Give us a brief introduction of yourself
I have done my schooling in Kolkata. In my college, I used to participate in a lot of events. In my first year of college, I started hosting events. Entrepreneurship skills hit me at that point! In my 2nd and 3rd year, I started to take it more seriously. I was talking to different clients and each day I was learning a lot of new things. I then started to do PAN India events. I, along with a team of my friends, was the first one to hold an event for Sunburn.
How did you get into Wakefit?
I was basically looking for a job in a start-up but not something related to my course. I wanted a change in my field of interest. I wanted to do a job, learn from them, and then build my own start-up. While scrolling through LinkedIn, I found out about WakeFit. There, they had just asked for the name and the contact number. After a few days, they e-mailed me a resume video. After sending the resume video, I received an email regarding an interview. The interview went well and among a group of candidates, I was chosen to be one of the interns.
What were your roles and responsibilities as an Intern at Wakefit?
The journey of my internship was very enlightening. Every single day I was learning and growing. I really appreciate my mentors for always guiding me throughout the journey of my internship. As sleep interns, we were supposed to sleep and track it properly. The work was assigned to us and based on our performance we were given ranks at the end of each week. This helped me to analyse my performance and further to boost it.
How important are internships?
For college students, an internship is something that they should definitely do. While I was doing my internships, I was getting mentored, which helped me a lot to develop my skills and knowledge. I had the liberty to do what I wanted to do, but my mentors were guiding me throughout my journey. We all need mentors, and internships are the best way to be mentored by an organization. If someone is going back home after a tiring day doing the internship, believe me, you are in the best days of your life because you are getting mentored for your professional career.
What skills are the most important?
If I had to hire someone, I would look into a lot of things, not just what they mentioned on a sheet of paper but beyond that; their interests, whether they are multi-taskers or not. For me, being a multi-tasker is very important because if you are a multi-tasker, you know what you are good at. One must try out everything and then find out what is the best skillset for you and then use it for the organisation.
What is the importance of stipends in an internship?
In internships, the interns may not be paid the amount that they deserve. It's the same everywhere. But the mentors are primarily with us because they believe in our abilities. Also, it is a personal decision whether an intern wants a stipend or not. What I suggest is that every intern must receive at least a minimal amount to cover his basics: travel allowances, lunch, and a surplus.
What would you suggest to someone who is in college and looking for internship opportunities?
What I tell all my juniors in college is to build a good LinkedIn profile. We may have heard that LinkedIn profiles are underrated, but having a good LinkedIn profile is highly beneficial for one who is in college. It may not necessarily be a LinkedIn profile but can be an Instagram or Twitter profile too. Give out content and show engagement. Don’t be shy; be open to suggestions and learn from the people around you.