Internship at SRIB – Akankshya from NITK
About the Author: Akankshya, a student from National Institute of Technology, Karnataka takes us through her life-changing experience of interning at Samsung Research Institute, Bangalore (SRIB).
As a series of showers caught the city off guard, we faced a similar string of mind-boggling tests and interviews. With companies to visit soon, we were giving an average of three coding tests daily. After four heart-breaking rejections, I got into SRI-B. I was elated at having made it to a technology company and not an investment banking firm. One of my seniors, who had interned there two years back, had loved the place. Hearing his stories, I had high expectations.
Everyone knows about Samsung and its products — be it a smartphone, TV, AC, or home appliance, Samsung holds a major portion of the market share. SRIB is the largest overseas R&D centre of Samsung Electronics with the highest number of patents every year. I was excited to be working on cutting-edge technology, besides getting to live in Bangalore. Coming to the selection process, the first round involved a Global Samsung Aptitude Test (GSAT) while the second involved coding. The last round, which was an elimination round, involved 70 people from both hardware and software profiles. The HR department, which was pleased with the coding performances, wanted to recruit a lot of interns. After a group discussion on “Future of Smartphones”, 43 students were selected. Samsung offered us tickets to and from our hometowns, besides providing accommodation in a 5-star hotel in the heart of Bangalore for a week. The fun-filled induction ended with a DJ night while the weekend had all of us checking out PGs.
The office, Phoenix building, was magnificent. Each floor had its own theme while the top four floors had theme-based cafes. The highlight of the office was the gym with its world-class amenities and trainers. Also, the top floor had a well-equipped jamming room. Finally, after much anticipation, we met our teams. Our mentors, who were very welcoming, gave us the option to choose a project. I opted for a Python-based analytics project. We barely realised how our stipulated nine hours at office passed. In fact, we often worked more than that.
During our stay, we also had an Intern’s day which included a masquerade party and a team lunch. For eight weeks, we got to experience the corporate life. To bag the pre-placement offer(PPO), we had to give a software competency test, followed by a tech interview and an HR round. After nailing all the tests, I got the PPO from Samsung.
I would advise all the prospective candidates to make an informed decision while opting for an internship. It’s an important decision of your life and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
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