What do you do if you want to stand out as an intern in a CSR internship?

To stand out as an intern ?? Polishing your LinkedIn profile and ensuring that your social media handles are career-friendly?(or set to private), a personal website is a great way to showcase your personality, highlight non-work related experience (like side hustles, class projects, volunteer work, or relevant interests). Most importantly you need excellent communication skills , a positive attitude and adaptability are all qualities of a good intern. Developing these skills and characteristics can enable you to stand out to a future employer and potentially increase your chances of obtaining an internship.

To Stand Out as a CSR Intern Proactive Engagement: Initiate tasks and seek additional responsibilities beyond assigned duties. Research Skills: Conduct in-depth research on CSR initiatives, trends, and relevant case studies. Creativity: Propose innovative solutions or ideas for CSR projects or campaigns. Networking: Build relationships with colleagues, industry professionals, and community stakeholders. Initiative: Volunteer for projects, offer assistance, and demonstrate a willingness to learn. Adaptability: Embrace challenges, demonstrate flexibility, and adapt to changing priorities. Professionalism: Maintain a positive attitude, meet deadlines, and communicate effectively with team members.

Based on my experience and going through my professional profile, I haven't done any CSR internship but YES, I have done a rural visit from my college. We got to learn different perspective of people living in the villages, the way they organise themselves for an internal meeting, the way they use old methods to start a micro venture to go, how women are engaged into SHG work and cultivating mushrooms. Therefore, it's very important to learn different aspects of the CSR initiatives that people do right Infront of our eyes and try to strengthen the same. It's ok to go for a CSR internship but you learn through interactions from our daily day life.

To top the class, especially when you are an intern in CSR, well, you can start with understanding the objectives of the organisation in its CSR sphere. What does the organisation wants to achieve through its CSR initiatives, it could be to give back, assist the unserved and underserved, to assist with nation building, to show it cares, or it could even be a brand building act. Once you know the objectives, find out how this can be implemented with maximum impact and best results. To do this, be proactive, get your research mill working. A good way would be to study what other organizations are doing or have delivered. Seek information, speak to potential collaborators, and then sketch your CSR strategy. You will be on track!

Being inquisitive is also a very good professional form of self-motivation which can be honed while you work as an intern. It's important and ok to know about the minute details of the project you are involved in as that will give you a total understanding of it. When you have to join a company for full-time work, there is no time to learn or know more about the minute details, you just have to deliver.

To stand out as a CSR intern, be the one who not only does the job but also finds ways to add value. Show initiative, like drafting a proposal for a green initiative or a community project. Dive into research on CSR trends and present your findings. Be the intern who's always ready to lend a hand, ask insightful questions, and connect the dots between CSR and business impact. Your goal? Be memorable for your enthusiasm, creativity, and proactive approach.

One thing I found helpful starting out was taking initiative on projects, showing genuine passion for social and environmental causes, and always being proactive in seeking out new opportunities to make a positive impact.