BENGALURU: Students on the verge of joining the workforce have been in a zone of uncertainty for over a year as economic activity has been throttled by the rise and fall in Covid-19 infections. The resulting freeze on recruitment or worse, layoffs, has made internships hard to come by. A year ago, Bengaluru student Ronak Parikh set up a business on Instagram to bridge this gap, and provide a platform for companies and students to find opportunities and reach out to each other.
Parikh, who is 19 and is pursuing a degree in commerce, started the Instagram account YourWorkHour on which companies can post notices for internships. Parikh says, “I started Your- WorkHour for two reasons. I previously had a very chaotic experience with an internship provider. I did not get a stipend or certificates. Secondly, a lot of friends pinged me on social media asking about internship opportunities. That’s when I thought I should be a messenger between startups and students, by providing verified internship leads,” he says.
While students can access the page for free, startups have to pay a nominal fee to post a notice, says Parikh. “Students can apply for the internships by messaging their applications to me. Sometimes the startups ask me to shortlist the top five applications,” says Parikh. So far, 250 companies, mostly startups, have approached him. The companies are predominantly based in Bengaluru, while some are located in cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad. “Students from across the country apply since the pandemic has forced a lot of people to work from home.
Companies reaching out to me are from sectors like hospitality, creative agencies, marketing companies, student housing companies, and event management,” says Parikh. A year on, Parikh plans to expand the services he offers. He wants to rope in startups which offer services like resume building and personality grooming which will help young people shore up their soft skills.
“Many students still lack in preparing a good resume and are also not aware of prerequisites before giving an interview. I have already zeroed in on certain startups, and I am planning to roll out this service soon,” he says. Parikh says he’s in the business for the long haul. Last week he received an acquisition offer from a brand consulting firm in Bengaluru, and he expects to finalise the deal in the coming days.