Securing a quality campus placement offer at the conclusion of the course and gaining excellent internship opportunities for MBA students is a critical component of studying for a management degree. An excellent internship offer prepares the groundwork for a superb final placement offer. Students are often given a final placement offer by the firm where they perform their internship.
There is no doubt that MBA students’ internship opportunities serve as stepping stones to the full-time career they will accept after finishing the programme. It exposes students to corporate work culture and real-life business challenges, preparing them for innovative thinking.
Finding internship opportunities may be difficult in the post-covid age when the employment market is experiencing periodic drops. With the businesses struggling to regain a strong footing post-pandemic, students seeking internship opportunities sometimes face challenges since possibilities outweigh persons looking for employment and internships. Before a student begins an internship search, a few steps must be performed to ensure that the search is fruitful.
Perfecting the CV
A CV or curriculum vitae is the first point of contact with the recruiters or the first round of shortlisting. Even for internship offers, students must be ready with an up to date CV, listing out their qualifications and achievements. At this stage, there is not much to list out in terms of professional accomplishments unless a student has done prior internships. But this is not the case when it comes to mentioning key skills. Personal hobbies, extracurricular interests, volunteering or part-time work, and skills or specialized knowledge acquired must be included in the CV. Internship aspirants must state any special skills such as research and planning, social media marketing skills, or digital marketing. An internship CV must be built around the key skills and education and should highlight examples of how these skills would be essential for a recruiter.
Browsing through job portals
Many B-Schools organize internship placement drives for students after completing the first year. However, perfect internship opportunities for MBA students can also be found through other avenues such as job search portals. Students can browse job websites for internship roles by doing a specific industry-wise or role-wise search. Here’s a list of a few websites that can be explored by MBA students looking for internship opportunities:
Monster.com
Monster.com has been around for a long time as one of the top websites for anyone looking for a job or internship opportunities. This online employment portal is the perfect avenue for job search and recruiters looking for new talent. Students can register themselves on the portal, filling in all the relevant details such as education and the sectors in which they are interested.
- Glassdoor
This is another excellent option in job search portals that provides online internship listings sourced from several places. These sources can be official company websites or even listings done directly by the employees.
- Indeed.com
This job search service has been a popular alternative for MBA students seeking internship possibilities in recent years. To discover the next stage in your career, you may look for millions of internships online, using resources for job search, resumes, and business evaluations.
- Internshala
Internshala is India’s leading internship and training portal, with over 40000 paid internships available in Engineering, MBA, media, law, arts, and other fields. MBA students seeking internships should consider this website. Internshala has a comprehensive collection of internship opportunities.
- CareerBuilder
This is one of the biggest job search platforms in the nation, with over 1 million job postings for over 23 million individuals. CareerBuilder is the most reliable source of employment opportunities and career counselling.
- Twenty19
Twenty19 is an invite-only job search network that only accepts premium job posts. you may create a profile on this website, which also provides frequent information on key placement & corporate events going on around the nation.
- Angellist
For MBA students targeting internship roles in start-ups, Angellist is the top website. Several new start-ups browse through the profiles on this website for hiring fresh talent. MBA students can create a profile on this website, focusing on their fundamental skills. This would help them get an internship offer in an area or sector of their interest.
- IndianInternships
Another excellent website for internship offers, although the number of listings on this website may not be as many as on other similar websites. Sometimes, however, it is easy to scour through limited offers to select those listed by companies that are considered great recruiters. The quality of roles being offered and their relevance to the students are more important than the number of offers listed on a job search portal.
However, browsing through websites should not be the only approach for MBA students seeking internship offers. They should also be actively involved in other activities such as:
Staying connected
Several great offers are not advertised or posted on job search websites as they are mostly filled in through word of mouth. Students must not rely on only one platform for finding a good internship. An excellent way to learn about these openings is by building a great network with professionals through LinkedIn. It is the perfect place to get connected with recruiters and like-minded people. LinkedIn is the largest professional network that helps students connect with professionals across the industries and the globe for career opportunities. Students can reach out to professionals from their alumni base through LinkedIn.
Although every job search site has the option to use filters to find internship opportunities that fit a student’s area of interest, internship opportunities are also provided regularly on the Facebook group. You may learn about internship opportunities and interact with individuals who can assist you in finding internship positions.
- College alumni base
Staying connected with the alumni group is an excellent network-building initiative that can help students know about internship offers open in various companies. It helps students get connected to professionals and businesses. Seniors can also guide curating the perfect CV and steps to be taken early on in the career path. Attending networking events organized by the college or alumni groups can help students get mentorship benefits and knowledge about placement schemes. Such events help students get to know about the different sectors, the roles offered in them and new openings. MBA students need to build these connections that prove helpful at the time of the internship and when they are looking for job opportunities after the course completion.
Volunteer work
While students seek internship offers, they should also try to offer volunteer work with organizations that inspire them. These could include non-profit organizations involved with charity work or a particular interest group. Being a part of such organizations builds work experience and gives a chance to students to hone and develop skills that may be used later in their careers. It is also a great way to expand the contact network.
Applying Actively
This is probably the most important step in the internship hunt. Students must make a list of all the companies that they would be interested in doing an internship. The next step is to send out speculative emails with the updated CV attached. A personalized cover letter stating why the applicant would be interested in interning with the company should also be attached. There is no harm in enquiring about any upcoming internship roles. Maintaining a record of these emails helps track the company’s response. More often than not, the companies would not respond, or no offers would be available. But even if a few positive responses are received, it is great.
Most students wish to get an internship that aligns well with their specialization. An MBA internship boosts a student’s education and career through the experience gained. Real-world skills and knowledge of specific resources or programs used by businesses are just some of the gains from an internship.
Even if the internship does not materialize into a full-time job at the end of the course, it does add experience, credits, and an expanded professional network to a student’s life.
To know more about MBA internships & exciting career opportunities, click here.