Akarshi Aggarwal

With a selection rate of 3%, I was among the 110 students selected for the Vice Chancellor Internship Scheme Launched by Delhi University in Dec'22. The second batch for the summer VCIS internship has been launched and many students are interested in pursuing the same. Here are some insights that helped me secure the internship: ➡️ A decent CGPA: The Pandemic was a saviour for my grades in 1st semester, and I had scored a decent CGPA in my second semester as well which is the main qualifying criterion. ➡️ Confidence: After my friend's interview, she told me about her thin chances of selection due to her nervousness. I made sure to avoid making the same mistake during my own interview. ➡️ Honesty: They asked me "Why should someone from an off-campus college be selected rather than from North Campus, as it will be difficult to commute?". And being honest was the only way to answer this question. For people like me, the first thing you need to overcome before any of the above points is to be self-assured in your own capabilities and be proud of representing your institution. If you have any queries regarding the internship, Feel free to reach out to me.

"Internshala is overrated." The average number of applications for a single position is 400+, the competition has never been tougher. Moreover, many internships revolve around roles like Volunteering, Business development, or Sales. What to do instead? There are a lot of communities that share internship postings (many have HR's contact details). Join WhatsApp groups like Intern Hub, NETWORKIZE , and explore Telegram groups as well. (Links in comments.) Some underrated Platforms: 1. Wellfound - Ideal for those aspiring to work with startups. 2. LinkedIn- I know you must be thinking that there are not much internships or it is as competitive as Internshala, but it's not. There are 2 ways to approach Linkedin- -Apply directly to vacanices. For this, optimize your Resume. -Reach out to recruiters through personalized messages. Here's how you can enhance your profile and presence here: -Sending personalized connection requests to relevant peers. -Engage in thoughtful interaction via commenting or directly reaching out -Consider posting content at least once a week, especially if you're just starting out. P.S- This post doesn't suggest that you stop using Internshala; rather, to encourage you not to limit yourself to it.

Hiring from a tier 2/3 college is a smart move. Not saying because I'm from one. But there are solid reasons for it. They put in the grind. While it's true that, if 60% of Tier 1 students are hardworking, that number drops to just 10% in Tier 3 But this 10% of the crowd knows the true value of opportunities. They work 100X hard to get the same opportunity as their Tier 1 counterpart just because they don't have a famous tag. If you're not hiring from Tier 3 colleges, you're just lazy.