I’ve been doing something for 1 month now… Can you guess what it is???? I don’t think you can. So lemme share it with you guysss…
I was chosen for an internship program, and I've now spent a month working for that company.
Yes.. you heard it right. I was working on getting into an internship program since last March. Even though I worked hard, I never thought I would get one. You might be wondering, “okay, it’s just an internship. What’s the big deal?”
Truth be told, it is a pretty big deal for me. Lemme tell you why!
You all know that my university is in China, and even though I was supposed to be at my university, I couldn’t because of Covid, and here I am. Studying online for 2 and half years. Online learning sucks, and you lose so many opportunities when you are learning from home. An extrovert like me who’s always having an unquenchable thirst for opportunities, and not getting a chance to do all the things that I love and want to do was a huge problem for me.
I was seeing other people, my friends who are going to local (state and private) universities, having the best university life. I was so sad, hopeless, and a little bit unsecured about my future. I chose AI as my learning and career path. But learning everything online from Chinese lecturers was not that perfect. I was unsatisfied. But I know for a fact that the path I have chosen is going to be the most trending area in the job market. So, instead of changing universities or degrees, I started putting a lot of effort into strengthening my knowledge, skills, and qualifications. Plus, in order to make my life colorful, I did extra work like volunteering and toastmasters played a huge part in making my boring life colorful and purposeful.
So back to the main story. In order for me to get into the job market, 1st thing I was supposed to do was, join a company as an intern. If we were in China, our university would have sent us directly to various tech companies in Tianjin, and everything would have been better and smoother. However, since I am still in Sri Lanka and am only studying online, all the doors to opportunities were long since closed. Other local universities organize career fairs and sign MOU agreements which will literally benefit their students. Once I even tried going to those private career fairs, but it didn’t go as planned.
However, I started doing extra courses, and updating my CV from time to time and by the 1st of August 2022, I sent my first-ever AI-related CV to virtusa ( I have so many CVs drafted for various jobs.. he hee). I didn’t get any replies. So I kept on sending my CV to whatever email (of a tech company) I found. Since I received zero responses, I began to suspect there could be a problem with my CV. At the same time, a very famous tech company in Sri Lanka hosted a virtual CV writing workshop and I participated in it. After that, I updated my CV according to the points given at that workshop.
Then in October, there was a public career fair (for management students) at a famous hotel and I didn’t think twice to go there. But before going to that career fair, I sent my CV to a few of my friends who are interns (In SE and HR) to get their perspective, since they have already passed this hurdle.
On the day, I dressed very nicely and took a notebook and a pen drive with my CV in it (because one of my friends said, taking a hard copy of my CV was very old school).
I went to the premise, and it was full of companies and students who were full of hope. I was on a mission - A mission to get into an internship by the end of this year.
I talked to almost all the company representatives over there. I said that I was searching for an internship in automation and AI. Some companies gave me a positive response. Throughout the time, I was regretting of not bringing a hard copy of my CV since everyone have brought hard copies. Anyway, I got their emails and sent them my CV right away.
Out of 10+ potential emails I have sent, I got 2 replies saying they will go through my CV. After 5 days, I got a call from 1 of those companies asking whether I am available for an interview. I said “yes”.
But I was not sure liking this company because of a few reasons.
I wanted to do something AI related, but this is automation related
I wanted to get into a tech company, but this is a BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) company.
I was pretty scared and I got imposter syndrome immediately.
Still, I wanted to give my best because of 1 particular reason.
Finally, a company invited me for an interview.
I did my homework before the interview and attended it. I was not happy about the way how I performed. And I actually thought I will not get this for sure. But I was okay because my friends told me, they literally screwed up their first interview. But after another week, I got another invitation for the 2nd interview. I was like, “wow, okaa!” I just went there and finished that interview as well, but didn’t think I would get into it because the interview was super short.
After like 2 weeks or so, I got a call saying I have been selected. I was excited and happy cz of, “finally, I got into an internship on my own..”. But I was thinking “Should I go for it?”, “Will I be able to handle this along with my studies?”, “I have to sacrifice my sleep and movies for this”.
“At least I’ll get an allowance”, so I should go for it.
21/11/2022 - Day 1 was okay I guess. There were 2 other recruits with me. While HR was keeping us waiting, I became friends with them. They are my first friends in this company. It is sad that they are working in a different branch, but sometimes we talk on Friday nights.
After doing a small orientation for us, we were introduced to the relevant department. In my department, on that day, there were 3 boys and the boss. I didn’t feel nervous, because HR herself, told me that, people in my department are the friendliest. But I felt different, you know.. the feeling you get when you join a new tuition class or a school.. Everything’s neww. But it was okay, I wanted to fit in.
The next day, I was introduced to the other RPA developers. They are just so good and considerate. They are very patient, and they will literally answer me whenever I ask a question, even if they are working on a tough project.
My boss is fantastic. I think the entire company thinks that the IT department is the friendliest, maybe because of the freedom he has given us and the trust this boss has in us. Once, Jack Ma said,
“When you are under 30, it’s not which company you work for. It’s what kind of boss you work under”
My workplace is good, the boss is great, and other senior colleagues treat me just as same as they treat their buddies. My seniors are so supportive. Apart from all of this, all the people are so funny, anyone can literally laugh out loud every minute, and that’s one of the reasons why I like to work at the office.
Last week, I went to a conference about FUTURE WORK. One of its speakers was Hajar Alafifi Laadel - Chairperson at Unilever Sri Lanka. She said,
The first job you get is just based on your luck. Whatever happens to you after your first job is up to you!
I think this time, I made the right choice by accepting this internship. I usually consider myself an unlucky person (I really am soooo unlucky). But this time I got extremely lucky and all of this happened because I didn’t like before life of mine. So I decided what I want to do, and I worked towards achieving it. I literally had to come out of my comfort zone. But it is all worth it.