decide anything. So we hired two interns, and asked them to work on both the ideas individually. At the end, we had both the portals ready. They were not the final products, but still good enough to share with people to get their opinions and do some A-B testing. The result was, we could build a final dashboard later with much better understanding of the flow.  And apart from that, one of those interns joined us full time.

3. While hiring interns, what are the skills/attributes that you look for in a candidate?

Ans: The first and foremost thing we look for is aptitude; the problem solving approach comes next. We would hire a less skilled student with better learning capability rather than someone who is very skilled but inflexible towards learning new stuff.

4. Have you ever made mistakes while hiring and ended up hiring totally wrong candidate(s)? What were those mistakes? And in your opinion, what are the common pain points of intern hiring?

Ans: We learned that students consider work from home as part time and give it the least priority. One needs to be very careful while hiring students who will be working from home. Not all projects can be completed using this method, especially the projects that require a lot of research and iterations.

A very common problem we faced many times is “no-show”. A candidate would not even bother to inform you that (s)he will not be joining you until the last moment. One needs to be prepared for this situation. A regular follow up with the selected candidates might be helpful.

  5. A message that would you like give to the companies/start-ups running internship programmes?

Ans: Start a little early. Have a clear understanding of your requirements, and convey it properly to students. Once you finalize them, keep a regular connection with them. Keep them informed about the projects they will be working on. Help them to get prepared before they actually start. It has to be a win-win for both of you.

6. What is your message to students who are looking for internships? 

Ans: While you are a student or in early stage of professional career, focus on learning skills rather than making money. A lower paying internship which offers you a bigger potential to learn is always better. Same is true for brand name. Don’t run after big companies for your internship, because they offer little flexibility. Big names could be good for resume, but you are what you are, not what your resume says.

Second thing is when you apply for an internship, do your homework. Simply spamming around doesn’t work, especially when you are looking for quality work. Research about the company, learn about the problems they are facing and tell them how your skills are going to help them out.

If you’re an employer and want to share your experience of running an internship programme, or want to hire interns for your own organization, drop a line at shadab@internshala.com. We’d love to hear from you.

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