Hello Everyone!
I got something amazing to share, I have joined Grofers as a React-Native Intern. I am very grateful to join them and very thankful to my family, friends, and mentors who have supported me.
So before Grofers, I was scouting to get a summer internship, and the more places I applied to, the more rejections I faced. Then I took a step back and started analyzing what I was doing wrong there, it turned out that I was playing the wrong game. So I took my time and played my cards right.
That's why I am writing this blog, to help you all with getting your first internship and raising your Stonks. Also on a side note, it doesn't include FAANG.
How To Consume This Piece Of Content
Read this blog once. Then re-evaluate all of the points. If you find them good then give it a shot. These points worked for me, but there is no certainty that it will do the same for you. Just because I got an Internship at Grofers, doesn't mean that this is the only guide that will help you grab an internship.
Re-Think Internships
What do I mean by this? see the problem with most of the students is that we look at internships as a way to boost our resume, which is kind of true. But at the time same many of us go way too desperate and end up taking wrong decisions. Internships can vary and provide you a different experience some of them will provide you training, some might give you a taste of what goes into building a product and some are more research-oriented.
So before applying for any designation just to boost your resume, Take a step back and analyze what kind of internship you are looking for?
Build A Primary Skill
Instead of wasting your time in posting #Interested on every Linkedin internship post. Build one primary skill around any domain you like, because your proficiency will always stand out rather than having 10 random things you mentioned in your resume.
Create, Showcase and Engage
When you are learning anything build some projects around it. On the same side create your digital portfolio, by sharing your learning and work on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Blogs. The moment you make your work public it will welcome criticism which will help you to grow more and engage with other developers to break out from your bubble. Don't limit yourself to just post about your hustle. Be more open, share your thought process and ideas, And believe me it actually welcomes more opportunities.
Please don't forget to help people who are just starting they will ask these amazing questions which even you couldn't imagine.
When you are active on these platforms you will come across job openings much faster. if you are actively showcasing your Proof of work here, getting a referral won't be that tough.
Example
So back this week I posted openings at Grofers on my Twitter account
I had more than 50 DMs when going through most of the profiles the thing I realized was that it becomes very hard to evaluate a candidate based on their resume. Because if you are applying for an internship that means you are in college and you might not have great projects to showcase. You might be talented enough to get hired but we can't evaluate you with 2-3 minor projects. That's where writing blogs and sharing your work comes into the picture, If we can see some nice blogs on your profile or maybe your learning from your Twitter or LinkedIn profile. It becomes easy for the next person to evaluate you faster.
Note Always put a nice readMe that explains your project and link some video showcasing the project or Live-Demo. Consider this you are not the only one asking for a referral, the next person is already occupied with all the DMs they might not have the time to open code and evaluate.
How To Scout For The Right Company
As every student out there you will go to Internshala but the crowd is huge there, sure you can try your luck there.
I will recommend you to try at startups, So how to know which startup is actively hiring? The answer is yourstory go here and search Funding alert and you will now get a range of startups that are recently funded.
Before jumping into any company which pays you well, take a step back and start shortlisting these companies by looking at the company products and analyze which one amazes you, where you would like to contribute.
The reason I am asking you to look at these things first is that if you really love the product you want to work on, you will definitely give your 1000000% to it.
By 1000000% am not asking you to work 18 hrs/day, what I meant by that is that you will love doing your work and will try to pitch more ideas to improve the product.
How To Get An Interview
You have shortlisted the companies now it's time to get an interview.
Find their job portal and see if there is an opening for the same skillset you have. If they got the full-time role for your domain and skill-set but don't mention any intern role, don't lose hope.
Try messaging them and show your interest in the product and why you would like to contribute to it by being an intern, don't forget to attach your resume. If you manage to grab their attention and they find your profile good enough you will definitely land an interview.
As your work has always been open via Twitter, LinkedIn, and Blogs, the next guy doesn't need to open 10 pages to see your work.
Cracking The Interview
Before appearing at the interview, do your homework first. check what problem the product is trying to solve and what the company is actually trying to do. Read their blog if they have any.
Make sure that you are good with your platform-specific knowledge, if you are working on react-native your knowledge should be around mobile development in general. No one is asking to explore every framework or library but having a decent idea about them definitely gives you the upper hand.
Now when you are giving an interview the interviewer will first make you comfortable, In that given time frame don't talk about what's already there in your resume. Most of the interviews go bad because there is a unidirectional conversation where the interviewer is asking you questions, make it bidirectional.
What do I mean by bidirectional?
When there is some live coding round, instead of jumping towards the solution. Ask the interviewer questions but valid ones and make the whole session more interactive rather than just solving your problem. The interviewer isn't looking for the right solution. They try to evaluate how you approached the problem, how well you gathered all the information prior to jumping towards a solution.
Ask the interviewer how they are handling this amazing XYZ feature, how's the work culture there, or what are their views on something.
When answering your questions, you should be more consumer-oriented that how your work can bring an impact on the consumer rather than the code part.
When giving your interview your goal shouldn't be to showcase that "I am the best here" because even the next person doesn't expect it. If you ask the right questions, show your curiosity and present yourself in a way that "Yes! I am not the best out there but am ready to learn and grow with the team"
Try, Improve And Repeat Until You Land A Internship And Raise Your Stonks
Takeaways
- This guide is more of How to approach for internship in different way.
- All of these might not work for you, so please re-evaluate all the points.
- Please don't consider it as the only way to land an internship.
- Know yourself and decide what kind of internship you are looking for.
- Build one primary skill because in the end, you need to work on something in the internship and it needs some skill.
- Showcase your work on a different platform and engage with awesome developers around you.
- Help people who are just starting with programming or the framework you have build skilled.
- Write blogs
- Use yourstory to find out the startups that are recently funded.
- Analyze which product amazes you, and where you would like to contribute.
- Apply if there is an open position, or try reaching out to them via DM.
- Make sure your platform knowledge is decent enough.
- Read about the company engineering blog.
- Make your interview conversation more bidirectional.
- Tell about the things which are not in your resume.
- Ask the interviewer good and valid questions around engineering and problems.
- First gather all information about your problem instead of jumping right towards a solution.
- Don't try to showcase yourself as "I am the best here".
- Show your curiosity and present yourself in a way that "Yes! I am not the best out there but am ready to learn and grow with the team"