Interns Speak On What It Is Like To Work With A Start-Up

According to a recent report, India currently has more than 73,000 registered Start-Ups. Not only coming up with new business ideas and working on them, but these start-ups are also providing employment.

If you have also got a chance to join a start-up or want to know what it is like to work at one, Rashmi Dixit and Pratyush Verma who’ve interned at an ed tech company and a real estate firm are willing to share their internship journey.

Rashmi Dixit, Ed-tech Company

I did an MBA from Central University, Karnataka in 2021 with a specialisation in Marketing. During my final semester, I joined a leading ed-tech firm as a marketing intern. The main branch of the company is in Bengaluru, while I interned at the Hyderabad office. It was a three month paid internship and I received a stipend of Rs 8,000 per month. As an intern, my day to day responsibilities included researching marketing trends, creating content, marketing materials, effective marketing strategies, collaborating with the advertising team, managing the company’s social media handles and discussions with the manager regarding upcoming events and many such daily tasks. Initially, I felt it was a hectic work schedule but after 10-15 days, my perception and performance improved drastically. I began indulging in the work with keen interest and learned many things.

Differences do exist between theory and practice. What I read and understood from a theoretical point of view is very different when it comes to putting it into practice. A deep insight I gained from internship is that gaining practical knowledge is vital to learn effective work style. During the internship, I was able to network well with the entire team in the office, they treated me as an equal. My reporting manager was very helpful and patient, he helped throughout the internship be it suggestions or pushing me to think beyond the box. To think back, it was a valuable experience.

Also Read | Intern Speak: Experiences of Interns In HR Industry

Pratyush Verma, Real Estate Company

I graduated in BBA with a specialisation in Sales in the month of March this year and immediately after that, I got an opportunity to do a 2 month paid internship in a newly established real estate company in NOIDA. The stipend was Rs 8,000 per month. Apart from me, there were two other sales interns as well. In the first two days of our internship, we were given short training about what we had to do in the entire internship period. The sales manager of the company was our reporting manager as well.

We had to call at least a hundred people everyday and convince them to buy a flat in a particular area or society. Everyday, we were given a long sheet with the names, phone numbers and email ids of the prospective property buyers. Almost 99 per cent of the people used to hang up the phone the moment they heard that I am a real estate agent. However, few of them used to show interest in my deals. The work was to shortlist such interested buyers and share their details to my manager who took it ahead.

Apart from calling people, I was also asked to make PPTs of the properties that were sent to the shortlisted people. Initially, the job profile that I was given made me feel that I have joined a call centre and the work was nowhere near to what I had learnt during my BBA. But gradually, I understood that talking to people gives a lot of understanding of their needs, mindset etc., and how they one can convince them to become prospective buyers. Afterall, the main objective of a salesperson is to sell as many products or services as they can. I completed my internship quite well with a lot of takeaways. I also learnt some marketing skills there. My internship certificate and work-experience helped me in getting the job of a junior sales executive in the company where I am working right now.

Also Read | Find Out What 4 Interns Learnt During Their Internships