After learning from a cousin about the importance of internships for a college student, I started looking for internships through online platforms. I read about one of them in a reputed newspaper. So, without wasting much time, I applied for a few internships. Being an English literature student, I chose the field of content writing.
As I live in a tier-two city with hardly any in-office internships, I was not sure what to do, in the beginning. However, after reading about virtual internships, I thought of applying for the same. Initially, I was rejected by some companies, but I figured being a first year-student, the competition was more intense. So, I started to keep a track of my mistakes and read articles about writing a good cover letter.
A great start
My efforts paid off and I received mails stating that I had been selected for two internships — at Hunterest and Storieo. And excited as I was, I took up both of them.
The selection for Hunterest was through a simple telephonic interview in which I was asked about my educational background and why I was interested in that internship. Storieo required its interns to have a special interest and skills in creative writing, and my resume must have provided that bit of information as I had included all relevant details, and was duly selected.
For Hunterest, I had to write two to five articles regularly on various topics such as lifestyle, tech, food, health, travel, and so on.
Storieo, on the other hand, is a website which publishes short stories and book reviews. There were no deadlines or regular submissions. I could submit a short-story at my leisure and could extend the internship after every two months if I wished, until I completed 20 stories, which was the allotted target.
After the Hunterest internship got over, I grabbed my third internship at Trekteller. During this, I had to write three blogs every day on assigned topics, after doing research on the Internet.
The organisation works internationally and I was required to cover cities such as Paris and a few Australian cities for good hotels, spas, shopping centers, and restaurants that could help tourists.
So, I have worked as an intern for three organisations now in a span of seven months. I have learnt about the inverted pyramid structure for writing good articles for websites and e-commerce platforms. I have also learnt how to write good blogs while unearthing the storyteller in me.
These experiences have brought out a confidence in me that constantly pushes me towards the frontiers of growth and self-development.
Abhipsa Mohanty is pursuing B.A. in English Literature from BJB College, Bhubaneswar
Courtesy: Internshala.com
