Are you a fresher looking to learn how to get an internship in your early college days, then you need to be familiar with the right techniques on how to crack an internship easily. Here, is a complete 21 day plan to get an internship as an undergraduate student.
If you are wondering how to get an internship in your college days, then then you’ve landed at the right place. If you follow the right path and the right plan you can become zero to hero just within a few weeks. From having no experience at all to signing your first offer letter in 3 weeks, the journey is not difficult, it just requires focus and determination.
Read along to know the 21-day action plan to learn how to get an internship in India without any prior experience, even as a fresher. This 3 week plan will provide you with the best internship tips including resume building, LinkedIn profiling, interview preparation tips and everything you need to know to get your first internship.
Table of Contents
21-Day Action Plan On How To Get An Internship?
Internship is not solely about luck, it is a strategy, a clear plan with a positive mindset to work hard and achieve your goals. Most of the students apply aimlessly into any internship opportunities they come across and then when they do not get selected it shatters their heart. You need to understand that applying is one part of the story but preparing yourself for the opportunity is where the real game begins.
You should be skilled enough that no company can ignore or reject your resume. Let’s suppose you run your own company, would you be interested in hiring someone with no skills and knowledge? No, right? Then how can you expect other companies to do the same? Instead you can upskill yourself, gain relevant skills and certifications, enhance your resume, and boom your first internship is no longer far away.
Step-By-Step Guide To Get Your First Internship
Have a look at the step-by-step guide that you must follow to get your internship. It starts from the basics and takes you to an advanced level. Even if you are wondering how to get an internship abroad, this master strategy can help you apply in top companies and get selected.
It is the most beginner-friendly and easy to follow guide on how to get an internship. If you are keen on learning, upskilling and growing yourself then this is the perfect opportunity. Dedicate your 21 days and meet an internship-ready version of yourself.
Week 1: Build Your Foundation
In the first week of preparing for your internship, you have to focus on strengthening your basics and building your foundation. It includes first of all choosing the right direction, profession or field for yourself followed by resume building and maintaining a LinkedIn profile.
Day 1-2: Choose Your Career Direction
Take your time, analyse how the life of different professionals look like, what are their roles and responsibilities then make a decision regarding the field or profession you want to choose for yourself. Make sure you have interest in that field and you are not influenced into taking that decision because at the end of the day it will be you who will have to work.
After you’ve decided on the field, now start your research. Find out the top skills and tools required for that role. You can try to find short term courses, crash courses etc.
Day 3-5: Learn and Upskill Yourself
Enroll for short-term online courses based on your domain and field of interest. You can check out platforms like Pregrad, Coursera, Udemy etc. These platforms offer various beginner-friendly certified programs which can help you enhance your skills and at the same time, the certificates will add great value to your resume and LinkedIn profile.
Alongside, you can also work on personal projects, like if you are from the designing field then you can re-design an existing product, if you’re from web development or similar fields looking for engineering internship, you can develop a website of your own or a simple mobile application, or anything based on your field. This helps you stand out and gives you an advantage in the selection process.
Day 6: Create a strong Resume
Resume is the first thing a hiring manager looks at, a clean and professional resume can get you a job whereas a messy and improper resume can be the sole reason why you miss the chance to grab a life-changing internship opportunity.
Make sure to keep your resume clean using a professional design and within a one page limit. You can highlight your key skills, academic/personal projects, certifications and volunteer work. Also, use action words like ‘created’, ‘managed’, ‘led’, ‘designed’ etc.
Day 7: Create/Enhance your LinkedIn Profile
If you do not have a LinkedIn profile then first of all go and sign up on LinkedIn because it is a platform where most of the top companies hire interns and full-timers. Also, if you have the profile, now is not the time to relax. Make sure to constantly update your LinkedIn with your recent achievements. Add a professional profile photo in your profile and ‘About’ section which must highlight your key skills and goals.
You must connect with industry-leaders, mentors, alumni, colleagues, friends and everyone else to build connections (that’s how LinkedIn works). LinkedIn can help you get your first internship if used correctly. Follow the official company’s pages for updates.
Week 2: Apply Smartly Not Randomly
Blindfoldedly applying for internships will not help you to get an internship. You must focus on your field, enhance your skills and focus on targeted applications to increase your chances of getting selected. Let’s learn how you can do that in just 1 week.
Day 8-9: Make a List of Target Companies
You can start by making a list of top 20 companies which are offering internships for freshers in your field. This will help you stay focused and you will be easily able to apply in all the companies one-by-one.
Since this is your first internship and if you do not know how to get an internship online or how to apply for internship as a student, you can simply use platforms like LinkedIn, Internshala, Unstop, official websites of the companies, job portals, etc. to find and apply for the internships.
| ⚠️ Make sure to apply from official websites or platforms only. |
Day 10-12: Personalize Every Application
Now, the question arises how to apply for internship without experience? You must always make changes in your application before applying for each internship. Never ever send the same cover letter to every company.
To increase your chances of getting hired, you can mention the name of the company, why and how you’re the perfect fit for the role and also write how you can contribute to their organization. This shows that you’re genuinely interested in working with them and can be an asset to the company.
Day 13: Expand Your Network
Networking is the key step when you’re applying or looking out for internship or job opportunities. Expand your network, let your friends, professors, family and everyone know thaṭ you’re looking for an internship.
You can join college placement cells, WhatsApp groups, LinkedIn communities to stay updated and grab any opportunity that comes your way.
Day 14: Apply Daily and Track Status
You must send 8-10 applications daily because the competition is very high. People are constantly upskilling and getting jobs, you have to back up and work hard to secure your position. Applying in multiple companies (targetted not random) will give you an advantage that you might get selected in Company B if Company A has already hired someone else.
To track your progress, you can maintain a separate spreadsheet. Mention the company name, date applied, role (for which you applied) and follow up status in the sheet to track your application status.
Week 3: Ace your selection process
The goal for the third week of ‘how to get an internship in 21 days’ series is to prepare well for interviews and ace the selection process. Follow up with recruiters and take a step forward towards signing your first offer letter.
Day 15-16: Prepare for Interview
Some of the most common questions that recruiters ask repeatedly are:
- Tell me something about yourself.
- Why do you want this internship?
- What skills can you bring to this role?
- Why should you be hired?
Now, answering these questions at random without any prior preparation can be a difficult task for anyone and especially for a fresher. Prepare the answer to these thoroughly for creating a good impression on the interviewer.
Mention your key skills, achievements and how you can contribute to the company while answering questions. Show them that you’re curious to learn and interested to work with them.
Read More: How to prepare for an interview?
Day 17: Give Mock Interviews
You can practice interview sessions with a mentor or a friend. Record yourself while practising to note down the mistakes and improve your body language, fluency and clarity.
Many AI tools like Grow with Google, Interviews by AI, etc. are also available with which you can practice and improve for your interview session.
Day 18: Go through Technical Skills
Practice and do the revision of your technical skills and concepts especially if you’ve applied for an engineering internship to clear the technical round of interview without any hindrance. Many companies conduct a technical round (role-specific) before finally hiring a candidate.
You must be ready with your sample projects and to complete any task or assessment given to you to grab any engineering internship.
Day 19-20: Follow-Up Emails
Many people get a guide on how to get an internship in India or how to get an internship Abroad but still lack follow-ups.
If you’ve not received any update regarding your application status for more than 15 days then you can politely remind the recruiters about your application. This helps to get you and the recruiter on the same page. After the follow-up mail the recruiter will most likely respond within a few days.
Make sure that you express interest without being pushy. You don’t have to spam the recruiters with hundreds of mails, just one follow-up message is enough.
Day 21: Acceptance
You will receive an official mail once you are selected. Revert with a professional mail for acceptance of the offer. Make sure that all the important details are well-stated like the joining date, duration, working hours, stipend(if applicable) etc.
Keep applying, and follow the above procedure on ‘how to get an internship’ to get your first internship.
Remote vs On-site: Which Internship is Better?
Remote internships and on-site internships can both be a good option depending on the situation and the type of individual who will be doing the internship. Let’s have a look at the key differences and similarities in remote and on site internship and which one you should choose.
Remote internships are a better choice for those people who want to save money on travelling, and want flexibility to work from anywhere, anytime. Remote internships are best for early college students so that they can manage studies along with internships.
On-site internships give real world exposure and a chance to learn from your seniors face to face. On site internships are better because you get real time feedback. Over time, you will also adapt to the working culture and it will help in gaining real business insights.
| BASIS | REMOTE | ON-SITE |
| Flexibility | Fully flexible, you can from anywhere and anytime (some companies offer flexible working hours) | No flexibility, there’s a fixed schedule and you must be physically present |
| Travel Expenses | No travel expenses | There are travel expenses (based on your and office’s location) |
| Mentorship | Only virtual guidance | In-person mentorship |
| Workplace/Real-world exposure | Less, because there is no daily office environment | High, full workplace environment with real-world interactions |
| Best suitable for | Early college students (1st year), part-timers | Final year students, people looking for gaining hands-on experience |
How to Manage Internships With College?
When you are learning how to get an internship in India or how to get an internship online, one of the biggest challenges you might face is how to manage college and internship side by side.
You will have to learn to prioritize tasks and formulate time management strategies. This will help you to stay productive and you learn as well as earn (paid internship) side by side. You can start by making a weekly plan that includes your lectures, revisions and internship work hours. Mention your daily to-dos in the morning and check the list before going to bed.
This way you will complete your daily tasks and achieve weekly goals without over-burdening or pressurizing yourself.
If you’re trying to figure out how to apply for an internship as a student then remember that clear and effective communication is your support partner, have a conversation with your internship mentor, manager or HR regarding your college schedule in advance to avoid any later chaos.
Many experts and mentors suggest that students can opt for a virtual or remote internship in the first year of their college and then move towards on-site internship during the pre-final or final year of graduation.
| 💡Start with remote internship (1st year of college), then go for on-site internship (pre-final or final year). |
Upskill with Pregrad🚀
Getting an internship becomes easier when you have the right skills and industry knowledge. Pregrad provides beginner-friendly, skill development programs which will make you job-ready. If you are focusing on how to get an internship online or how to get an internship Abroad, Pregrad can become your learning partner and help you gain industry relevant skills and make you stand out in a competitive job market.
Pregrad offers various courses such as Full stack development, Data Science and Analytics, AI/ML and many more. Mentors at Pregrad don’t just fill you up with theoretical knowledge, instead they focus on clearing basics and building concepts which help you to solve real-world problems.
You even get career assistance and resume building tips, 1:1 mentorship from experts and much more.
Unlock all of it, enroll now in the course of your choice!
FAQs
Q1. How to get an internship in India?
Ans: If you want to get an internship in India, you can start by upskilling yourself. Once you’ve the relevant skills then focus on applying for internships that match your niche.
Q2. How to get an internship abroad?
Ans: You can apply through global internship platforms like Internshala International, LinkedIn, etc. to get an internship abroad.
Q3. How to apply for internship without experience?
Ans: If you do not have any prior work experience and you are looking for your first internship then make sure to highlight your achievements, skills, volunteer work (if any), academic and personal projects in your resume.
Q4. How to geṭ an internship online?
Ans: Stay active on LinkedIn, Internshala and other platforms where internship opportunities are uploaded. You can also stay updated through various blog websites like blog.pregrad.in which constantly posts about latest remote and on-site internships.
Q5. How to apply for internship as a student?
Ans: If you are a student, you can start by doing a remote internship. This will help you get an idea of how things work at corporate and then you can go for an on-site internship. You can apply through the official website of the company offering internship, LinkedIn, Internshala, or job portals.
