Internships- Hands on experience in the the real world- CracktheMBA

Nupur Gupta is the Founder and CEO of CrackTheMBA. As a student pursuing B.S. in Computer Science and MBA in Entrepreneurship and Finance, she interned at different companies. This experience helped kick-start her career. She wants to provide a similar opportunity to college students through internship programs at Crack The MBA. We recently had a chat with her and below are the excerpts from it.

IS: What is your philosophy behind taking interns in your company?

Nupur: While I was deciding where to attend college, I decided to pursue my undergraduate education in Computer Science in upstate New York. I based my choice on the internship program that the institution had, wherein all students were required to complete four internships as part of the curriculum. It was through these internship programs, that I got to apply my knowledge into the real world, which proved to be quite beneficial for me eventually.
This is exactly the idea behind the internship programs we offers. Through these programs we wish to enable the bright minds of India and provide them with the experience of working in the real world, which would further enhance their skills.

IS: What qualities/attributes do you look for while hiring interns?

Nupur: While hiring interns I look for two factors. One being the level of commitment that the candidate has, the respect one has for the work given and the kind of efforts one is willing to put in to get results. The other is excellent oral and written skills. I believe good communication is an extremely important factor these days. Moreover, attention to detail is imperative. One needs to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.

IS: Do you generally hire students from a particular stream? Students from which streams have worked for your company? Could you please share any major contribution s by interns ?

Nupur: Since we require strong writing skills, students with backgrounds in Journalism and English have an edge. That said, we are open to students from all backgrounds given they have strong communication skills. You never know which student surprises you. We routinely hire Engineers as part of our internship programs.
Interns have made numerous contributions at Crack The MBA. I would specifically mention about a database of different universities across the world created by one of our interns. It took weeks to create the database that has brought information to us in a matter of milliseconds.

IS: How do you see the prospect in the developing trend of interns converting into full-time employers, especially in start-ups?

Nupur: While interviewing candidates for interns we check for their post graduation priorities as well. If we have a good experience with them during the internship period, and if their priorities allow, we love to convert them into full-time employees.

IS: Internship experiences are generally memorable for interns. Any interesting incident (funny/weird/strange) that you remember of, which made you smile and has been equally memorable for you?

Nupur: There is a weird incident that I can recall. A candidate came with her mother during her interview. Though it did bring a smile on my face at her innocence, I was taken aback and I would suggest students not to be accompanied by their parents for such occasions.

IS: What is your message to students looking for internships?

Nupur: Students should have the right attitude that will take them to great heights. As interns, they should always be proactive and not wait for their managers to give them work. They should never hesitate in implementing the ideas that they have. With the right commitment, they will increase their odds of converting internships into full-time opportunities.

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.

Are you an employer looking for interns? Hire interns through Internshala; it’s free and hassle-free.