It’s June. Freshly minted graduates will be sweating through their first interviews, landing their first spots, nodding enthusiastically to jargon, and getting used to Teams notifications. Who will stay? Who will cry? Who will show themselves for the nepo-babies they are? Who actually wants a permanent job? Who’s just sticking around for the university credit? Who can tell?
It’s an unstable economy in an uncertain world. Interns didn’t cause this. “But they’re different from the freshers of before because they’ve seen their parents work from home and know what the job involves,” says Reval Jain, who handles operations-field placements in Mumbai, Pune and Nashik. “They’re both ambitious and anxious — they want a seat at the table right away, but they also crumble easily when work pressure increases. They know what AI can do, but they don’t know what it can’t.”
They’re going to need all the help they can get. Here’s how to game the system.
Prep time.
Don’t let nepo-babies take all the best spots just because their uncle knows the boss. Create an A-list of 15 places you really want to work at, and figure out who does the hiring there and which department takes interns. Reach out to guest lecturers, alumni networks, and college mentors, email the professionals that seem the most inspiring and butter them all up. “No one wants emails with copy-pasted praise,” says Harini K, who handles hospitality sector recruiting for the western region of her national firm. “And no HR person believes that young people are actually passionate about operations, long hours, and industry processes. Just be honest. Say you’ve tried the product or service and want to be part of the story. Make a reference, in your email, to what the company recently did, to show you’re paying attention. That gets you noticed.”
Within creative fields, references matter more. People only recommend the kids that were memorable. So, build your portfolio of work, practise your elevator pitch (60 seconds, one main message, a zinger to close) and do everything possible to appear unique. Effort and care beat slop.
You will be screened by AI. Why fight it? Vellore Institute of Technology actually offers mock sessions on how to pass AI-moderated rounds. There are online tutorials on how to optimise a resume for an ATS systems. The first interview may well be with a bot – the key is to not sound like a bot too. Drop keywords from the job posting as you speak, but have an anecdote or real-world example to demonstrate your skills.
The money talk
Internships are not considered full-time positions under Indian labour codes. The Apprentices Act 1961 governs training programmes, and interns are included in the laws pertaining to sexual harassment at work. But medical insurance and Provident Fund are not part of the payout. And Glassdoor doesn’t list intern fees. So, payment policies change within each field and company.
In fashion, expect to do all the grunt work for free or for as little as ₹5,000 a month (but the networking opportunities are priceless). In marketing, be prepared to work on a pitch for a month, and have the team lead take the credit (but you get paid about ₹25,000). At tech firms, it’s not uncommon for interns to make upwards of ₹50,000 if they understand cutting-edge systems. But Vanshita Sharma, a PR executive in Delhi, interned at a TV news channel that only began paying her a stipend of ₹10,000 after taxes in her fourth month there.
All internships are marketed as rom-coms. Let it not turn into a horror flick. Before signing on, ask about penalties – are stipends docked if you come in late? Are there incentives if you help make a sale? Is there wiggle room on the stipend if you join immediately? Check if the offer letter includes a start and end date to your internship, ask if an extension pays more, and get clarity on what parts of the job are confidential. Kshitij Ranade, a fifth-year law student, mentions his time at a corporate firm: “We were dealing with sensitive financial information related to securities. If I had shared any details online, I would have ended up in jail.”
And don’t call out a toxic boss on LinkedIn until you leave, and have been paid your dues. Harini K spent July 2023 trying to identify which pastry kitchen intern had anonymously insinuated online that their hotel was violating vegetarian-cooking standards. “Our investigation revealed that he wasn’t even in pastry, but in another kitchen, and wanted content for a Reel.” He was fired with no pay or references.
The age gap
Sooner or later, the boss in a small or mid-sized company will notice the youngling in the corner and say, “You can edit videos and understand viral trends. Take over our social media”. It’s a trap. Don’t jump in without asking what the company expects from you, in what timeframe, and if they’re giving you more than their Instagram password to work with. Diya Patel, now a junior designer in Ahmedabad, interned at a digital publication that promised her the opportunity to shoot for the magazine, assist on big projects and conduct research. “I spent four months making social media posts.”
Jain says that most interns live in one of two delusions: That they’re smart enough to turn the company around in their three-month stint; or that internships are just something to endure, collect cred and start their own business. He cites the viral moment from a year ago, when an intern emailed their boss, Roshan Patel, CEO and founder of Arrow Payments, “Hey, I had a quick idea for the company, sorry if this was already brought up, but have we tried increasing revenue?” Jain says he’s met kids like that: “Gen Zs are as confident as they are clueless.”
Keep in mind that no company will entrust their key tasks to the lowest-rung worker right away, that interns don’t always get face-time with the boss. Show up on time, learn how the system works, look enthusiastic, stay visible, volunteer for different tasks to rise up.
Amrutha Ravishankar, a chartered accountant article (apprentice completing a training period) at an audit firm, mentions a trick that works every time: “Ask a lot of questions. Always be enthusiastic about the work you’re getting to do.” Ranade’s pro tip is to keep your manager in the loop so missteps are caught early. “The more you’re seen as needed on the team, the less you’re considered someone who needs to be trained,” says Aditi Sutar, who completed three internships at film production houses before landing a full-time job as a podcast producer in Mumbai.
Spooky summer
Ranade says he was once “shouted at for focusing solely on one task, which the senior manager had approved, anyway.” One of the people featured in this story, who wishes to stay anonymous about this incident, recalls her time interning at an entertainment company, where she hoped to land an entry-level role. It never came, so she found a job elsewhere. “I sent in my resignation, and only then learnt that there was indeed a position available. Management was going to offer only ₹2,000 more than my stipend because they were convinced I’d stay.”
A good tip from those who’ve been there: Treat an internship as a first step, not an all-or-nothing debut into adulthood. And pay attention to the little lessons. “I did pick up the Boomer habit of carrying fruits to work,” Ranade says. “At first I thought it was just old people being health conscious, but it does help you keep up with everything.”
From HT Brunch, June 13, 2026
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