Indian Institute of Technology Madras, or IIT Madras, started its first-ever online internship drive. On the first day, 20 companies made 152 offers to undergraduate students. Top Indian and global companies, including Microsoft India, Google, Rubrik's Software Development, and Jane Street's Quantitative Researcher interviewed students over video conferencing platforms and offered internships for the Summer of 2021, an official statement said.
“I am happy to inform that the online internship interviews for Day one has been quite successful. IIT Madras Internship Office conducted three student surveys and two surveys with companies who frequently recruit our students for internships and placements before arriving at this date of August 30, for day one,” Prof. N.V. Ravi Kumar, Advisor (Internship), IIT Madras, said in a statement.
“We had requested companies to be flexible considering that several of our students were in remote and far-flung locations where Internet connectivity may not be as good as in urban locations. The collective efforts of internships student heads and their teams in collaboration with the companies who participated in this approach resulted in positive outcomes,” Prof Kumar added.
The IIT Madras placement team and the internship student team coordinated with students through various social media platforms to hold the online interviews.
As part of IIT Madras' academic curriculum, internships are mandatory for BTech and MTech courses besides Dual Degree students.
“Internship Drive 2020, being entirely online, was very different from how I could have imagined. Despite all the issues faced, I believe my skills were judged effectively and in the best possible manner. There was a great outreach in spite of everything that could have gone wrong and I think that this internship will do wonders in shaping the path I take in the future,” Ms M Harini Saraswathy, a student placed in Jane Street, said.
