An internship is a short period of work experience offered by an organization. It is a golden opportunity for any student who wants to get some practical exposure during their college studies. Also, it gives a kick start to one’s career because any company would like to hire an experienced candidate rather than a fresher.
What is the work of an Intern?
As an intern one can work 1-6 months in an MNC. In some companies, it is like part-time work but in the majority of MNCs, an intern has to devote as much time as a regular employee. Mostly the stipend/compensation of an internship is quite less but if you get into top MNCs it can be good enough.
How to apply?
Let’s look at the various methods through which you can apply -
1. Company’s career page:
Every MNCs roll out open positions for interns on their careers page. You should keep a close eye on them and as soon as you find an intern role suitable for you, just apply from there directly.
2. Employee’s referral:
Nowadays, one should also focus on professional networking just like making friends on other social media platforms. One should keep updated his/her LinkedIn profile by posting about your accomplishment, making more and more connections.
Doing this can prove a boon to you. You can ask your connections to refer you for an open position in the company they are working for.
3. Cold Emailing:
You can get the email id of the HR of that company from its previous employees or interns. You can send your resume to their respective email id. If you send many emails, chances are high that you will hear from them very soon.
4. On-campus hiring drive:
If you are studying in premium colleges of the country, then you will find many companies coming to your campus to hire interns. You can simply contact the Placement cell of your college and if you fulfill eligibility criteria then you can sit for the interview of your dream company. This is the easiest way to bag a good internship when compared to the above 3 methods.
How to get selected In MNC?
So we know how to apply for a certain position in a company. But now, we will see what we can do to increase our chance to get selected.
1. Making Impressive and ATS compliant resume:
Big MNCs get tons of applications per week, so what makes you stand out in them? It is your resume that is initially screened by an ATS (Application Tracking System) so the priority while making our resume is that it should be ATS compliant.
There are many tutorials available on YouTube about the same. Also, there are various online tools on the Internet like Overleaf where you can choose some good-looking and industry-accepted resume templates and edit them for free.
2. Being Proficient at least in one Programming Language:
Once your resume gets selected, you will receive an email or call regarding an online test or interview. In this, you will be asked some coding questions which you can answer only when you have a good command of any programming language.
Although, in most of the companies there is no foundation on the programming language you can solve problems in any language. But it is recommended to choose one out of C/C++, Java, Python.
3. Mastering Data Structures and Algorithms:
As of now, your resume gets selected and you have developed a good command of a programming language. Now it’s time to practice Data Structure and Algorithms, this develops your problem-solving ability.
In a real interview, the interviewer will throw a question to you and he/she expects you to come up with an optimal approach and then to implement that approach in your favorite language.
Many websites have tons of problems that were asked in a real interview, you can practice them so that you can ace the interview. Some of those websites are - LeetCode and HackerRank.
4. Having In-depth knowledge of CS Fundamental:
Many subjects are taught in the second and third year of your engineering program curriculum which is frequently asked in interviews. Most of these subjects are theoretical and concept-based.
These are -
- OS ( Operating Systems )
- OOPs ( Object Oriented Programming )
- DBSM ( Database Management System )
- CN ( Computer Networks )
Studying these subjects in-depth will help you in interviews and GATE and other competitive exams.
MNCs do not give much attention to your development skills like Web Development, Android Development, Machine Learning, Data Science, etc. But if you are familiar with these it will surely give an edge to your application.
Bonus Tips
- Start preparing today, Since students are more aware of opportunities now the competition has increased. So, the earlier you start chances for bagging internships at a reputed MNC increase.
- Learn how to do self-study, you will find plenty of study guides on the Internet about each topic that has been discussed above. You need to explore them on your own and get the most out of them.
- Compete with your peers, You will find many of your batchmates who have similar goals. Start practicing with them, you can maintain healthy competition among yourselves. This will be a source of motivation for both of you.