No compromise when hiring interns – Wishpicker
“Creativity and quality are the two main elements of a successful intern. Students should treat internship programme as a learning opportunity, and not just for the sake of building up resume”, says Apurv Bansal, co-founder at Wishpicker. Just few months old, Wishpicker has done a notable job in the field of online gifting market, and interns have played a major role in its journey so far. Below are the excerpts of our chit-chat with Apurv.
Q.What is your philosophy behind having an internship programme at Wishpicker?
Ans: Just 7 months old, we have done a notable job in the field of online gifting market, and our interns have played a critical role in this journey. We hire creative people and not just the ones looking for certificates. We believe that an internship programme builds-up a start-up in a very organized way– good and enthusiastic people with creative mindsets help gain a positive work attitude which leads to a great learning experience for all of us at the end of the day.
Q. Have you ever done any important project in which interns played a critical role? Please elaborate.
Ans: Yes, of course! Our interns played a very important role in building and launching our portal. Thanks to our super-enthusias
tic, diligent interns– it was because of their relentless effort, we succeeded in meeting our deadline of launching our website in just the right time.
Q. While hiring interns, what are the skills/attributes that you look for in a candidate?
Ans: Well, it depends totally on which profile you are hiring interns for. For a technical profile, we look for coding skills or a brief experience, which students usually gain through projects done in college or internships. Sometimes, we train interns for a week or so and check their ability of grasping new things. On contrast, for a marketing or a content-writing profile, we look for people who are more willing to learn, and test their creativity, skills by giving a small exercise of writing a blog or designing a short info-graphic.
Q. 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: Yes. You see, one can’t always judge a person correctly by a telephonic interview or just by reading his/her resume. We did make a few mistakes while hiring interns initially, but we learnt a valuable lesson: always conducting a small exercise before taking the final call; it helps you filter out non-serious candidates. And this helped us rectify our mistakes at the cost of making bad decisions.
Q. A message that would you like give to the companies/start-ups running internship programmes?
Ans: In my opinion, interns are equally important in a start-up as regular employees for any big company. Start-ups should take their interns seriously, and provide them the opportunity to learn and gain valuable experience, as they are also the major contributors of your projects. Also, make sure that you’re getting right people in the team, as they will be the one to get your venture to newer the heights.
Q. What is your message to students who are looking for internships?
Ans: Internship is the best learning opportunity you can ever get. Tonnes of opportunities are waiting for you, you just need to identify the best role which suits you, and the company which is providing you the opportunity. Eventually, all this learning earns you an edge during your placements.
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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