With growing competition and demand for skilled labor, internships are the most effective and promising way of getting an edge over others and carving a niche for yourself. However, to bag the most beneficial and in-demand internship, it is necessary that one is always updated with the changing internship trends.
Like the employment market, the internship market also undergoes seasonal changes. For undergraduate and graduate students, the peak internship months are May-July (for summers) and December– January (for winter). The applications for the former are released in April and that of latter are released in November. This seasonal nature of internships is aligned with a college student’s schedule. College students find it hard to pursue full-time internships while juggling between their college and studies, hence the best time to hire interns is post their semester exams, i.e., during December- January and May-July.
You might want to keep an eye on the sector-wise distribution of internships to bag the most suitable one for yourself. Management internships are the most sought after internships of all, because for a student aspiring to enter the business world, an internship before B-school or better yet, skip the B-school and join the workforce with management internship which would give real life experience. Recruiter hire interns for the profiles of HR intern, Operations intern etc.
Companies working in the media sector are demanding for interns in the profiles of content writers, bloggers, influencers and journalists. These companies hire interns to tap new and fresh talent which can supply creative ideas. The interns, in return, help in creating and promoting content.
Engineering is the next category for which recruiters seek interns. The profiles offered include web development, mobile app development, game development and electronics. Applicants with technical knowledge (which is documented in the form of certificates, LOR etc.) are in high demand. These internships help an apprentice earn practical and application - based knowledge.
Around 46% employers extend Pre-Placement offers (PPOs) to their interns. This is an attractive and promising option for students who have graduated from college and are looking to start a career. The average stipend offered for paid internships in Rs.7000 with the maximum being 85000.
There is also a region wise trend which can be observed across the country. Tier-1 cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore have higher number of internship seekers. Delhi-NCR occupies the apex position in the total number of internship opportunities, with a whopping 36% of the National share. Being the National Capital, it supplies a wide and diverse range of internships, ranging from Parliamentary to corporate and social work. Other cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Pune are fast pacing in.
If you are a student attending regular college but want to work as an intern to earn some extra pocket money, work-from-home internships are just the thing for you. A few years back, terms like ‘virtual internships’ or ‘work-from-home internships’ weren’t popular. But this trend is changing fast across the country. In 2019 around 24000 virtual internships were posted and the number of applicants was almost three times more than the in-office ones. The reason why "work-from-home" internship are so much more popular than in-office internships is because the former allows a student to learn and acquire new skill sets while simultaneously attending college. Also, virtual internships can be done around the year, unlike in-office internships which are mostly available during the internship seasons.
