India sees steep rise in internships across different industries as young graduates seek more skills: survey

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India sees steep rise in internships across different industries as young graduates seek more skills: survey

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  • India has seen an upsurge in internship seekers as well as organisations opening up internship opportunities across various industry verticals, with applications rising 80% in a year, said a survey.
  • National Capital Region has been the driver of internships among the cities in India.
  • Indian students prefer virtual internships three times more than in-office internships.
  • Startups hire majority of internship seekers in India. Management and media have been the hottest sectors to enroll in, for internship.
What was originally seen as a western concept, getting an internship before plunging into the job market, is fast gaining momentum at Indian workplaces.

Over the last five years, more companies have been actively looking for intern profiles, according to a recent survey by Internshala, an online internship and training platform. Last year, India had 80% more internship applications — with 2.2 million applications received in 2018 compared to 1.27 million the previous year. The trend is in part due to more industries are looking to have fresh minds and ideas on existing projects for better productivity.

India sees steep rise in internships across different industries as young graduates seek more skills: survey

According to the data by Internshala, India’s national capital region has been the top provider of internships, with a total of 35% internship opportunities, followed by Mumbai and Bengaluru at 20% and 15%,respectively. This includes opportunities in startups, MNCs and even government entities.

In fact, a lot of aspiring interns have been enrolling in internships from two-tier cities, which clearly indicates the growing awareness around companies hiring intern profiles among the students.

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Student vs company perspective

Startups hire the majority of internship seekers in India, striving for new and fresh ways of implementation.

Looking at the growth of internships in India in last five years, Sarvesh Agrawal, CEO of Internshala told Business Insider India that “internships are finally becoming mainstream phenomenon and are no longer restricted to select few campuses and companies.”

He further added that “not just college students, but even school students, mid-career professionals, and women returning to work are now taking internship route to explore their interests and build their skills.”

“While on the organisation side, other than corporate; various other entities such as Government, political parties, NGOs, independent new age professionals, all are making use of interns as their workforce to bring speed and innovation to their projects.”

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Most in-demand roles by companies

Management and media have been the hottest sectors to enroll in, for internships, at nearly 47% and 15%, respectively. More because, companies are looking for people with real-time experience in management than B-school masters. Following this is engineering and design internships.

India sees steep rise in internships across different industries as young graduates seek more skills: survey

The profiles most looked for includes human resources, business development and web development among others.

Virtual internships three times the in-office internships

According to stats, more number of people have been considering virtual internships than in-office internships. Virtual internships have got three times more applications than in-office since a large chunk of students are the ones already enrolled in various courses, or prefer working from home.

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India sees steep rise in internships across different industries as young graduates seek more skills: survey

Key benefits, other than stipend

Stipend or the monetary compensation has been an important factor for people taking up various internships to enhance their skills. The average stipend offered to interns was recorded as ₹7000, while the maximum stipend goes up to ₹85,000.

Other than that, amid the rising concerns over unemployment and skill gap, internships have emerged as an opportunity to have a career experience at various stages — from college students to people willing to restart their career.

In fact, over 46% internships, according to Internshala, have turned into pre-placement offers by the end.

Internships, as a whole, have been a way to capitalize on theoretical concepts to practical implementation, even before the students complete college.
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See also:
Salaries in India projected to rise by 10% this year — but there’s a catch

India witnessed its highest unemployment rate in 27 months at 7.38% in December, says CMIE

Amid unemployment tensions, 70% of Indian youth lack awareness of government’s much-touted skill development programme
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