Table of Contents
Introduction
Even the highest-ranking IT companies such as Google, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs have a summer internship programme. The main idea behind summer internship programs is to engage students in coding and development so that instead of wasting their summer break, they can avail themselves of it for the upliftment of technology.
Usually, a summer internship is for a two-month period and you work on a real-time project. Since the candidate gets familiarised with the organisation’s codebase, the IT firm tries to retain the candidate by offering him a pre-placement opportunity/offer (PPO). Interns are usually from the third year of engineering. They can’t join immediately that’s why they are giving a prior opportunity.
What is a PPO?
PPO stands for Pre-Placement Offer while PPI is Pre-Placement Interview. In PPO, the candidate who is usually a former intern is given a job opportunity by the organisation before the on-campus placements or during the on-campus placement process. The Offer is of full-time employment type to the former intern and is known as Pre-Placement Offer (PPO).
You need to keep a few things in your mind during all the stages of your internship i.e., before the commencement of internship, during the internship and after the completion of internship, so that you may eventually get a PPO.
Prior to the internship
Before the commencement of the internship, you need to do some preparation from your end, to perform better during the internship period.
1. Get familiarised with the product
Do a well-conducted research and get a complete idea about the company’s product.If there app or website is live, you must use it to know the flow and note down the suggestions or bugs encountered, if you have any. Google about the company to know their history, alliances, headquarters, revenue, working paradigms, top clients and so on.
If the firm is greatly extended with numerous domains and tech products, you can get in touch with the human resource manager for getting details about the product you are supposed to work on. These details will give you a heads-up about the organization.
2. Know the tech stack
There can be a few technologies that you haven’t used before, if you get to know the technologies that are used for hosting the products, you can learn them beforehand. This will assist you a lot during the initial weeks of the internship. Your pace will be enhanced if you already have a basic knowledge about the company’s tech stack. You can enquire the HR team to know more about the tech stack.
On top of swift onboarding, it will also provide a good impact on the team members. It also represents that you are inquisitive and have a sharp learning graph.
3. Learn to collaborate
The codebase of most of the IT firms uses GitHub as their primary version control system. It is a prime tool that every developer or programmer should be familiar with. The command-line interface of GitHub is very user-friendly. Do ensure that you should be able to use GitHub before the commencement of the internship.
During the internship period
During the internship period, you must learn gradually and exhibit the best of your capabilities. You need to keep a few pointers in your mind so that you stand out during the internship.
1. Be attentive
Before you are assigned any project, you will be introduced to the project you will be working on. You must pay due attention during the training sessions. Having a good grasp of the product you are working on is really important to deal with. Don’t be hesitant to ask questions during any meetings. Having all the facts clear helps you to work efficiently.
2. Be responsible
Do not think that you are merely an intern. Work seriously considering yourself to be a full-time employee. Take inspiration from and try to inculcate their good habits in your behaviour. If you succeed in working like a full-time employee, it would definitely encourage your manager to give you a PPO.
3. Write concise and well-aligned code
You must always write concise and well-aligned code.The variable names should be conventional and instead of single-letter elaborate variable names are easily inferable. Declaring proper classes and functions reduces the time and space complexity of the code.
In most IT companies, The changes are thoroughly reviewed before they are merged into the production code. During these reviews, you may receive feedback about improving your code. Take insights from those comments and do not make redundant mistakes.If you commit the mistake, after being checked, you might get into trouble.
4. Clear your doubts
While working, you will have doubts. Do not hesitate to ask doubts but make sure that you do your research before that. Google is your friend. Learn how to use it well to your advantage. At many companies, you would also have access to internal documentation which might help you with your doubts.
Do not expect to be spoon-fed. The role of a mentor is to guide you in the right direction. Do not go with your doubt without proper research. Document it, if possible. Sometimes when you run into problems, you will turn to the internet for answers. If you find a solution online, do not copy-paste the code blindly. Rather, try to understand how the piece of code is solving your problem before pasting it.
5. Pro-tips
- Be a perfect team player – This is a very essential quality as most projects are collaborative.
- Build your network and learn from others – Be interactive and learn from other members of your team/company who are indirect or indirect contact with you.
- Avoid using phrases like “I have a doubt” or “I need help”. Instead, say “I want to discuss”. While working in an organisation, choice of words is an essential factor for building relationships.
- Participate in the various team-building activities to build a cordial bond with the team.
- Don’t be hesitant to share your opinion on various matters. Ensure that you don’t over-step if you are not sure or don’t have adequate knowledge for validating your arguments.
- Keep confident – Do not self-loath yourself in front of your colleagues. If you don’t feel confident, why would your colleagues or your manager have trust in you?
Post internship
Don’t assume that everything is done and dusted once the internship terminates. You can still try out a few things, for attaining a PPO, things such as :
- Keeping an eye on the job portal of the firm. If the domain matches your skillset, your profile might get shortlisted for a PPO.
- Keep in touch with the manager so that he might consider you for any job position.
- Participate in the coding and hiring challenges organised by the firm.
- Try to stay in touch with your colleagues so that they might tell you about any PPO.
Frequently Asked Questions
You must mention your PPO immediately following the internship on your resume, this gives a great impression to the hirer. Once you have one solid, pre-placement opportunity under your belt you can mention it in your interviews but it should not be discussed anywhere on your documents.
PPO stands for Pre-Placement Offer while PPI is Pre-Placement Interview. In PPO, the candidate who is usually a former intern is given a job opportunity by the organisation before the on-campus placements or during the on-campus placement process. The Offer is of full-time employment type to the former intern and is known as Pre-Placement Offer (PPO).
There are numerous ways in which an intern gets a PPO:
1. The candidates who perform above a threshold criteria are offered a PPO directly by the management and hiring team.
2. Many firms mention PPO from the starting itself, that is, if you complete the internship successfully, you will definitely be given the PPO.
3. Some companies conduct a hiring challenge or assessment, and offer PPO to a handful of shortlisted candidates.
In many cases, the intern itself approaches the manager and inquires about PPO.
A pre-placement offer (PPO) job includes your package and profile details and you are allowed to join the company even after completion of your course, you’re presently enrolled in.
Key Takeaways
Work really hard during your internship, if you want to turn this into a viable PPO. This comes with several advantages for the candidates, as they are already familiar with the firm and its code-base, during the internship period they have already figured out the domain they are interested in, they are familiar with the work-culture of the firm.
Therefore, it is firmly recommended that you must not send your summer breaks in leisure rather you must seek internship opportunities so that you eventually can bag promising placement opportunities.
By Vanshika Singolia
