A meaningful internship experience can help you launch your career. It gives practical experience, helps you learn, and equips you with new skills. Moreover, it would also boost your resume to crack interviews.

To tell you why work experience matters in an internship, here are the following two examples. Mithu Roy, a BTech graduate from BP Poddar Institute of Management and Technology couldn’t sit for any MNCs during campus placements due to his low academic score. He was interested in the field of mobile app development but did not have any knowledge of it.

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However, he took up an online android development course and started applying for internships. He got shortlisted in Eclectic Solutions and a face-to-face interview was scheduled, where the employer asked him basic questions about java and android. He was selected for the internship and got to work in Sublime Text and FileZilla.

One of his first tasks was to create a portfolio app for the company after taking all the required information from the official website. This experience helped him learn about User Interface and User Experience as well. He got to work on different projects and learned to build apps from the scratch. This helped him gain command over other aspects of computer science as well including database management and networking.

Today, he is working as a full-time at another company called Codelogicx Technologies. The experience which he gained helped him in landing his first job by building both his technical skills and confidence. Yuvika Jain, a MCom student from Mumbai University wanted to build a career as a chartered accountant but could not clear Group I of IPCC despite clearing the second group.

She wanted to gain the corporate world experience but wasn’t eligible to start her articleship. She started applying for accounts internships and got selected with a startup, Valuefy Solutions. Being an accounts intern, she handled the bills and vouchers, kept records and handled the payment process with the clients.

At around the same time, she also cleared her IPCC exam and got to start her CA articleship of three years. Despite not meeting the academic criteria for placements, Roy became an android developer by gaining experience through an internship. And Jain landed an internship to learn how an organisation works even when she wasn’t eligible for her articleship. Both these instances show how a meaningful work experience can help you chart your career.

The work experience which comes from an internship gives you a chance to solve reallife problems. These challenges eventually help you gain practical knowledge. The past 10 years have seen startup boom in India and growing number of entrepreneurs are hiring interns. This has opened a plethora of opportunities for students across the country. Interning with an organisation where you get to handle multiple profiles and shoulder responsibilities that will prepare you for your first job. After all, an internship is the test drive for your career before you commit to one.

(The writer is founder & chief executive officer, Internshala)