Hey there!
I’m Rudraksh Kuchiya, a fourth-year student pursuing a Dual Degree in Mechanical Engineering. This blog will be a brief experience of how I landed an internship at Airbus.
Unleashing the Drone Enthusiast:
Since day one of college, exploring the world of drones and UAVs seemed to be something I was gravitated to. Entry into the world of high-flying aerial robotics, and I knew that this is exactly where I wanted to see myself in the 20-something years. And this was the start of my journey as a devotee of drones.
Have I ever heard of UMIC? They’re like Avengers, but for quadcopters, they became my inspiration. (This is me shamelessly marketing UMIC at every chance I get) While others were drawn to corporate gigs, I had my heart set on something different – the core, the nuts and bolts of engineering that kept my world moving. Forget the glitz and glamour of non-core corporate charm and appeal; I had my sights set on the core, the industrial marvels that would keep my inner geek engaged for the next decade. So, here’s how I went from dreaming to doing, citing the turbulence I faced before I landed an internship at Airbus!
Narrowing Down the Options:
Choosing the road less traveled isn’t all smooth sailing. My first obstacle: the scarcity of robotics-focused opportunities via the Placement Cell. This was demotivating at the start as most of my friends were hell bent on securing a consult day and here I was not even able to name one company that I was seriously targeting for. So naturally the best course of action at that time was to take matters in my own hands. I built a network of contacts by sending LinkedIn messages that grabbed attention. Imagine you’re stuck in an elevator with Elon Musk; what would you say? That’s my LinkedIn approach. Trust me, it worked like a charm.
Early Bird Gets the Worm:
I jumped into the internship hunt early, maybe a bit earlier than most. Call me eager, but I was determined. I spent weeks building my connections on LinkedIn and creating a list of potential companies. Every day, I’d add a few more to my list, like a daily routine.
After you apply:
If it is a company, have patience and let them reply. Usually. They will always revert back to you, and not leave you hanging. Don’t do the same to them. If you have a better opportunity and want to pass this one up, tell them up front and avoid wasting your and their time. Deferring to reply for a few days to think it over is fine, but ghosting them waiting to hear back from another company isn’t.
Scheduling Mails:
If it is a professor, keep this in mind, think of the time you are sending the email, sending it on a weekday during the day will have a higher chance of him/her reading it (preferably Wednesday and Thursday) sending it on the weekend might mean they ignored it then and have to look at it along with the huge chunk of mails that have piled up over the weekend reducing your chances. Schedule your mails accordingly, and kneel an email tracker. Give them time to reply. Don’t send a reminder unless it has been 8-10 days. IIT students are notorious for persistently bugging them. Don’t give them a reason to not select you.
Facing the Music: Rejections and More:
I charged ahead, applying, and interviewing at various companies. And let me tell you, rejection became my trusty sidekick. Whether it was a coding challenge or the nightmare of online internships, I faced them all. A lesson I learned? Patience is key. Rejections are inevitable. I collected over a hundred badges of honor in the form of “Thanks, but no thanks.”
The Airbus Breakthrough:
Just when I was starting to doubt myself, Airbus entered the picture. My previously contacted people approached me again around March end with an opening. End-semester gloom was replaced with an elated “yes!” The role? Avionics,Work? setting the sensor bench, extracting data from around 100 sensors from an actual aircraft, regular visits to their assembly unit and the airport and analyzing the safety limits after mathematically modeling their new under-process airplane, talk about an adventure! yes i know i am a nerd
Navigating the Unknown:
Life at Airbus was a mix of ups and downs. The next big challenge for me was to relocate to a whole new city and find a home far from home. Though I was given a 15 day accommodation grant from the company but still gets difficult to find yourself a good flat or PG while going through a huge transition of entering the corporate world. But you’ll do it, I know.
And it’s true, everything comes at a cost.
Why? Well, the biggest stumbling block I faced was now knowing anyone there. I had no intern groups with whom I could hangout with in the office, no one from college in the same company and no one near my PG. This is something you will not face if you take an intern through the PT cell, you’ll have co-interns (some form your college itself) to hang out with, rant and bitch about your bosses and you know go through the struggles together, but you won’t get this liberty if you take up an internship externally.
What I Learned:
Internship hunting isn’t always smooth sailing. The road might be bumpy, but the experience is worth it. Embrace the uncertainty, stay patient, and never be afraid to ask for opportunities. Trust me, once you get time, you’ll love the journey. You will meet a lot of founders, CEOs and industry technical experts. Many times they become good friends and often good mentors. I too found a good mentor, who is the founder of a growing Startup in drones in Bangalore, also made a lot of, so to say, corporate friends in different companies who constantly give me insights of the current marketing technology in this field. For instance, once I was traveling back from a friend’s place in an uber, the uber driver had quite an accent and interestingly I remarked to him about that. It turned out that he was a senior manager at Accenture Bangalore, who drives uber on weekends for fun. That guy owned some trekking companies too near Lonavla. Amazing right!
Internship Season is daunting when you see that students all around you are being shortlisted and selected, while you are merely lengthening your database can be hard. But patience pays. Trust me, it does. Instead of being stuck with an intern that only half interests you, wait and spend time finding one you thoroughly love working at.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!
