Setting up of Internshala ‘in-office’ work culture
Suthirth Vaidya a.k.a Sutts joined Internshala in December 2011 to work with our biggest online project Internfair back then and is the key architect behind Internshala’s Social Media strategy. One of the 2 first interns to ever work in Internshala ‘office’ , he narrates the tale of the summer gone by where he along with his twin brother Sidharth pulled InternSaturday off!
As I set out to write this piece of my internship experience with Internshala, I have no clue how to start or rather what to write. All that comes to my mind is a mixed assortment of emotions and lack of words. A sense of awesomeness fills me as I look back into the two months at Delhi. It’s barely been a month, and I’ve started to miss Gurgaon already!
When Sarvesh offered me this summer internship, I was told that this would be how I would live the experience several years later . Since it’s too early to look back now – I’m just watching Internshala grow to a billion users. :)
Sidharth & I were flown to Delhi for a special task, Internshala’s largest project so far and one that will change the lives of several students interning in Delhi. Since Sarvesh and Sidharth have already explained in detail (in their articles here and here) what all we went through to put up InternSaturday, I’ll talk about the experience of working at the Internshala office.
Being the first interns at the Internshala office, we (Sid & I) had the golden chance to define what hopefully would end up as the ‘Work Culture of Internshala’. Although I’m not sure if this was what JJ wanted, highlights of Internshala’s work culture includes going to ‘office’ wearing a tee and shorts – not long after you’ve woken up. And since all three of us were night owls, office timings started as late as 11AM, and went on till 3AM. A typical morning would start with breakfast along with Tea made by Sid. (Yes, aligning with the concept of Meaningful Internships.) Our office furniture also included a Bean Bag making it cozy for whoever chose to sit on it first!
Among all the work and madness that went into InternSaturday, we occasionally played a game of Poker to relax. The game was also our savior when Gurgaon failed us with no power supply and unbearable heat! After a few initial rounds of getting hustled by JJ, my learning of Poker remains one of my key take aways from this internship experience. Other fun activities include Pizza nights, trips to Chandni Chowk and trolling co-interns.
Working with a passionate and dedicated founder in the home office at Gurgaon was a very fulfilling experience. One of us would pop up with a new idea very frequently, and I would instantly start predicting (read: dreaming about) the future. What was remarkable was the time it took us to implement an idea – the pre- InternSaturday Facebook album, the photography contest- all of them took less than 24 hours to execute! With the boss around at all times, I could discuss the wackiest ideas I could think of anytime! The experience of having pulled off a really successful event with such a small team has fuelled my desire to start up a company on my own later in life. (Or with recent grades, right away!)
Working at Internshala has probably spoilt me from working in any corporate companies in the future. Nowhere else can I imagine interns being given such responsibilities and be treated like family! All of us were passionate about what we were doing and we believed that what we did would bring a change. Your boss was someone you could talk business with and also have fun – at the right times. We were also thrown a farewell party complete with a cake, which was very touching!
As a token of appreciation for taking the pains to read this far, here’s sharing a way for you to gobble free food – one I learnt while picking a venue for InternSaturday. Grab your phone, call up the nearest 5 star hotel and tell them you need a hall to accommodate 300 people for a whole day. They will send a taxi to pick you up from your place, show you the venue and most importantly, offer you free food and drinks. (Tip: Call at around 11AM if you want lunch.)
