Q. Tell us about yourself!

I am a 2015 fellow at Teach for India, Delhi. I graduated from University of Delhi in BSc Life Science, post which I pursued my Master’s In Biotechnology from University of Pune. Thereafter, I did a brief stint of about one year as a research fellow and published 2 research articles. During my research I realized how much I wanted to pursue research which had direct impact on social problems existing in the society. I tried to find students from lower income backgrounds so as to provide them with guidance and support. On learning how some of these kids were already paying for what I wanted to do of free will disturbed me. I realized the ease with which I could pursue my PhD. was in in contrast to how some children were trying to complete their basic education. Some who had dropped school and some who never got the opportunity. It was this, along with varied registration problems at work that made me apply to Teach for India.

Q. Tell us about your experience as a Teach for India fellow?

As a fellow, I thought I would be teaching a lot more and helping kids from under resourced backgrounds. However, in no time I realized it was quite the opposite. It was me who was learning from these kids. During TFI we go through intense training in providing the best to our kids as well as understanding our own areas of development and trying to adapt a growth mindset. I have become more self aware and constantly try to evolve my myself with my kids. There are times when I fail as a teacher but never as a learner. As an organisation we share our highs and lows, this makes us more stronger towards our collective vision. I have learnt a lot here and am positive will continue to do so.

Q. Describe one day as a TFI Fellow?

Q. From the various opportunities in the education field, why particularly TFI?

When I was applying in various fellowships and searching for opportunities Teach for India’s vision and mission was the one which resonated the most to me. The freedom to work in my classroom and the support provided by TFI was the work culture I was looking for. At TFI we are never told what our classroom culture should be like or what methods of teaching should we use. The purpose matters, not the process. Its this culture which makes me love my work.

Q. How did being a TFI fellow help you till now and why would you recommend that?

I think the only reason I would like to recommend TFI to anyone would be the experience. I won’t boast or exaggerate when I say that its really an experience worth trying. It changes a lot in you. That is only if you want to make that change happen.

Q.What qualities do you think a person should have to work for an organization such as Teach For India?

Q. What do you think is the best part of teaching and what are the not-so-good parts?

The best part about teaching is when your kids come up with answers even you have not thought about. That moment is when you feel that all those night hours you spent on planning a lesson were worth the effort. There are times when my lesson plans are not delivered efficiently or when my day in general goes haywire but there is never a ‘not-so-good’ part about teaching. We have a constant support in our school team and there is never a dull moment.

Q. In your opinion what is the best and worst that comes out of the experience at Teach for India?

The best is the certainty of your impact on someones life and your own life whereas the obscurity of what lies ahead whether you will ever get a work environment like TFI or not is I guess the not so best part.

Q. How does the Teach For India experience change a person?

The experience changes us in a lot of ways. One of the main areas of focus is leadership development in the fellows. Our managers strive hard to make us reflect on our experiences and grow as an individual. We have a strand of personal transformation which we work towards consistently. For me I would say I am more aware about who am I and my purpose, for now.

Q. What are your plans after TFI?

I want to learn more about the range of learning outcomes and understand how content,pedagogy can help in ameliorating education conditions in students coming from under resourced backgrounds. . Why some students are good at mathematics whereas others develop a fear of it, why some students tend to develop reading early whereas struggle with phonics even till late stages, why there is a vast difference in learning outcomes from students coming from same backgrounds, how skill development can play a role in alleviating living conditions and how the socioeconomic status plays a role in the development of a student. These are some of the questions I wish to pursue in my further studies as a doctoral student.

The post In Conversation with Parnika Bhatia, on her experience of being a Teach for India Fellow. appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

This article was first published on Medium.My time at Asana was different from the beginning. Not only did it take me a year to finally wrap up the recruiting process —having stopped and picked it up again over the months — it was a fall Internship — meaning I skipped a term of school to work in San Francisco and with no other interns.

Oh, boy! Let’s zoom back to the first day. I knew what to expect going in — it was going to be the same story as always. One organizational meeting after another, until I get handed a laptop, told that I probably shouldn’t expect to get anything done for the first week.

Remember what I said about it being different? Here’s a glimpse at what my Asana onboarding project looked like on the first day: Imagine if there were a meeting for each one of these, and that’s the first-week flow of many companies! There are a couple things to note here. Not only did this quickly get me familiar how Asana uses the product internally (the word ubiquitous comes to mind), but it also let me do this at my own pace. It told my mentor exactly what I was stuck on and what I was speeding through.

Alright — great — set up. Time to start coding, right? No, really, I mean it. Here’s my commit to master on Day 1:

In a sentence, the rest of my experience followed suit. The deeper I got into my Internship, the more I realized that Asana’s values are more than just words strung together so they look good (they do look good). I’m not going to highlight everything that stuck with me, but there are a few things I can’t help but mention.

Transparency in action.
Look, let’s be honest: every company I’ve heard about claims they’re open and honest with employees. Living up to that is notoriously hard. At Asana, you can see internal financials, recruiting discussions, and the company’s Business outlook from day one. No fancy permissions for “hidden projects”. No “all-hands-except-interns” meetings. This wasn’t obviously a good thing at first glance: what if someone leaked some numbers? What if private conversations came into public light? After all, there is a lot of attention on these high-growth tech companies from the media.

After a couple weeks here, I knew why my fears were misplaced. It comes down to the fact that every policy is (can be) risky. It just happens to be the case that folks here at Asana place more value on empowering individual employees to participate in discussions than everything else. If everyone feels trusted, valued, and empowered, it’s easy to stop fretting about the smaller things.

Learning as a team.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve come to appreciate the interest companies take in helping employees learn and grow at whatever they may do — engineers, designers, writers — but also as people. I think Asana takes this learning mindset to a different level.

Rather than simply concentrate on helping people do their jobs better, Asana is focused on figuring out how the team and company can consistently improve processes to achieve goals. The key insight here is that a team of intelligent people stuck with poorly thought-out processes falls victim to that weak link. In action, this looks like:

5 whys:
Before joining Asana, I wrote something about how humans are susceptible to the “XY” problem — a rephrasing of the tunneling effect — citing the solution as: Ask why 5 times.

Turns out, Asana lives this ideology. When something goes wrong — be it unusually high-recruiting load, a significant Engineering failure, or simply missed deadlines — the team gathers to discuss. What went well? What broke? What are the actionable items? Not only does this help to set a clear understanding of the situation, it prevents unnecessary blame from being thrown around. It stops fragmented communication between teammates about a problem. Fragmented communication is miscommunication.

Roadmap Week, KRs
Being a fall intern was a blessing in (heavy) disguise. Not only did I start on the week with the most exciting recent launch (a redesign of the product), I also learned how Asana thinks about organization.

Before I move on to the concrete process, let’s take a look at the Planning Fallacy, first proposed by Daniel Kahneman. It’s quite simple, really:

Predictions about how much time will be needed to complete a future task display an optimism bias (underestimate the time needed). Kahneman and Tversky originally explained the fallacy by envisaging that planners focus on the most optimistic scenario for the task, rather than using their full experience of how much time similar tasks require.

If you have industry experience, you’ve seen every company and every team fall victim to this.

Now, the golden question: how do you fix it? The Wikipedia article, in fancy words, says “Implementation Intentions” and “Segmentation”. Really, this boils down to what Asana does at Roadmap Week.

Three times a year, every team at Asana gathers for a week to discuss how they’re going to approach the episode. Here’s where the team sets Key Results, publishing and presenting tangible goals as to what they want to accomplish over the next few months. The team is asked to imagine and create a story about how the world would look if everything went to plan. How would the world look if it was a disaster? At this point, you’ve gotta be thinking — this is just the act of costing. Every team does that!

Yes and no. The point here is that it’s purposeful. Of course, teams can do this ad-hoc at any given company, but it’s crucial that the processes support and facilitate it. This is not an opportunity for specific teams to think about the work they need to get done; it’s a chance for everyone to be on the same page about where the company is going.

People, first.
I’ve been using the words “Asana” and “the company” throughout this post, and that makes it so easy to lose sight of an obvious truth: The company is nothing more and nothing less than the people that make it so.

Most companies, somewhere down the line, lose track of this. In trying to build a “good culture”, they forget that employees evangelize. In trying to have “a fast moving technical team”, they forget that engineers have to constantly learn and grow. None of the goals of “the company” can be realized without the people that build and support it.

Asana is astonishingly good at this. There’s an emphasis on Work Life Balance. The perks, from simple things like a gym membership to mentorship and executive coaching, are centered about making better people, not better employees.

I’ve never been in a 1:1 where I’ve spent more than 20% of the time talking about work. The conversations are centered around how you’re doing, not how you’re working.

In a more subtle way, this extends to how Asana thinks about company structure. The trap of having an extensive hierarchy of managers and bosses is a tempting one. When you’re constantly worried about moving from SE1 to SE2, it’s easy to understand how the company prioritizes work more than your personal well-being. Asana’s system is (yeah, you got it — ) different. Asana is focused on giving individuals responsibility over real domains rather than just responsibility over a group of people. Any engineer — including new hires — can gain ownership of important parts of the company’s work, anywhere from AORs like “Onboarding Process” to “iOS Bugs”.

One last thought: maybe it’s telling that, in writing this post, I didn’t even think to mention what team I worked on or what I did. Maybe it gives you a little insight into how different this Internship really was. Although the technical aspects of my work were far from mundane, 5–10 years from now, I’ll look back and be thankful that this is what I remembered.

The post “4 Reasons why internship at Asana was different from any other other internship.” – by Kshitij Grover. appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

2. Great product designers think like scientists.

User-centered Design is a descendent of the good ol’ scientific method. It’s a continuous cycle of questioning, researching, hypothesizing, testing, and iterating. A Design is a hypothesis made visual—your best guess as to how a piece of software should behave and how a user will interact with it. It needs to be tested before you can know if it’s right. You’ll eventually lose credibility if you justify Design decisions by appealing to trendy, abstract concepts like “delight.”

Designers love to talk about the value of having empathy for users, but it’s also important to have empathy for people who don’t immediately see the connection between good Design and the bottom line. When your team is strapped for time or Engineering resources, superfluous Design will often be the first thing to go. A good way to earn the trust of your coworkers is to avoid arbitrary decisions and back up Design solutions with solid research. You should always be able to explain how your decisions will impact user behavior and move the metrics that matter.

Design research doesn’t have to be process heavy or resource intensive. A little bit of prototyping and usability testing can go a really long way. As much as we like to think we’re our own worst critics, the truth is that we’re incapable of judging our own work objectively. Take care to document the logic behind your most important decisions. Product life-cycles are long, and memories are short. Future designers and product managers shouldn’t have to rehash old debates just because you were too lazy to explain yourself.

3. Despite what the media sometimes says, Uber’s culture is not fratty or cutthroat.

For real.

4. People will take you seriously no matter how young you are.

I was consistently surprised by how much access I had to the higher-ups at Uber. But the even crazier thing was that they listened to what I, a 20-year-old intern, had to say. A lot of tech companies pay lip service to the cliché that the best idea should win no matter who it comes from. But I always felt that was true at Uber. During my time there, I was surrounded by people — no matter how senior — who were willing to debate me and take my opinions seriously.

5. The cutting-edge is controversial, but that’s what makes it compelling.

Halfway into my Summer at Uber, Mayor Bill DeBlasio of New York City announced his plan to cap Uber’s growth at 1% per year. It was fascinating to watch Uber’s political apparatus kick into gear. Uber is one of the only tech companies that can be said to have a constituency (not merely a user base). On the grassroots level, my friends on the communications team were mobilizing passionate riders to fight back against DeBlasio’s proposal. At the executive level, David Plouffe — Obama’s former campaign manager — was meeting with key stakeholders in NYC. Uber launched its first-ever political TV ads. Graphic designers created a full-page ad for the New York Times and a clever protest in the mobile app. The CEO answered strategy questions at his weekly company-wide Q&A.

This sort of political battle is, of course, nothing new for Uber. The company has been a controversy magnet for the entirety of its 5 short years in existence. Most people either hate it or love it, and almost everyone has an opinion. Intentional or not, working at Uber is a bit of a political statement. You can’t escape the politics that surround the company, and you’re often asked to defend its tactics. The cutting-edge has always been, and always will be, controversial. But that’s part of what makes working at Uber so intellectually stimulating. It’s the lovechild of a tech Startup and a political campaign. The company has been so successful in part because the people who work there aren’t afraid of stirring up a little controversy.

6. Great designers speak (and understand) the language of the Engineering team.

Before working at Uber, I was under the impression that designers interact with engineers only at the end of the Design process — after the mockups are pixel perfect.

Wrong. Engineers at Uber work closely with designers early and often. The Engineering team taught me how important it is to understand the technical constraints of a project and to get buy-in from the people who will ultimately build out your designs. The product development process is a constant series of tradeoffs between time, Engineering resources, and Design quality. If you’re familiar with the technical side of things, you’ll be better equipped to make intelligent tradeoffs and more likely to orchestrate a smooth transition from Design to Engineering.

Always experiment with new ways to communicate your intentions to engineers. They’ll thank you, and the products you ship will be all the better for it.

7. There’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than you could ever imagine.

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that there’s not much left to Design at Uber. They think the product is more or less finished. But its consumer-facing simplicity hides the complexity under the hood that makes everything work smoothly. The rider app is just the tip of the iceberg. Many users are surprised to discover that the driver app is a completely different and far more complicated product. Drivers use it to manage earnings, goals, ratings, feedback, dispatches, and directions.

It’s no secret that Uber’s ambitions extend far beyond the driver and rider apps. The company wants to become the global logistics platform of the future. There’s UberEats, UberRush, Uber for Business, UberEvents,UberCommute, UberHop, the third party developer platform, plus a lot more in the pipeline.

That said, the core Uber app is nowhere near perfect or finished. Designers at Uber (and elsewhere) are perpetually dissatisfied with the status quo. They’re obsessed with the challenge of making things better, more efficient, more intuitive. How can we create a better rating system for drivers? How can we improve the experience of riding with strangers on UberPool? How can we make Uber more accessible for the elderly and people with disabilities?

Here’s what Uber looked like only four years ago:

No UberX or UberPool. No ETAs. No destination entry. The Uber of today will probably look and feel just as primitive in four years’ time. If Travis Kalanick has his way, owning a car will one day be like owning a horse — fun for the wealthy, but financially foolish for everyone else. We’ve got a ways to go, but I like to think that the road to the future is paved with thought-provoking Design challenges.

The post “7 things I learnt as a Design Intern at Uber.” – by Aaron Lewis from Yale University. appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

This article was first published on Medium.

I have been a huge Spotify fan for years. They have an amazing product, great company culture and it had always been my dream to work for one their offices. However, I never had the courage to even take a glimpse at their job listings for Internships. But during the first month I was back to school, a friend mentioned that she was intent on applying to Spotify for the upcoming Summer, and I thought, “if she could dream of doing it, why can’t I?“

It was the fall semester of my junior year — Career fairs and recruiting events were in motion and all my friends were stressed about Summer Internships. I had just returned from my last Internship at a San Francisco Startup and my heart was dead set on working for another tech company. However, I knew most tech Startups began recruitment much later than the large companies my friends were applying for. I spent most of my fall semester in anxiety, especially since most of my friends had accepted offers by the end of November.

I spent my winter break reading every article I could find that concerned how to get a job at Spotify. Aside from having noteworthy past experience and internal referrals, it seemed like the majority of Spotify employees used creative methods to get their application noticed. This gave me my strategy: I needed to submit a creative application to make myself stand out.

1. No one cares about your resume (kind of):
Making a creative application is easier said than done. I spent many long weeks brainstorming for ideas. I thought about constructing 3D models representing music and sending it to their NYC headquarters. I considered making a music video or attempting to write a catchy rap song about my love for Spotify (thankfully that idea never materialized). Eventually, I realized that I not only had to do something creative, but I needed to present something that would provide instant value to the company. If Spotify wanted to know about my previous work experiences or education, they would look at my Linkedin profile. My application needed to show them not just what I HADDONE, but also demonstrate what I WOULD DO when hired.

I wanted to work for their Marketing team, but I had no idea what would impress them. I let one question guide my ideation: “What information would I want to know if I was CMO of Spotify?”

Although Spotify seemed to be dominating the music streaming market, the growth of Apple Music was accelerating. I realized that running a market research project on how consumers were reacting to Apple Music could help Spotify’s Marketing team better understand the strengths and weaknesses of Apple’s streaming service and simultaneously reveal growth opportunities for Spotify to maintain their competitive advantage.

My project was set: I would do a survey-based market research study comparing Spotify with Apple Music and present data-backed ideas on how Spotify could maintain market dominance. I also decided to code a Website to present my findings. This would not only show off my technical skills, but make my application as shareable as possible, encouraging recruiters to easily send my application to decision makers with a click of a button.

The one thing I’ve learned from conducting surveys in my Business classes is that nobody likes to take them! If I wanted 100 responses, I needed a survey platform that was aesthetically pleasing and frictionless for the survey taker. I decided to use Typeform, a web-based platform, to create an engaging survey. The results were better than I could have imagined. I was concerned that I would not reach 100 responses, but I received over 200.

2. Becoming the Perfect Candidate:
Now that I had a compelling idea to show Spotify the kind of work I could do, the next step was to actually work on becoming the perfect candidate for the job. First, I thought I should research and interview former Spotify Marketing interns. This was actually harder than I thought it would be, as I quickly realized that most Spotify interns were hired onto their Engineering or sales teams. I did not let this deter me however.

Eventually, I was able to find one person, and only one person, who was a former Marketing intern at Spotify. Lucky for me, she was connected with a former coworker of mine. He introduced us via Facebook and the former intern was kind enough to give me advice. She shared that her experience with the statistical software package SPSS, a tool that Marketing teams use for data analysis, was one of the main reasons why she was hired. Taking her advice, I borrowed assignments from my friends who used SPSS in their classes and taught myself how to use the platform.

I also studied the Linkedin profiles of Spotify’s Marketing leadership, because I wanted to understand how their past experiences helped them get hired at Spotify, and how I could make myself a competitive candidate. I tried to answer:

• What do they value in the workplace?
• What software platforms do they use in their job?
• What skills are essential as a Marketing associate at Spotify?

I knew that researching and understanding my future hiring managers would help me cater my answers to their interview questions to what they wanted to hear. All this would also help me know how to present my market research project in the most compelling way.

3. Applying for an Internship that Did Not Exist:
Spring had finally arrived. I had a value-adding project, a creative way to present it, and research on everything I needed to know to be a competitive candidate. I had everything I needed to make an amazing application, but I was still missing one thing: Spotify had still not posted their Internships!

Suddenly, I was worried. Were they even going to post Internships this year? What if they only hired interns for their Engineering or sales teams? What if I did all this work, spending countless nights working on my application and becoming the perfect candidate and I didn’t even get the chance to apply?

As stressful as these uncertainties were, I knew that I would have felt even worse had I not tried to begin with. What did I really have to lose? I knew from the beginning that there was no guarantee and that this would require many long weekends of work. I was mentally prepared to give my all if it meant that I had even the slightest chance of working at my dream company. Regardless of the outcome, I knew that my experience would help me develop skills for my future profession, show me that my passion to succeed had no bounds, and prove that I was willing to work hard and sacrifice for my dreams.

Despite this resolve to come out a winner no matter the outcome, I knew that I had to take action. If Spotify wasn’t going to post open Internships, then I would have to get their attention in other ways.

I took a weekend and used my amaetur HTML skills to present my research results on a Website (thank you Myspace). I emailed my Website to a few Spotify recruiters that I found on LinkedIn; however, my ultimate goal was to get the attention of Marketing leadership. I figured recruiters probably received a ton of cold emails, so a better approach would be to target the people that I wanted to work with directly. During my last Internship, I learned how to scrape email addresses of company employees from the internet. I used this skill to find the emails of target Spotify employees and sent my application directly to the Marketing managers in Spotify’s US and Swedish offices.

4. The Response:

A few hours after I sent my emails, I received my first response. I was shocked. It had worked. The email was from one of the recruiters. She gave a link to a hidden application with some words of advice:

I was thrilled. An Internship application DID exist, but it just wasn’t publically available. My initiative had paid off.

An hour later, I received another email. This time it was from a Swedish Marketing manager. He was impressed with my Website! Then, the next day, I received an email from one of their US Marketing managers. My plan had worked. I had made a impression, and they were sharing my Website with each other.

The US manager wrote:

“I was forwarded along your Apple Music vs. Spotify work, which is fantastic. The “hire” button was a nice touch.  I will get you set up with our Internship coordinator, then let’s set aside some time to chat.”

I was ecstatic. All my months of hard work was paying off. I could already hear the New York traffic and taste the sweet victory of biting into that famous New York hotdog.

Our email thread seemed to be going great. But then when I sent a few follow up emails, silence. Weeks passed, and I still had no response from their HR team concerning the interview process. It was nearly mid-March and although they liked my Website, I still had no guarantee of an Internship.

5. My “interview”:
I was planning on flying to New York in late March for spring break — maybe Spotify would want to meet if I was in town. I sent some emails to the people I had been in contact with and asked if they wanted to have coffee. They all said yes. Two weeks later, I toured their NYC headquarters and met with one of their Marketing managers. Our meeting wasn’t suppose to be an interview (or so I thought). It was just a “casual conversation.” We talked about my project, how I quantified the data, where I got the idea, and my future goals.

I was called back the next day to have a quick meeting with another associate. Then a day after that, minutes before I was about to watch my first Broadway play, I received an email from their Marketing team. They were offering me the opportunity to be a Summer intern for their Strategic Consumer Insights team!

*Squeal*

6. Dreams Don’t Work Unless You Do:
Getting my Spotify Internship was difficult. I was stressed for months. I struggled to juggle 20 units of classes, work, school clubs and still have energy to work on my Spotify application. My friends would complain that they didn’t see me anymore and that I spent too many long weeks doubting myself.

Through it all, I not only landed my dream Internship, I learned more than I could have ever imagined. I learned SPSS and how to develop a Website, the true meaning of time management and how to conduct an amateur market research study. But mostly I learned the power in believing in myself and chasing my dreams.

At the end of everyday, when I would sit at my desk and try to convince myself to fight against exhaustion and work on my Spotify application, I would stare at two green sticky notes. One said, “Spotify.” The other said, “DREAMS DON’T WORK UNLESS YOU DO.” As cliche as it sounds, I attribute these words to the success of my project.

If you would like to see the full Website I built from my market research project, check out my insights here: www.AndreaTiutan.com/Spotify

The post “Landing My Dream Internship at Spotify: How I applied for an internship that didn’t exist!” – by Andrea Tiutan. appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

I’ve been doing tech Internships since 2012 .

I’ve been incredibly lucky to have done six Internships at five tech companies in the last three years. My first Internship was at the Canadian job search site Workopolis as a UI developer building job campaigns and conducting accessibility research. The second one was at Communitech, a not-for-profit tech innovation hub in Waterloo, building prototype web and mobile apps for non-technical entrepreneurs. In Toronto, I interned at ThoughtWorks, the highly influential software Design and delivery company, building web and mobile apps for non-profits and open source projects. My first taste of working in San Francisco was at Minted, a marketplace for independent artists and designers, building e-commerce tools. Most recently, I wrapped up an eight month Internship at Expedia on the Android and Mobile API teams.

Finding the right Internship

Although I’ve mostly used my school’s resources to apply for positions, I’ve also applied to Internships externally — through company Websites and internal referrals. Internal referrals are huge, as they go on to be useful for full-time positions. Not only do they speed up the initial screening process, you can also get a better and honest insight into what it’s like to work at the company.

Most junior engineers think of giants like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook when they think of their ideal tech company. Though those companies have solid Internship programs, they aren’t the only companies that have them. In addition, working at those companies doesn’t make you better than anyone else. Tech is everywhere and being in Silicon Valley isn’t the only option! There are strong and emerging communities all over the world looking for talent.

Dig everywhere for opportunities. I got my last Internship after talking to an Engineering manager at a tech meetup. If you don’t see a posting for an Internship on the company Website, email them and inquire! Don’t take no as an answer until you know it’s actually a no.

Speaking of nos, don’t let them get to you. I still have this problem myself. interviews fucking suck, period. It’s not you, it’s the system. You are smart, capable, and hard-working. Repeat after me. Take care of yourself and know when to retreat. Always treat interviews as learning opportunities.

Growing as an intern

Tech jobs have been getting a lot of hype — mostly because of the lucrative salaries, stock options, and superfluous perks. So it’s easy to let that hype control your decision-making. Let’s be real here, there’s more to a job than free food and foosball tables. Inquire about the stuff that matters, i.e. housing and health benefits.

What you should really be caring about is mentorship and leadership. Make sure you inquire about both while interviewing! Companies that don’t value either aren’t worth it. Your job as an intern is to learn as much as you can in a short period, so choose wisely.

On the job, always be proactive about your development. It’s your responsibility and you might not always have someone to hold your hand. Setting up weekly one-on-ones is a fantastic way to set short and long term goals. Being open to constructive feedback from co-workers is also valuable.

Always ask questions. You can’t figure out everything on your own, but you can try to a certain point! Be vocal about things that make you uncomfortable. Find mentors (other than your assigned one), friends, and allies who you can have real talk with, and who can champion you. This is especially important for underrepresented folks! For example, it’s important for me to find allies who can relate to being female, having mental illness, and/or being Asian.

Working hard doesn’t always mean working more hours. If you’re planning on working overtime, make sure you are being compensated for it. Know your limits and take breaks during the day. No employer should punish you for that. Self-care comes first, no questions asked. For instance, I deal with daily panic attacks, so I have used the wellness rooms at the offices I have worked at to calm down and relax.

From a technical standpoint, ask about conferences, books, meetups, and other resources to learn more about the tech stack you’re working with. If your company has a technical blog, ask to contribute to it! You may think you’re not an expert, but you have a lot of insights to offer as a new hire.

If you want to focus on leveling up multiple tech skills, I definitely recommend interning as a software consultant. You will get to be part of the software development process from beginning to end. You will also get to learn how to deal with real world clients.

A lot of interns will be assigned to intern projects and not get many opportunities to contribute to daily team work. If you prefer collaborating with your team more, speak up and tell your manager!

Being fearless as an intern

Speak up on the good, bad, and the ugly. Seriously. Your co-worker’s, team’s, or employer’s response to what you have to say is a good indication of whether you want to be a full-time employee. Take that risk now while you’re junior!

If you’re interested in diversity work, go for it! I’ve gotten involved by consulting with the office manager, other female engineers, and company diversity groups. Be sure to collaborate with local diversity organizations like Write/Speak/Code, Girl Develop It, and Women Who Code! Diversity work is extra work on top of your daily duties, so make sure you are being appreciated for it.

Now to the ugly. Being an intern doesn’t make you immune to abuse and harassment. I’ve had sexist and misogynistic comments said to me throughout an Internship. I only reported the issue to HR after consulting with a female ally. Dealing with HR in these circumstances is a very sensitive topic, so it can be helpful to consult with an ally first. Hold people accountable for their actions whether that means reporting them and/or removing yourself from the toxic environment.

Giving back as an intern

Part of being an intern is being open to feedback, and the other part of it is being able to give feedback. At the end of your Internship, be sure to offer your insights. It will help to make the Internship worth while for future interns!

Celebrate and share your experiences with others. Be grateful at the same time. Mentor and refer people to your Internship, especially underrepresented folks. Acquiring an Internship can feel like a competition, but it shouldn’t be. Building your network and supporting the people in it is the way it should be.

Lastly…

Best of luck with your journey as an intern! Don’t feel like you’re insignificant. Everyone starts off as a junior before they become senior. You got this!

This article was first published on Medium.

The post 6 Internships. 3 Years. Here’s the good, bad, and ugly (but, mostly good!) | by Julia Nguyen. appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

By: Maya Ebsworth, Keziah Plattner, Iain Nash, Nicholas Moschopoulos. First published on Medium here.

Who are we?

Hello! We are 4 Engineering interns who joined Airbnb during Summer of 2015 to work on the Search Experience team. The Search team is responsible for everything related to finding and booking a home on Airbnb. Over the course of the Summer we have worked on a variety of projects for the team, but our final project was focused on improving how guests digest and interact with reviews. It has been an incredible opportunity, and we’ve helped work on the designs, defined OKRs, and been given significant implementation tasks.

The four of us are: Maya Ebsworth (UPenn, B.S. Computer Science 2016), Keziah Plattner (Stanford, B.S./M.S. Computer Science 2016), Iain Nash (USC, B.S. Computer Science 2016), and Nicholas Moschopoulos (UC Berkeley, B.S. Computer Science 2016).

Why are we working on Reviews?

Reviews set the foundation of trust on Airbnb. Our data scientists have done research suggesting that reviews are among the most important features guests look at when deciding whether or not to stay at a certain home. Guests rely on reviews to make decisions and set expectations, but for homes with many reviews it becomes unmanageable to read through all those reviews and find the relevant information (our most popular home currently has 700 reviews). Because of this, reviews are not as helpful to guests as they could be. We believed that making reviews more accessible would help guests decide which home to book.

Review Upgrades

We identified that there were several ways to make reviews more useful:

• Allowing guests to search over reviews for a home
• Generating highlights of the best reviews for each home
• Allowing guests to vote on how helpful reviews are

1. Searching over Reviews

Iain Nash and Keziah Plattner

For listings with a large number of reviews, guests need to manually sift through page by page in order to find what they are looking for. For example, a traveler going to San Francisco may want to see whether it was easy to find parking near the home by reading reviews that mention “parking”. This becomes more and more difficult as the the number of reviews is increasing exponentially. Our solution was to allow guests to search through all reviews for a given home.

We use Elasticsearch for the review search backend, returning relevant review ids to our main Rails application. The Rails application fetches the full review data and associated objects required to render the reviews. We implemented a backend service to index and return results from Elasticsearch. The initial indexing step is done by loading the reviews database export from S3 and running a batch import to populate the Elasticsearch database.

In order to support updates, we needed the service to receive updates every time a review is inserted, deleted, and updated. Elasticsearch is designed to be near real-time search, so in order to make a review visible in the search service, all we have to do is add it to the index whenever a database update is made available. We used two internal services to support real-time updates: a pub-sub service for statically-typed event messages and a service that produces these events to be consumed. We set up the pipeline for the reviews search service to receive these updates, and updated Elasticsearch as needed.

2. Review Highlights

Nico Moschopoulos

The aim of this experiment was to allow guests to see a short snippet of helpful reviews for a given home. In order to simplify the project, we decided to create a preliminary filter to identify sentences that were of high enough quality to display to guests. The initial approach was to filter using keywords that frequently appear in guest reviews. The set of keywords can easily be updated in the future.

We then applied a sentence scoring function on the filtered sentences to rank results. The sentence scoring function is where a lot of the magic is, and where a lot of the experimentation took place. We tried a variety of techniques including a sum of TF-IDF weights on the words in the sentence, a count of unigrams in the top 500 unigrams over the whole review corpus, and even just looking at the sentence length. We’ll be experimenting with launching variations of review highlights as the Search team improves clarity on the listing detail page.

It’s been awesome experience working on this project. I was given a lot of freedom to decide what to try out, and how to determine what works best. It also gave me, as an intern, exposure to and responsibility for a project end-to-end, starting with defining the scope and working through the architecture. Throughout the Summer I was given a lot of help and mentorship, but it definitely let me see what it would be like to work as a full-time employee. Thanks Lu!

3. “Was this Helpful?” Voting

Maya Ebsworth and Keziah Plattner

For our third experiment, we wanted to see if we could help guests identify helpful reviews, and improve the sort order of reviews. We thought adding the ability to vote for reviews would allow guests identify reviews that they found helpful, and displaying the number of votes would allow other users to see what has helped other guests in the past. And once enough votes are collected, this would allow us to sort reviews based on their helpfulness value.

The backend for this feature is implemented with a general backend service framework developed in-house at Airbnb. This framework abstracts away boilerplate logic and encapsulates service logic in lightweight, reusable components called operators. The operators we implemented connect with the MySQL database to insert, delete and update votes on a review. In addition, the counts and user ids associated with a review are cached for efficient retrieval. Since we are loading upvotes for many reviews, we used MySQL+ Memcached for caching the results and improving performance.

The backend was implemented with generic voting capability, to allow for other types of voting in the future (downvoting, or categorizing a review as funny, etc). This will allow the backend to be very easily extended if the Search team decides to experiment with the voting capabilities in the future. Review helpfulness will be incorporated as signals into other relevance systems as Airbnb continues to personalize the guest experience.

The post 4 Engineering interns talk about their summer internship at Airbnb and what they worked on! appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

I was an intern in the iPod Product Design group in 2008. Things may have changed significantly in the Internship experience since then, so this all really only applies to my experience.

It’s awesome, and compared to most intern experiences I’ve heard about, it ranks close to the top, for the following reasons:

• Meaningful Work – You get put on a real project, with real responsibilities, and have real impact on product outcomes.  You interact with movers and shakers in the company on a fairly frequent basis (I had weekly meetings headed up by the head of all iPod/iPhone Product Design), and your opinion is valued as if you were an employee.

• Great Intern Culture – Almost all the interns are very good at what they do, and are passionate about doing it.  There were frequent intern trips in to San Francisco, nightly volleyball games at 1 Infinite Loop, outings to various Cupertino restaurants, etc.

• Seeing Behind the Curtain of Secrecy – It was super cool to get to be intimately involved in products before they came out, and to see the gritty details of past products, even some that never made it to market. It should be noted, however, that this only applies within your immediate department, as everything outside of your department is on a need-to-know basis.

• Great Intern-specific Events – Even though you’re treated almost as a full employee in terms of responsibilities, Apple does a great job of giving interns cool events such as the Executive Speaker Series (intern only talks by Apple’s leadership team, including Jobs himself), Intern Field Trips to San Francisco, and iContest,which is an intern ideas contest, judged by Apple execs, with amazing prizes*.

• High Possibility of Hiring After Graduation – If that’s what you want, and you did a good job during your Internship.  I don’t remember the exact figures, but a surprisingly large number of Apple’s full time employees came through the intern program.

• Good Pay – If this is important to you, Apple offers the highest intern pay of any Internship I’ve heard of, including the wonderful California overtime rules. I won a 1Tb Time Capsule, and a $500 bonus when a patent was filed on my team’s idea.

This article has been adapted from Nate’s answer on Quora here.

The post 6 Reasons why my internship at Apple was awesome | by Nate Sharpe, former intern at the iPod Product Design. appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

This article was written by Payal Lal on Medium.

I love Startups, and I think its partly because I’ve had amazing experiences working/interning at Startups that shaped my view of entrepreneurship. While working under some Startup founders, I noticed inspiring habits of theirs that makes work really fun and satisfying for me and other Startup employees working under them. In fact, I’m constantly trying to apply these habits to my own Startup projects. So here are 7 of the most inspiring habits of Startup founders I’ve noticed:

1. Caring about how much I learn: My first Startup internship was when I was 18. I was just out of high school on a gap year and was only beginning to familiarise myself with the lean Startup, blank canvas et al.

   While working on one of my own Startup project, I started to intern at Multiple Natures under Steven Rudolph. Steve would constantly ensure that I was learning. He would take the time to explain to me the reasoning behind strategic decisions he took, he would recommend entrepreneurship books to me and once I read them, he would show me how he’s applying those books’ principles to his work. It was a very steep and incredulous learning curve that I am extremely thankful for.

   While its difficult for Startup employers to care as much about their employees learning as much as Steve does, I really appreciate people referring me to videos, tools, books or articles that help me do my job better. Jake, who I work with at eRated is also really amazing at this! It’s not rare for me to find links to marketing related webinars in my inbox.

2. Giving constructive feedback: When I started working at eRated, I wasn’t very clear on the areas within Business/marketing that I was good and not so good at.

   So, when Dan Benjamin and Boaz Cohen would call me out on things I did well and not so well, I felt really good about it. I especially appreciated them pointing out things I could do better and areas I could improve on. Its easy to tell people what you like about them, but it’s not as easy to tell them about their faults. When Boaz mentioned that I could be more structured and organised in the way I work, I was really glad that he pointed it out, because there’s no way I would have ever realised that without someone explicitly telling me.

   Knowing what I need to get better at gives me purpose, and there’s nothing more I appreciate than people helping me do this.

3. Inclusiveness and equality: Within my first hour working with Brian O’Dwyer at Congna Learn, I found myself in a meeting with some of his most important customers. Later that week, he took me to a meeting with one of his mentors. I didn’t feel like an intern. He made me feel like a co-founder, and that motivated me to work harder regardless of equity and pay. My main role was to work on one of the five projects his company was doing, but in my meetings with him, he would tell me about what’s going on with all the other 4 projects.

   Sometimes, I would see areas where I could potentially help or make an introduction, and I would offer to. So ultimately, I ended up doing much more than just that one project than I would have been able to if Brian hadn’t been so inclusive and open about all the other stuff that was going on.

   Yoav, at eRated does this extremely well too, which is why I’ve had the chance to work with him briefly at eRated even though my main role has nothing to do with his!

4. Flexibility: Brian wasn’t particular about what time I worked at and the way I chose to do it as long as I got work done. This was extremely valuable to me as someone who likes to work on her own Startup projects on the side. So if I had some inevitable work for my own Startup projects that needed me to leave early from work or arrive later, I would be able to do that and make up for my internship work at night or on weekends. Having this flexibility made me feel more trusted and not like a corporate employee who had to work at fixed timings.
5. Being very responsive to feedback: No employer is perfect, but they can come quite close if they try. So when Startup founders are active in seeking feedback about ways they can improve the work culture for their employees and ensure that they do their best in implementing their feedback, it makes working for them even better.

   Boaz, Dan and Yoav are especially good at this. They don’t just ask for feedback, but they also notice inefficiencies and make it a point to fix them. Seeing them taking work culture so seriously and persistently is very comforting, since I know that they’ll always make sure that their company is a good place to work at.

6. Being available: My favourite Startup founders are the ones who’re consistently available to listen to new ideas, answer questions or even just go to lunch together and chat about non work stuff. Dan at eRated does this especially well, as does Steve at Multiple Natures. I feel like I can go up to them at any point to suggest new ideas or ask for help-personal or professional.
7. Keeping in touch even afterwards: I’m still in touch with Brian and Steve. We exchange emails quite often, and I think I talk to them more often than I do with some of my old friends. They keep me updated about what’s going on, and sometimes we make introductions for each other whenever we can. I get attached to my work, so I love staying involved even after I leave and helping them advance their Business in whatever way I can. I think I actually see Steve more than some of my family members! In fact, our most recent conversation was about collaborating on one of the projects he’s doing and the one I’ve been working on since we both are into the education space.

Working at a Startup is so much more than just a pay check or a few more bullet points on your resume. The way Startup employers treat their employees makes a huge difference, just like all these Startup employers did for me. If you’re considering working at a Startup, take the Startup founders into consideration more than the specific role or industry. In my experience, that has mattered more than anything else. If you’re a Startup founder yourself, take the time to consider work culture. No one likes to work for someone whose solely focussed on product, growth and revenue. But if you’ve bothered to read this article to the very end, you probably know that already!

The post #InternDiaries: 7 Inspiring habits that I look for in startup founders | by Payal Lal, Intern @ eRated.co appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

For most people, landing an internship at Google seems unattainable.

I mean, who actually gets to work at Google? That one genius kid from high school that you never talked to … but perhaps should have befriended, right?

It’s unfortunate, because such assumptions deter many people from applying, since they feel as though they don’t stand a chance.

The Summer before my senior year in college, I received an offer to intern at Google. When I applied, I thought I had no chance, since I wasn’t an Ivy Leaguer nor did I have a perfect 4.0 GPA. But lo and behold, I got it.

According to the recruiters, landing an internship at Google is harder than getting into Stanford or Harvard. The year I applied, they accepted about 2% of their applicants (1,600 people applied).

I’m no genius, so how did I stand out from the crowd?

1. Put *Interesting* Stuff On Your Resume

Here are a few things I had on mine:

• Pitched Business idea to Mark Cuban
• Rang the NYSE Euronext closing bell

You may be thinking that you don’t have anything cool like that to put on your resume. On the contrary, you might. Talk about your hobbies and interests. Perhaps you’ve been an avid rock collector since age five. Maybe you have every single Beanie Baby ever released. That’s interesting.

They want to know a little bit about you, and what you can bring to Google. This is your time to shine, and share some of the quirkier aspects of your personality that other, more traditional companies may not appreciate.

2. Prepare (as much as you can) for the phone interview

I had two phone screenings.

A preliminary one, and one with a more seasoned Googler. To my surprise the interview was nowhere near as scary as I thought it would be. The recruiter asked me questions about myself, and of course what I knew about the advertising product. They also asked me to discuss some of my favorite Websites/blogs.

Here are a few questions they asked me and other Google interns in the past:

• What would you do with 100 million dollars?
• What’s the next big thing?
• Tell us about a non-Google product that you like. How would you improve it? In what ways would you re-market it? What strategies would you use?
• How would you explain AdSense to my grandmother?
• Tell us something about yourself that is NOT on your resume

3. Googliness: You either have it or you don’t

The on-site interview was the last step in the process.

The purpose was to check for “Googliness.” Essentially, they are checking out your personality to see if you play well with others and uphold the mantra of Sergey Brin and Larry Page (the founders), which is “Don’t Be Evil.”

Two final tips…

Clean up your social media:

This one is self explanatory.

However, it is surprising that people still think that in this day and age companies don’t check your social media. I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth (i.e., a recruiter from Google).

They mentioned during our orientation that they looked up all of us on Facebook. Google is one of most competitive companies, so they would obviously screen their candidates thoroughly.

Leverage your network:

Google is big on referrals.

Their way of thinking is, since you’re amazing, you must know other amazing people. Do you know anyone that already works there? Do you have a friend that knows someone that works there? Any connection, even if it’s a third-party connection, is better than none.

This article was written by Alicia Glenn on ypinsider.

The post How to land an internship at Google — from someone who did! appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

Interning at Splore this Summer has so far been a blast. Here are six reasons why I love working here.

At a Startup you are not just the “coffee girl” or the intern, you are part of the family. Every member of the team is critical to the success of a start-up. Time is of the essence and the chances are that the work you do and the projects you complete will directly impact the team. That being said, it might be a little nerve racking when you are completing your first task, however, have no fear it gets easier. Learning how to take responsibility and initiative at a Startup is beneficial because it gives you the brag-worthy experience you can use to land your next job as well as the confidence that you have the ability to do anything you set your mind to. I remember my first day at Splore when I was so nervous to post my very first post on social media. Now, I do it with grace and confidence.

2. Having the ability to put on “different” hats.

I think this is one of my favorite things about interning at a Splore. Being part of a small start-up gives you access to people from all different departments. It is nearly impossible not to interact with everyone. If you are like me and still not hundred percent sure what you want to do with your life, working at a Startup is definitely a must. The cross-team exposure unique to a start-up allows for the opportunity to gain more experience and insight about what you want to do. As a marketing intern, I have had exposure to not only researching new ideas, and creating new content but I also have exposure to the Design side, Business side and even Programming which is a plus! No one day am I doing the same task, which makes work a lot more interesting.

3. Meeting passionate new innovators.

Another perk of working at a Startup like Splore is the people you have the opportunity and ultimately the privilege to work with. People who venture out and start their own Business have a different mindset than those who work in larger companies. They are innovative and have different ways of approaching problems. Having the opportunity to work with true entrepreneurs can help you learn to see things in a new light. Plus working at a Startup is great for networking and connections.

4. Chill working Environment

Whether you like to listen to Drake full blast while working on your task or prefer to sit with the sun shining, you can because of the laid back culture. What I love about interning at Splore is that I have the freedom to dress the way I please. Granted I still can’t wear pajamas, but I do not need to wear heels. The working atmosphere itself is fun, innovative, and creative. Everyone loves and it is excited about what they are doing and you can definitely feel it.

5. Opportunity

If you want to do more, you can. One of the beautiful things at a Startup is that they will never say no to you taking on more tasks. That being said, you are responsible for your success. You need to be able to identify the opportunity, and deliver. You need to show them you can do it. And when you deliver, you will never feel better.

6. Lastly, being part of something big and that you love.

At Splore, everyone in the team plays an integral role in the company’s success. I am already in love with Splore. The app’s Design is simple and elegant. The concept of following hashtags rather than followers is awesome. I am excited to be part of the team and can not wait to see what lies ahead.

The post 6 Things I love about interning at a startup. | by Kayla Ardebilchi, Intern @ Splore. appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

The first impression we had when we walked into the Myntra office left us dazzled in its creativity and colors. This is truly a unique office where one can find source of inspiration at literally every corner. The office has a dynamic feel to it and the work culture is great with responsibility and freedom granted in equal measure to everyone.
I was reporting directly to Shamik Sharma, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Myntra and was assigned a project by him. He wanted to explore the possibility of developing and using Virtual Assistants by Myntra. This seemed a very futuristic project and also something I thought is too difficult to be completed in an internship,especially as I was working on the project alone.

I started by simultaneously learning NLP and web frameworks that would be needed to host the application. Since this was an unexplored topic then, there were very few resources that could help me in building Virtual Agents or bots. I found doing NLP from scratch to be a very long project and something that I would not be able to complete, luckily I came across IBM’s Watson, which provided tools for NLP and dialog Programming. I learnt Watson and scripted a dialog to buy t­shirts and jeans. In time I also came across api.ai, wit.ai and other technologies that could be used to build conversational agents.

During my internship just as things started to take shape, I was also joined by a Myntra employee, Param, who would help me and guide me ahead .

I eventually decided that as a product the bot will not be able to assist in shopping very well but it could still have a role in customer support. I narrowed the focus of the bot, talked to many people in Customer Care for their input and views and suddenly I had something that was not only useful but very cool too. From being an experimental one intern project this has become something that Myntra is seriously looking into and is providing more resources towards the project. The launch of Facebook Messenger bots that happened midway through my internship has brought conversational virtual agents in everyone’s focus.

So across five months I worked on a topic and Technology just as it was breaking to the world. I got to decide the goals of the project, the tools and technologies to use, build the roadmap for this project along with talking to people across teams for their input and help on the project. The remarkable insights of Shamik and Param have helped me immeasurably in understanding the process of Design and execution of a new product.

It is extremely rare for interns to get such projects on cutting edge Technology, and an environment with so much freedom; I consider myself very fortunate and am thankful for this great experience.

This article was first published on Medium.

The post “At Myntra, you can find a source of inspiration at every corner!” – Navneet Jha talks about his 5 month Myntra internship. appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

On day one of my internship, we were told: FAIL HARDER. Oh, and welcome to Facebook.

This wasn’t quite what I expected… You want me to fail? Well, if you insist, I guess I can try… But we do have to fix our failures afterwards…right?

Over the course of my Summer at Facebook, I’ve come to understand that this mentality reveals a lot about Facebook’s culture and how exactly it allows its engineers to thrive here.

Moving Fast

When I write code, it’s reviewed not only by my mentor and teammates, but by whoever owns the code I touch. This is pretty essential — when I’m writing code for new notifications, who better to tell me “I’m Doing It Wrong” and “lol” at my mistakes than the guy who wrote the entire notifications system?

And these engineers are fast. As in, I finish my feature/bugfix/whatever, triumphantly submit my diff, go get a victory snack (the extra-spicy chips if I’m feeling especially brave), come back and already have three people commenting on my code! Look at all the things to fix! I fix them, we repeat this process something like seven more times, and two hours later it’s “perfect!” Later that day, my code hits employees’ accounts. Later that week, the WORLD.

Hacking Things

Of course, not every feature that’s hacked out is released to the world immediately. Details are deliberated, designs are revamped, and, from the Engineering side of things, our code needs to be polished.

Although I haven’t personally broken the live Facebook site, I’ve certainly broken our development environment for a good 20 minutes, and I’ve broken some employees’ Facebook accounts in various ways (apologies to any of my victims who may be reading this). Nothing like having a captive audience of testers who test your features all day long. And as an intern, there are few things more motivating to fix your mistakes NOW than complaints coming from affected users… like say, Zuck (true story).

Spaceships

Some days, I feel like Facebook is a giant spaceship, and everyone on board is working to make it faster and better, while we’re already en route to Mars. Aside from my absurd tendency to view my own life as if it is a movie (occasionally of the sci-fi genre), my mentor inadvertently fueled this perspective by making an analogy about our project via a Seinfeld quote:

“So I’m on the plane, we left late. Pilot says we’re going to be making up some time in the air. I thought, well isn’t that interesting… obviously they’re increasing the speed of the aircraft. Now, my question is if you can go faster, why don’t you just go as fast as you can all the time?”

And the Facebook ship is moving fast. Every project I’ve seen, worked on, or even heard about, has gone through huge changes throughout my 10 weeks here. Things are launched that I haven’t even heard of, not because anyone is keeping them a secret from me, but because there’s too much to keep up with. The work I’ve done this Summer is light years beyond what I had planned at the beginning of the Summer. But I’m a fan of change, and I’ve certainly improved my ability to get work done with things constantly in flux.

Facebook as a company is moving fast, but we couldn’t do that at the macro level without an environment where engineers can move fast at the micro level. Engineers like hacking on things, but we also like perfecting them, which is a thousand times easier when you can iterate quickly, get expert feedback, and PUSH.

Mo Kudeki is an Engineering intern on the Profile team.

The post On day one of my internship, we were told: FAIL HARDER. Oh, and welcome to Facebook. | Mo Kudeki writes about her internship. appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

Ayush Sharma, a student at UIT-RGTU, Bhopal, shares his internship experiences at Uber, an NGO and his own enterprise.

Charting a career path and strategising for a successful career can seem lofty goals for students from Tier 2 cities and towns across India, even as students from top institutes and metro cities seem to struggle with this despite all the exposure and infrastructure. But we met up with Ayush Sharma, a student from UIT-RGTU, Bhopal who is proving ‘where there is a will there is a way’!

Ayush is a student of Computer Science Engineering and is in his Final Year. Over the last couple of years he has done multiple internships and even started his own printing solutions business. Here is what he has to say about his different internship experiences, including Uber.

Where are you currently interning and what do you do as a part of the internship?

I work with this NGO called ‘Walk For Water’, they are partnering with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan which is a part of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Govt. of India. They are organizing walkathons across different cities in Madhya Pradesh to celebrate World Water Day on March 22, 2017.

I was hired as a HR intern and had to mobilise and recruit other interns including marketing coordinators and graphic designers for executing the walkathon.

Now that the team is in place, I take part in other activities like marketing which includes pitching to local businesses and merchants for sponsorship.

How did you get this internship?

I am actively on the lookout for internships and came across this on an internship portal. I submitted my CV; it was followed up with a submission task and then a telephonic interview.

Where else have you interned and how was the experience compared to this?

In a startup like Uber even an intern like me could pitch an idea and start something new!

I interned with Uber in Bhopal previously. It was my first corporate experience and I was an operations intern then, I learnt a bit about everything. I worked with event management, with the Public Support Representative team even with Media team. In fact after that experience I wanted to learn something new, hence applied for a HR intern position. This was a very different experience culturally; Uber is a young startup kind of place whereas with Walk For Water I coordinate with older experienced persons.

It has given me perspectives on both the kind of work environments.

What are your major takeaways from your Uber experience?

My internship at Uber was a full-time experience, I worked out of their Bhopal office in a typical 10-7 shift but nothing else about the internship was typical! It was always buzzing with things to do, I especially took an interest in their marketing efforts. I had a lot of contacts in the media and printing business, which helped in getting connected for hoarding campaigns as well as radio. I also helped with designing marketing collaterals.

One thing I experienced is that in a startup like Uber even an intern like me could pitch an idea and start something new! It was my first experience in the corporate environment and I learnt how to work with teams across functions.

What was your best moment at Uber?

The best moment was really an entire day, the Partner event in Bhopal. The Uber drivers are the partners and the company continuously works on building a relationship with them and training them to be better at their jobs. Right from finding a suitable venue which would host 500 cars as everyone owned a car, to organizing the collaterals like car stickers it took a lot of pre-event planning.

On the day of event, we learned how to handle drivers who are not used to technology or for that matter even working with a big organization. I learnt what event management means for real!

Tell us a bit about your own startup experience.

Yes, I co-founded Printract.in, an online printing solutions company. We felt there was a lack of such providers in Bhopal and Gwalior and hence started it. I was mainly in charge of the Design and was involved with designing the printing assignments.

It was an interesting and fun journey, one of the best learning experiences of my life. But now I am looking forward to working before I start something on my own.

What are you future career plans?

I have a good amount of work experience through my internships and also continuously working towards strengthening my profile. I even network on Linkedin to increase my chances at landing a good job. Through my stints at various organisations I have learnt that I enjoy operations; business development and am looking for a job in the same.

The post Intern Diary| At Uber, I learnt a little bit of everything appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

The series ‘Suits’ has glamorised the legal profession, with men in dapper suits settling cases across the table, even without the adrenaline rush of the courtroom drama! Several movies and series have showcased the life of legal interns and paralegals in the USA, but how is it in India?

We decided to chat with Saransh Chaturvedi to find some answers about being a legal intern, pursuing a government internship. The third-year student from Faculty of Law at Banaras Hindu University, did his internship in ONGC. Here are a few excerpts from our chat with him.

Let’s start at the beginning, how did you get the internship at ONGC?

As the trend with PSUs, ONGC advertises the requirement for interns in major newspapers. I applied for the same with my CV; it was followed by a personal interview and then confirmation. It is good to keep a look out for such announcements in the newspapers, sometimes even the website is not updated with the information!

Great! Tell us a bit about your experience at ONGC and the kind of work you did there.

ONGC is the largest profit making PSUs in India and in 2016 made profits of over Rs. 14,300 crores.

That’s the magnitude of the organisation! In this huge setup, ONGC deals with a lot of contractors, clients and third party vendors, and once in a while there is a disagreement and cases are filed both ways.

These cases were one of the first things we worked for. The task given was to first write briefs about the cases and then research them to find case points and different perspectives. We used to coordinate with a head for interns and give him my case findings.

Another task was to attend meetings and write briefs on them. These meetings were mostly conciliation meets between ONGC and contractors (the other party). The main task as a legal intern is to research, that itself plays a major part in winning a case!

Any particular moments you remember from the internship that you enjoyed or learnt from?

Yes, once I got a chance to sit in an OEC (Outside Expert Committee) meeting which was a great experience as it involves very senior professionals from ONGC. It taught me a lot about the work culture and the general protocols in such meetings.

This was important to me because at a PSU there is not much hand holding, one is expected to have the basic understanding of subject matter and of the company as well. And with the government, there are a lot of rules and protocols to follow, many of which are not really written down! It’s just a matter of experience.

As a law student, how do you keep yourself updated with the work in the field?

I have been working with the Legal Clinic of our university for the past 3 years and we conduct a lot of activities for the rural population. We conduct village camps, poster exhibitions etc. to make people aware of the laws and their rights.

I have also edited two books, Contemporary Issues in Law and Society, and Contemporary issues in Indian Society which are soon to be published. Knowledge is a lawyer’s main tool and I keep myself updated by participating in Model UN Program and All India Debate competitions. I also have been the campus ambassador for Lawctupus, Racolb Legal and International Council of Jurists.

Anything you would like to share with those looking forward to interning with PSUs?

Internships with PSUs are a rich learning experience primarily because of the range of legal cases they are involved with. You get to research a lot, although you have to make a lot of effort too. You need to keep yourself abreast of all current events and the information of the relevant cases going on. However, this is all office and desk work. If you are looking for more field work then you should work for a NGO.

Are you a legal intern too? Share us your internship experience in comments below.

The post Intern speak: ‘Research’ key for a government internship in ONGC appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

During your summer internship in 2017, you will be introduced to the working world. It might make you happy or even bamboozle you! Check out our list of office areas every intern should know by heart. Read on to know which nook you should keep your eyes on and which one you should stay clear from.

The non-human machinery

Unfortunately, the paperless era hasn’t arrived. Every office requires papers, documents and other fancy paperwork. For such tasks, offices are equipped with machines like copiers, fax machines, scanners, printers etc. As an intern, you should know where these gadgets sit still. Moreover, it’s mostly interns who are asked to use them, if you are not assigned any work! You could also use to get bulk resume copies. Or get a quick copy of your summer internship paperwork.

Conference rooms:

This physical space is where all the engagements are practised. This room absorbs all the strategies, confidential meetings, policy making sessions and all that ish. As an intern, you might be asked to be in charge of taking care of the availability of these spaces. You might also be asked to keep a check if conference rooms are ready and clean before a session. So, be aware and keep notes.

Couch for all the potatoes:

Every work professional is in a way a couch potato. And we all agree on the fact that office chairs at times suck. It’s not only annoying but downright unhealthy to sit in the postures we all do! Keep your eyes on the best couch that is placed in the lounge for you may never know when you have to crash, while looking for general peace in the office space!

Cups of Coffee

Get your dose of black ink in a cup from that vending machine that’s best friends with every employee. Push its buttons when you have to and enjoy whatever may come! Know where this lovely gizmo is seated proudly in your work premises, as you work through the days of your summer internships in 2017.

AC, your spot, light ventilated seat

Find your spot, fixate your bum on the place it loves to be. Find a super ventilated place that is well lit. Try or benefits like privacy, air conditioning and whatever gets your freak on.

Loo- your weeping hide out

Gone are the days when you could relentlessly cry and give no damns about your onlookers! But now you have practically entered adult life. There will be days when you just want to be sad and maybe shed a tear or hundred. Loo is the place to go! And if you are not a fan of the unconventional, you could use the loo for calls Mother Nature places on you.

Nearby areas to run to

We all have those gloomy days when only food can make us elated. As an intern, trust me you will have more such days! Keep a track of areas nearby your office for you to run to. These areas could be a hip restaurant or a garden or a food stall- whatever teeters your totter! Just make sure it’s in the vicinity.

The IT Guy

This human is your superhero. This guy has the solutions to al your technical problems. You must know him. Others that also might be from the heroic clan are- Accounts person, HR, the Finance person and the janitor. In contrast, this could be you – opt for IT internships, HR Internships, finance internships or even others.

Smoking premises:

You might be a nicotine addict or someone who just started. Whatever, just be aware of this area as this is where most of your colleagues blow off some steam. This is a great place to befriend people. After all, smoking buddies are the best buddies.

The alpha of the enterprise

You might really want to be aware of his/ her territory. Boss asking for a meeting might be about nothing but work. But when he/she summons you to the office- acknowledge that glass door and keep pondering what is it about!

Keep in mind these areas and have fun at your office! Let us know your experience in the comments.

The post Summer Internships in 2017 | Office Areas Every Intern Should Know appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

The Ecommerce Retail space is heating up with mergers and acquisitions, leaving the space highly competitive and vying for customer attention. Flipkart, one of the domestic leaders in this space, is striving to wrestle control of and maintaining the number one retail store in India.

We had a chat with Rachit Jain, an intern with Flipkart about his experience of working with one of the biggest online brands. Here are excerpts from our chat with him, compiled in this month’s edition of intern diaries -

Tell us a bit about your academic background.

I finished my schooling from DAV Public School in Gurgaon and then came to IIT Roorkee. Currently, I am in the final year of my course and am specialising in Electrical Engineering.

How did you get the Flipkart internship and how was the interview process?

We have a summer placement process in the third year of our course during which companies come to campus for recruitments. I was selected for the ‘Flintern’ program at Flipkart through this process.

As in a regular campus placement, we were given a programming test after which we were shortlisted based on the performance. A personal interview was conducted at a later stage which was also technical and included questions about programming. The internship was in the summer of 2016.

How was the internship experience itself? What kind of work did you do during the internship?

I worked on a completely new initiative at Flipkart – a subscription service, out of their Bangalore office.

Currently, the e-commerce website only has a regular buying process where customers pick the products and check out. However, customers buy a lot of products especially like beauty and grooming products which they reorder on a regular basis. The insight behind this service was that customers can get a no hassle subscription where they choose to get these products delivered on a regular basis with a simple buy in at the beginning.

I worked in a small team with another intern, the best thing was that I got to work both on the front end and back end of the service. New initiatives take time and a lot of thought process is put in the innovation.

You had mentioned you are an electrical engineering but this sounds like a different job profile? How did you manage it?

Although I am an electrical engineer I have experience in creating apps. In fact, I am a part of the IMG or Information Management Group here at IIT Roorkee. We take care of all the information portals at the college including website, placement portals, online notice boards et al.

My own creation is a mobile app called the Bunkometer, which allows a student to keep a real time track of their class attendance. Attendance can be a tough line to tie and this app ensures and sends reminders to students about keeping up with their attendance. It’s a big hit in college! This app also helped me in bagging my internship at Flipkart as it was discussed during the interview.

What were the major takeaways from the internship? What did you love about the internship?

The entire internship experience with Flipkart was great as such. Some of the key things that I realized were that –

Be persistent:

One needs to be persistent in pushing initiatives and ideas. A lot of ideas and thoughts can get filtered in groups and it’s important that you should not let go of your gut feeling.

Be Collaborative:

I learnt that social dynamics and workplace behaviour play an important part in office culture. It’s important to have a good rapport with work teams as real life situations are more collaborative as opposed to individual work in college

Find a mentor:

It is important to take feedback and keep your mentor in the loop. While the program at Flipkart is structured, it is important that one should constantly keep the mentor updated about your work as it makes an impact on your final presentations and internship report.

Flipkart takes care of its employee engagement seriously! Coming from a hostel environment, the fun work culture was a welcome change. I liked the office and meeting all kinds of talented folks at the office.

Any advice to those seeking internships in Flipkart or similar firms?

It is important to be updated with the latest technologies and there are a lot of online resources which one can follow right from online MOOCs to blog websites. Apart from your course of study, it is great to have other coding and programming skills as it will not only help you get an internship but also a job.

And most importantly remember to keep pushing to get your ideas through and get your work done.

We hope you liked this segment of our ongoing intern diaries. Leave your comments and suggestions below. And if you’re looking for your own internships (summer or virtual), we encourage you to browse through our complete set of summer internships & virtual internships.

The post Intern Diaries: Be Persistent in Pushing Initiatives and Ideas appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

Meet Arjit Bhardwaj, an aspiring candidate for a managerial position in the near future. Right now, he’s fresh off his experience on a campus ambassador internship in Yearbook Canvas. He explains his internship journey through the LetsIntern portal, his learnings on the job and how it will lead him on to his career goals.

Meet the candidate:

Bhardwaj, a third-year student from the Meerut Institute of Technology (B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering), aims to build a career in management. “I want to develop innovative ideas for people belonging to the weaker sections of the society, to help them improve their educational and financial status.”

What was he looking for in an internship?

For Bhardwaj, an internship is likened to a test, which determines how talented or keen you’re towards learning. Someone who applies for at least 3-4 internships on a daily basis, he finally found the right one for himself as part of a Campus Ambassador internship in YearBook Canvas.

The Internship Experience

“I had applied online through a Google form for my internship at Yearbook Canvas as a campus ambassador. After getting shortlisted for the position, a telephonic interview was conducted.” After that, he received a confirmation and started working for them from mid-October, 2016.

We quizzed him about his internship journey and this is what he had to say.

“I felt really lucky to be a part of this internship.”

“The first step was an orientation session for all interns – after I was added to the common group of interns made by the marketing manager of the company.”

“We were assigned different tasks every month. We had to complete them within a given time period mentioned on that task. These tasks were both offline and online.”

“As time went by, I didn’t even realise that we were on the last part of it. I was also awarded a title for the best ambassador of the month at the end of the internship.

What did you learn from your internship experience?

“I originally thought that this a normal internship just as many other students think. It wasn’t. When I saw students from IIM’s and all the other tier-1 colleges of India, as my co-ambassadors, I pulled up my socks and started working harder. I learned that the most important thing in this internship is that your rise to the top is determined by how hard you’re willing to try for it. I learned how to compete in different situations.”

Has it also helped him become more ‘ready’ for the job market?

“You have to compete for a better future in the corporate world. After my internship experience, I feel ready to get into this world, with my eyes on the target and an in-built confidence.”

Working with LetsIntern

Bhardwaj had found this internship through the LetsIntern portal, though it was not the first one he had applied for. “I must say if you are a fresher, then you should apply for 6-7 internships to get shortlisted for one or two. I used to apply for 5-6  in the beginning, coming down to 3-4, where I was shortlisted for all of them and chose the one which I found best.”

In fact, he has maintained his relationship with LetsIntern for over a  year. He has used it to take up internships from time to time.

“My whole journey goes smoothly throughout the year and I have added reflective things in my personality through the portal.”

He concedes that the best thing about the internship portal are the fast replies he receives from employers here.

In the end, do you have any tips that can help other students in getting a good internship?

Research whichever internship you’re applying for, he said. “Always have knowledge about the company you are applying in. Be straight forward and passionate towards your goal and answer your interviews with logical answers.”

Thanks Arjit for sharing your story with us – you are one of our featured interns for the day. If you wish to be featured on our blog, drop a word on editor@aspiringminds.in and we’ll get in touch with you.

The post ‘Internship in Yearbook Canvas made me pull up my socks’ appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

An Internship can help you find your footing and help you realize who you are and what you want from a job. With the job market getting increasingly competitive it is all the more important to build your own brand. A good virtual internship can help you do that, and bring you a step closer to your dream job.

Why should you invest in a virtual internship?

“I always wanted to implement all those concepts which were being taught at my B School. Doing a virtual internship provided me with that platform and allowed me to implement those concepts and learn something new each day”, says Anurag Ganorkar.

Anurag bagged his first virtual internship at Coal Shastra through the Letsintern portal. This experience helped him understand consumer behaviour in the B2B market better and also helped him understand the designing and the setting of the market.

How to bag a virtual internship

Anurag Ganorkar did not secure an ideal internship in the first go itself. He applied at many places before finally getting the internship that allowed him to explore himself and gave him the space to use his knowledge to understand and know the market and market policies better.

“I applied for a couple of companies before I got selected for this internship. Letsintern provided me with the perfect platform for it and helped me choose internships and projects as per my knowledge, skills set, experience and specialisation.”

What was the process of selection?

Most internships posted at Letsintern have their own selection criteria, which they specify either at the Letsintern portal itself or let the selected candidates know about it through email. With Coal Shastra, Anurag had to sit for a two rounds selection process. One being an interview round and the other a written test.

Being job market ready

Anurag feels more ‘ready’ for the job market since his internship. He feels that the time and energy he invested in the virtual internship helped become a more rounded individual and allowed him to grow as a team player. It also helped him know his mind and stick to his ideas while bringing him face to face with the realities of the job market and giving him a leg up in tackling all issues thrown in his direction.

Word of advice

“As an intern, it is necessary to find innovative ways of performing the tasks assigned to you. Be open to all the feedback, which might come your way. Lastly, rather than focusing on the company brand, I would recommend you to give top priority to the job profile which the company offers, which tests individuals in the corporate field”, advices Anurag.

Anurag Ganorkar, like many other members of the Letsintern family is a story of success and hard work. Currently working as a Digital Marketing Manager in German Multi- national Sports Infrastructure Company, he acknowledges that a virtual internship is a “great learning experience”.

If you enjoy reading about these latest internship experiences then you can look up our Intern Diaries section. Or, if you want to create your own success story, you can find the right internships here. In case of queries, you can drop us a line in the comments section below.

The post Virtual Internship at Coal Shastra : Internship Diaries appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

Do you remember Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar speech last year? He talked about environment and the need to salvage whatever we can, starting now. Environment has become a hot topic of discussion nowadays. There is no one who is untouched by the atrocities of humans on the environment. The need to sensitise ourselves is now greater that it ever was, and that is what Vireet learned when she did an internship with ICCE.

We caught up with Vireet to learn about her experience as Climate Counsellor at ICCE.

How did you get selected for the internship?

“I got shortlisted on the basis of my cv. Then a process of online questionnaire was conducted”, says Vireet.

The questionnaire grilled her and screened her knowledge to determine whether she was eligible for the task of a Climate Counsellor or not. The fact that she was already a socially responsible citizen helped her case as she got an email confirming her selection within a week.

That’s great! How was your experience as a Climate Counsellor at ICCE?

Vireet says that her experience as a Climate Counsellor was spectacular. She got a chance to associate herself not with something she believed in, but her position of responsibility brought out the leader in her. From highlighting the benefits of climate change to educating people about how they are making the environment sick and what can be done to prevent it, Vireet did it all.

Her experience brought her closure to her fellow earthlings and she felt more connected and inspired than ever.

That is indeed inspiring. What more did you learn from your internship experience?

“My involvement as a Climate Counsellor with ICCE organization helped me become a more responsible individual, develop compassion and an inquisitive mind.”

Vireet was able to bring a qualitative change in the thoughts and action of young people. The sense of belonging and oneness she found there was unparalleled and the fact that she was contributing so much to the society made her feel more sure of herself.

Do you feel more ready for the job market?

“Absolutely”, states Vireet, who thinks an internship is necessary to gain an edge in this fast-paced and highly competitive environment.

Vireet believed in this motto and took a big and impactful step to be an expert in the field of her choice.

Would you recommend Letsintern to others?

“Most definitely”

An internship is absolutely necessary to get ahead in the competition even before it begins. Vineeti experienced the benefits of Letsintern first hand and she is sure she wants others to share her experience and do something fruitful in the future.

Lastly, do you have any tips for other students looking for good internships?

“I believe that it’s important to do some research about the company or the role you are applying for. Research helps you form a perspective about the task you are applying for. Having a perspective helps you identify how you can contribute to the organization. You need to be earnest regarding what you can deliver to them and be eager to learn”, says Vineeti before signing off.

If you want to read more such success stories, then check out our Letsintern blog. To write your own success story, browse through different internships and jump-start your career.

The post ICCE Internship as Climate Counsellor Taught Me Responsibility: Vireet appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.

Hello, Interns!

I mostly sit and wonder what is it about Advertisements? The Ads. I also think about the theory of brainwashing through “subliminal messages.” Does it happen in India as well? Can Nimbu ki shakti vala Dim bar somehow brainwash the Indian masses? Or is it something about us Indians. Well, we will find out!

Here I am with tonnes of questions to put and myriads of anecdotes to narrate.

Everyone you meet has a role to play in your life, they say. Today, I just asked my Boss and mentor a question that might have sent her chills for her child. On that note I started wondering who am I exactly and where am I actually headed with this Internship. I stay in a nihilistic state of mind for the most time of my waking hours. So, this question just drove past my mind.  But, the answer is-

People are by-products of chemical reactions, literally! People are what you Chemical Guys call it– a precipitate. We are all residues of all the action- reaction games we have been playing since we were neonates!  So am I. Well, I am pretty sure it is a complete nonsense that I just bantered. Let me educate you because CBSE didn’t!

And CBSE 2017, oh boy, the topper scored 99.6%. I could barely yank 75% and I scouted a seat in a college, in a field that I have no surety of (I will rant about it later). But do you actually blame yourself? Well, I do not. Even if I did, I would never accept it because I live in self-denial. Paradoxical, right? I really stay calm when I blame it on the CBSE and our pristine education system. Anyway, I am still grateful because now that I do not have to suffer through JEE, NEET, AIEEE, some Joint nonsensical one-day paper tests because I am already in college and it sucks. It is really hysterical how soon-to-be 3-year-olds have to get themselves “enrolled” for Kindergarten admissions! Pfft! What I find even more hysterically sad is the fact that I am studying in a College that I deeply loathe, I attend classes in subjects I detest and I am doing this PR and Advertising Internship for Peach Designs (It should be Leech Designs!) And I have no clue about it. Therefore, the crux is my boss’ daughter and her fellow to-be-classmates are totally winning at life.

And, what am I doing? Totally losing at “adulting”. Being unsatisfied and clueless.  Well, I should have sucked more on my toes back in 1994! Maybe, then I would have gotten some wisdom! But, I clearly didn’t– it is gross. So, for now, walk my way and I will show you the things that you won’t know about an office that deals with showcasing foolish and pretentious stuff about trends that people follow i.e. Advertising and Marketing.

And oh! The heck with this internship and my Boss. GTG, I think he is coming to me.

-Just a Marketing Intern, Poppy.

The post Confessions of a Marketing Intern | Chapter One appeared first on Student Resource - Learning Centre | Letsintern.com.