Lost Internships: A way to understand what's lost and what is not!

Why Internships?

Internships play a crucial role in academic and professional development. Last year, our entire batch was having an internship in hand, some were paid less, some were paid high, some were even unpaid, most of them were academic, some of them were industrial. But when all of us came back to our respective branches, during seminars and independent research sessions, I came to know the students including me, have enhanced skill sets, better practical knowledge , a broader perspective and a better understanding of how the field of study can impact 'technology in hand', 'day to day life', 'society' and 'environment'.

Internships help you to better understand the field you are working upon, it gives you an sneak peek to the corporate or academic life you want to move forward with, it helps you to test your capabilities and find out the areas that need to be focused upon. All this together help you to grow in a defined direction of choice. These are some of the reasons why internship is a mandate in lot many premier institutes all over the world.

I lost my internship due to this COVID-19 outbreak, what should I do now?

Do not panic! If you are a computer science student, apply for bootcamps, datacamps, online hackathons, virtual classes; "Do you have a skill set?" - use it! learn a new skill (If you don't have a skill in hand-Ask those little geniuses - 'Search Engines' about what you can learn, as per your resources). World needs AI enthusiasts, Cloud Computing Enthusiasts, Backend developers, coders, hackers, Blockchain developers, there is a 'dire need of equilibrium in terms of skill sets'. What if 'A black hat hacker is more powerful than a white-hat hacker?' What if your automatic car is driven by someone you even don't know? Think! Every skill that drives the new world is important-Understand this very fact!

For Electronics students, EE or related branches it's time to brush-up your skills, try to learn basics of Electronics and Electrical Components, learn PCB design steps, Modeling tools like: PSpice, Proteus, TCAD, MATLAB, COMSOL Multiphysics, Scripting languages like: Perl etc., from the online documentation available or opt-for the student version. Learn one thing at a time and never forget to search scholarly articles and software websites to stay updated (Try this "Research"+ "Name of Software").

For Chemical Engineering, CE and ME students, try to learn softwares like ANSYS CFD, Fluent etc., OpenFoam, COMSOL Multiphysics, CAD, ChemCAD, OpenModelica, Solidworks, DWSIM, MATLAB etc., (Visit: IIT-Bombay FOSSEE Website for more Open-Source Softwares and Documentation), try to download student versions of software like MATLAB, COMSOL, ANSYS etc.,

I am not an engineer, I have lost my internship offer too, what should I do?

Interested in Data Analytics! Why not give a try? Why not try bootcamps, Google Analytics, Datacamp, to learn a New Skill, after all "to manage data well it needs to be handled well", isn't it? Try working with new start-ups remotely! Not interested in coding? "Why not, give a try to Google Digital Unlocked?" Afterall "Digital Marketing will slowly become a complimentary skill!" No, Not digital Marketing I am an HR, I mean I aspire to be an HR!, Great! then why not learn some basics of Psychology, read some books, or watch psychological thrillers, try to relate and find out how people from different background and different skill sets can help in organisational growth, and what role does psychology plays. After COVID-19 outbreak how HR policies need to be changed? I want to be an entrepreneur! Go ahead! all government policies are open, do cost analysis, design your Minimum Viable Product, conduct a market research, draft a proposal and submit. Nothing much have changed! Except the amount of grant and number of Angel Investors! A little risky time, but you aspire to be an entrepreneur! #I_have_said_it

Conclusion

AICTE has mandated to conduct internship within organisations amid COVID-19 pandemic (Hope credits will not be affected). This is 2020, One can master any skill set he/she aspires to, the need is to properly search for it, grab it and keep using it on virtual platforms (Technical Groups, Code Communities, Student Communities, Discussion Forums, Open Source forums (Github, Linux Community), Virtual Data Camps, Marketing Courses, Courses on Entrepreneurship (Will Suggest: Becoming an Entrepreneur by MITx) etc. Internships are a great way to help you grow academically and Professionally BUT WHO TOLD YOU THAT THERE ARE NO ALTERNATES!

Something more!

On a light-hearted note, not all internships are cancelled, some are on hold and temporarily suspended. Community of doctors, researchers and tech. enthusiasts all over the world are trying to find a way to defeat this SARS-COV-2 virus. Hope things will change for better. Till then stay at home! Enjoy the beauty of Solitude and Ever Changing Miracles of Nature...