How LinkedIn Helped Me Bag an MBA Internship in a Top Brand During Pandemic
The idea of pursuing an MBA struck me when I was in the 2nd year of undergrad college; I had realized my passion for Marketing and needed to have a specialization to land up in my ideal job. Soon I understood that getting an MBA degree from a prestigious college is a stepping stone towards building my career.
After struggling for two years with intense preparations and interviews, I looked forward to having an enthralling experience in my B school . Little did I know all my happiness was short-lived. It was March’2020; just after my final MBA interview, the pandemic hits the world.
The pandemic had affected all, from students to working professionals. Everybody was taken aback and shaken to the very core since we were trapped in our houses owning to lock-down. Amidst the chaos that was going around everywhere, something that was going down was our economy. The effect was evident; on LinkedIn, all there was were stories about internships getting rescinded, and job offers being revoked. As an MBA student who would sit for her summer placements this year, these stories brought the chills in me. The sudden deluge of such news made me jittery; my anxiety level kept rising as days passed. Maybe life throws all kinds of obstacles and challenges when you start taking your dreams seriously.
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
-Walt Disney
Taking inspiration from above words. I stopped pondering over the situation and took charge of it. It was time to realize that the problem is not going to change; the only thing that needs to be changed is my attitude towards it.
I believe that every college’s placement committee is trying their best to support their students; however, they need to be proactive in these challenging times and take charge of their internship. I had few friends of mine in Place comm; they kept sharing how the entire team works relentlessly to ensure the students get placed in the company of their choice and the profile they desire.
Although I knew what I wanted but was clueless about how to do it and where to begin with, the idea was to chart out a clear strategy and identify the companies I wanted to target for my summer internship. The first step taken by me was to create an extensive database of the companies’ list; this helps to a plethora of industries’ options and then further analyzes their choice sector/industry. The companies I put on my list were from the sectors I wanted to work for, like FMCG and Retail .
We referred to various industry reports like Forbes 500, Industries scan, Market survey, and money control. I even looked at the stock performance of individual companies to predict the performance in post COVID scenario. One should keep in mind to choose the strong players whom they can rely upon. Keep a close eye on LinkedIn and map those companies that did not revoke their internship offers of the current year.
I have shared the first list of companies I created in Fig1.1
Once the list gets ready, it’s better to categorize the companies into different buckets, which will help narrow down the list as it’s impossible to contact every company. We need to identify our interest areas, what we are looking for from the internship, and then shortlist the companies accordingly.
This is how I did my bucketing- (Can also refer to Fig.-1.2)
- Aspirational- Those companies that are your dream companies to work with but tough to convert
- Feasible- Those companies who offered internships to your and similar colleges in the past, these companies have more than 50% chances of conversion.
- Manageable — Companies that come to your campus and you might have some personal references to connect with.
Once you have narrowed down the database and figured out the companies, the next step is to understand whom to approach for the internship. Since my interest area lies in marketing, I have mostly referred to marketing heads, Alumni, HR heads, and country heads.
LinkedIn is the one-stop destination that will help you find out the leads in your targeted companies.
There are various helpful chrome extensions such as Lusha, Signal hire, Snov.iv, Rocketsearch, and Cando that help to get the email ids of the concerned person. Once you have all the email ids in place, you have almost reached the last level of your game plan.
Now comes the most crucial phase of reaching out, i.e., drafting the email as sending generic emails with no defined structure will not work. The email to be prepared should include just the relevant information about you and what makes your profile stand out from hundreds of others is essential. Certain vital elements that should be included in your mail draft and are as follows-
- Personalized introductory message for each company you’ll be sending out your emails; this helps the person receiving the mail to understand that you are interested in the company and not forwarding emails in bulk.
- Incorporate a para or two about your strengths and experience (if any) in the mail body
- Mention the department you want to work in and why you are the perfect fit for it
- Your mail should reflect your passion and dedication towards your field of interest and the company.
- The conclusion must state how this internship will help in your career and the way ahead.
- Try to use your official college email ID to increase the credibility of your candidature/message.
Bonus Tip: We even researched about events and accolades the company or person has received in recent times to highlight the same in the mail body.
I’m sharing draft template of my email for reference in Fig 1.3.
Once you have sent the emails, be patient. The response ratio will be around 10%, so don’t get disheartened if you don’t hear from them soon. (Below are the few responses that I received, Fig.-1.4)
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
―Dale Carnegie
In the end, I wanted to share my story to encourage students not to lose hope during tough times and convey that this is my story and what I followed; everyone’s approach is different, but we need to be hopeful and keep trying. To conclude, I would say Be patient. Everything will come together; whatever you are waiting for is on its way to you as well :)
Please clap and share this story to help any students find their internship. If you like the article and want to read similar stories. Check out my blog.
