Life as an Intern

With InStep you will have access to a unique personal development experience. You will live and network with interns from 37 nationalities - representing diverse academic, social, cultural backgrounds as you go through your unique Indian experience. As an InStep intern, you will work on ongoing company projects.

Mentorship

InStep has a three-layer mentoring system to support you during internship:

• Your Student Mentor will be your contact person for all program queries, learning and cultural initiatives, as well as your liaison with your academic institution
• Your Project Mentor will work with you closely to set goals and provide guidance throughout the project. He or she will arrange your presentation and project submission at the end of your internship.
• Your Buddy will be an Infosys employee who will help you adjust to your new cultural surroundings and provide insights into company culture

Culture Club

Within Infosys the Cultural Club focuses on the topic of "increased cultural sensitivity and understanding", in order to increase the interface members & Infoscions have with cultures from around the world.

The cultural club at InStep enables interns to facilitate workshops which act as an informal platform for employees to connect with foreign cultures hence gaining perspective on history, diverse business customs, etiquette, and social norms. Publicity to these events is generated through Infi TV and local media.

Through the year 2007-2008, the InStep cultural club organized events as mentioned below:

• A visit from Raagapella, Stanford University's all-male South Asian a cappella group. Intern Vignan Pattamatta and his colleagues performed their repertoire of Bollywood pop, traditional cultural music, and fusion pieces, and added Infosys' Bangalore campus to their list of visited venues.
• French intern, Antoine Boulanger from the École Polytechnique presented a workshop on French food and wines from different regions. He shared cooking and etiquette tips, as well as lesser-known French dishes to Infoscions.

When many interns saw their first Bollywood movie, they were most intrigued by the enthusiastic, amusing, and often "cheesy" dancing that is incorporated into each storyline. They asked for a workshop to learn some of these movements.

 

Over several weeks, I met interns once or twice a week and gave them a flavor of the various dance styles that fall under the general category of "film" or Bollywood dance. In doing so, I hope I can help them learn more about popular Indian culture, and give them an experience that they'll hopefully remember for years to come.

 

- Manav Lalwani, Princeton University

Beyond Business