BU student, Sanket Gemawat

Name: Sanket Gemawat
Boston University Metropolitan College, Class of 2022
Internship: non-profit WATCH CDC

  1. Tell us about your internship. What were your responsibilities?

My internship was with the Waltham, Massachusetts-based non-profit WATCH CDC. Waltham Alliance for Teaching, Community Organizing, and Housing, or WATCH CDC, is essentially the community development corporation for Waltham (CDC). WATCH focuses mostly on low-income housing initiatives for individuals who are having financial difficulties. Other services include learning programs, financial clinics, community organizing, housing clinics, etc.

At this company, I was a remote data management intern. This internship required me to complete a variety of duties and projects. The most crucial one was to work on their Salesforce software. Moving all the company’s data from Sync databases to Salesforce was the first significant task. This information relates to all the folks that WATCH is assisting. The information contained every detail about the people in need, including the issues they were having and how to solve them. Making reports and studying the data were additional duties. Making numerous reports, which featured pie charts, graphs, and other visuals, was a highly intriguing assignment.

  1. What is your greatest piece of advice for international students on how to get an internship?

Never give up is the most important piece of advice I could give someone looking for an internship. Failures are inevitable, but the important thing is to keep trying. It’s a really competitive market, so it’s very probable that you’ll have to apply for a lot of internships before finding one you like. Although it may sound cliche, after a few rejections, people tend to lose heart and give up. You can do the following things to increase your chances of getting an internship:

  • Maintain an up-to-date résumé and include all relevant experiences, regardless of how minor you may believe they are (e.g., courses, projects, certificates, etc.). Short and simple is best. Adding extra details could make the recruiters confused.
  • Continue learning through online courses, certificates, and adding experience to your résumé if you want to go above and beyond.
  1. What resources at BU or elsewhere did you use to get your internship(s)?

Handshake and the BU Center for Career Development (CCD) might be the most significant and practical BU resources. These resources are simple to find; just perform a search on Google to do so. The primary goal of BU Handshake is to highlight all the options available around the nation. A list of all the companies with opportunities will be provided when you have customized the filters to your preferences. I myself have applied for a ton of internships through Handshake. The major purposes of the BU CCD are interview preparation, resume and cover letter evaluation, etc. It’s as easy as scheduling an appointment with a professional at CCD, who will help you with your issue. In addition to BU resources, I found LinkedIn to be quite helpful because it offered extra chances.

  1. What is your biggest takeaway from your internship experience(s) that you would like to share with international students?

The most important lesson is the experience you gain. My coworkers were responsible for it. My managers were helpful and considerate. I hardly ever had any questions because they thoroughly outlined all the jobs and initiatives. I also learnt about a software called Salesforce, which I had never heard of before, and it helped me realize that data analysis can be done on different types of software. Another benefit of my internship was that it helped my resume because I didn’t have any full-time employment experience. To all the international students: by participating in an internship like this, you can gain insight into how businesses run in this nation and discover how people juggle work and family life. The best thing you can do is to actively participate in the projects and duties your manager or supervisor assigns you and to always be open to new ideas since, in the long run, even the tiniest amount of experience will matter. Keeping in touch with your manager even after your internship is over will help you expand your network.