Hey everyone, this is Shivang. I am a fourthie from EE DD, and in this blog, I will share my summer 2022 internship experience.
Before the internship season, I didn't know what internships were all about except that they were what I was supposed to do in my third year. With so many profiles and things to pursue, it is understandable that one gets confused about what one wants to do. I have felt that it is easier to identify what you don't want to do than what you do. I have always been interested in problem-solving and ad-hoc puzzles. Also, I have been interested in programming since my first year, so I decided to apply for software roles. I also pursued the CS minor, which helped me get shortlisted for some companies. I did not target any specific company, but my suggestion would be not to do this. By looking at last year's internship blog, you can get an outline of the season and the selection schedule of companies. With this information, it is easier to plan. As for my preparation, my experience with competitive programming helped immensely in my selection. I frequently participate on platforms like codeforces, atcoder, etc. I did not prepare anything specific for interviews/tests, but I have observed that thorough preparation is also helpful in qualifying tests.
My internship was at Sprinklr. Sprinklr is a B2B SAAS company, and I was an intern in the ML department. The selection process involved DSA problems in the test and in the two technical interviews I passed. I have been doing competitive programming since my second year, which helped me in the tests and interviews. DSA is a must if you want to target software roles and the resources to study and practice it are readily available online.
The internship season can be quite mentally demanding. You will see both success and rejections happening to your friends. It is essential to stay motivated and keep practicing. There are online resources specifically for interview preparation which can help a lot.
As for the work done at my internship, it was an implementation of a ML model recently published in a research paper. My work revolved around implementing the model, compressing it, and deployment. Unfortunately, the internship was offline, so I didn't get the entire experience, but the load was quite manageable. After three years at the institute, I think we are ready for much more workload than I faced.
As of now, I am planning to pursue software in the future. I wish everyone all the best for the intern season. Please feel free to ping me if you have any doubts.