My Internship Experience

Apart from participating in Hackathons and Coding Competitions, I also got numerous internship opportunities during my Engineering.

In order to gain experience as a fresher, you have two options. You can create some side projects that solve real-world problems or look for an internship opportunity to gain an industrial experience.

Internships are underrated. If you get an internship opportunity, go for it.

You will :

1. Learn how an industry works.
2. Learn important technical as well as non-technical skills (Team work, Communication skills etc.)
3. Get a practical understanding of software development life cycle, which involves so many aspects other than just coding.

During my 6th semester, I got an opportunity to join a startup as an intern with a meagre stipend.

I didn't worry much about the money I was earning because I knew I would get to learn a lot. The founders were really friendly and encouraged me a lot during the initial days. I was lucky to have gotten the opportunity to build their mobile and web platforms from scratch.

As I had already published a few apps on Google Play Store by that time, it was easy for me to pick up and develop various challenging features. I was introduced to an entire new stack for developing the web version. During this process, I got to learn a lot. Many people including some of my classmates wondered why was I putting immense efforts into something that wasn't paying me well. But my only goal was to up-skill myself. These projects played a crucial role in my transition from a back-end to a full stack developer.

Working on my skills proved extremely beneficial for me and helped me build an authentic and great portfolio. I am not intending to imply "settle for lesser money". Of course, one should get paid as one deserves. But, sometimes, the experience and the skills gained seem fulfilling and more valuable than the monetary benefits.

If you don't get an internship opportunity, use your weekends in creating side projects. I used to do the same and it offered me a huge advantage during my interviews.

The skills and the experience gained through working on projects, could match the interviewer's expectations of knowledge acquired during internships. As an aspiring Software Engineer, you'll have competitive advantage if you can prove that you have the potential to convert any idea into a working product.

?In the next episode, let's discuss about the interview etiquette.

See you in the next one.

Wish you a great success !

Vaidhyanathan S M