3 reasons why you should intern with a startup this summer

Nikhil Sonna, a B.Tech. in Electronics and Telecommunications, was placed at an MNC as a web developer, but he wanted to pursue a career in core electronics. After the completion of the final semester exams, all his friends were gearing up for post-graduation, while he was confused as to what to do next. So, looking out for something new and exciting, he finally decided to get himself an internship experience. Soon enough, he was hired by a startup. There, Nikhil’s work domain was Analog and Digital Design, and he couldn’t be any happier. He finally got to follow his passion and therefore, performed exceptionally well during the internship. In the end, he was offered a pre-placement offer which he gladly accepted instead of joining the MNC he previously had a placement offer from.

Summer is​ the ​most popular season for internships​ ​among the students.​ With summer approaching, the hunt for internships has started. Gone is the time when students just wanted to spend their vacations lying on their couch, binge-watching their favourite TV series. Now, they want to do something productive during their vacations and what can be more productive than doing an internship, right?

Students are now voluntarily drifting off-course from the norm and are keen on interning with startups for they have understood the importance of the learning opportunities in a startup. Some of you might be confused, why would someone go for startups instead of MNCs. Let me help you understand, with the following points, why you should also intern with a startup this summer:

True learning experience

Unlike MNCs, startups have a flat hierarchy and smaller teams which makes it easier for the mentors to pay a concentrated attention to each intern under their umbrella, thus resulting in a better learning experience for the students. Also, you are often given responsibilities which require you to work on crucial projects right from ideating to planning and executing it. In fact, you might even be given an opportunity to handle a team of other interns and mentor them.

Develop an entrepreneurial spirit

Startups are usually incubated with an aim to achieve something truly disruptive. Contributing even a little to its journey towards success might turn out to be one of the most valuable experiences in your career and life. Most probably, you’ll work directly with the founders or co-founders on projects they are passionate about and gain entrepreneurial qualities like critical thinking, taking calculated risks, passion and perseverance to make things happen, optimism, leadership, team management, etc.

Explore your career options

Startups often have a limited staff and therefore, you are required to handle multiple responsibilities from time-to-time. While working on them, you get to perform tasks of varying conventions and thus, learn and explore different career paths you can follow and finally decide where your interests truly lie. In addition to the exposure, you get to work with other teams of the startup, which can be of great help in understanding different aspects of a business.

Another attraction point of interning with a startup is that the work environment is not too formal. You are not required to follow a certain dress-code and courtesy of the flat hierarchy, you don’t have to go through a long process in order to reach out to the senior members. Also, while working with diverse teams, you’ll meet people from different backgrounds which can prove to be helpful when you are looking for full-time jobs in future. So, what are you waiting for? Go grab yourself an internship with a startup from the abundance of opportunities out there!

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the publication