This article is to give you some insight about how I got the Codess internship, what being thrown into the corporate world felt like, and a little about my work life in Hyderabad.
In my fourth semester, I decided to make the most of my summer after my second year, after finally getting into my branch. But If you're a second year, you don't have the opportunity to sit through the placement tests and interviews to land an internship as the third years do. This was when I found out about Codess through my senior.
What is codess?
Codess is a program for female Coders initiated by Microsoft, established in an effort to promote gender diversity and to be inclusive in the engineering field.
Eligibility: Undergraduate 2nd year female students from any branch are eligible for Codess.
What is the selection process?
Registration links rolled out by the end of February, and everyone who registered had to go through an online assessment test to assess our potential.
Some of the students were selected for a Summer mentorship program which would give you a headstart in your internship process. Another select few would get to visit the MS campus, participate in a hackathon and have a chance to bag a summer internship at Microsoft.
5 students from NITK were selected to travel to the Microsoft campus in Bangalore for a 2-day event in the beginning of March. On the first day, we networked with Microsoft employees as well as students from other campuses. We had a hands-on technology workshop and on the next day, we were divided into teams for a mentored conceptual hackathon. Each team then pitched their ideas to judges, who chose the top four teams to present their ideas to the audience.
Based on our performance for the ideathon, we were offered internships for 8 weeks during the summer after our second year. Even if your team wasn’t in the top four, your individual performance is what will be evaluated, so be sure to do your best!
How do I prepare for Codess?
For the online assessment tests, good logic, basic DSA knowledge and being comfortable with one programming language is sufficient. However, at the MS campus you are judged for your team working ability, creativity, communication and presentation skills. Focus on presenting your genuine, enthusiastic self and it will certainly give you an edge.
What was your Internship Experience at Microsoft IDC?
I was working in Foundry as a software developer in the Microsoft ISC at Hyderabad. In Foundry, each project is assigned 4 software devs, consisting of two second years and two third years (possibly even a fifth design intern), and this team will be responsible for the development of their project. Each team will have a couple of mentors to guide them in the right direction, and provide them with the necessary resources. The mentors were all extremely helpful and assisted us throughout our internship experience.
As Foundry had a common working space, all the interns were soon interacting and bonding while simultaneously learning and applying their knowledge in their respective projects. There were ‘break areas’, with table tennis and pool tables, a small library and even a karaoke machine!
Expectations vs Reality
Interns that were part of Foundry were lucky enough to have a choice in which project they would work on, which I was not expecting. Microsoft’s flexible yet efficient work schedule and attitude to project development allowed us to work without feeling overworked while at the same time ensuring that we don’t underdeliver. The fact that the company took a keen interest in making sure that we had an enriching internship time, even outside the company, was very refreshing.
All in all, the wonderful work culture, talented professionals, and enthusiastic peers all added up to an enriching memorable internship experience!
