The Intern Boot Camp Experience: New Beginnings

As the year approached its end, I was in high spirits! It’s that magical time of the year where your social media is buzzing, your circles are discussing new year’s eve parties and the outfits you’re going to be rocking, with the weekends a blur of good memories of time spent with family and friends!

However, there was quite a bit to power through for a strong finish, along with a few things stewing on the backburner that needed a bit of prep work before January (the ever hopeful month of new beginnings and optimistic resolutions).

While I was deciding which avenue to pursue first, my director Gayathri Hariharan dropped by my desk.

“Vishnu, almost all of the first two batches of the intern bootcamp program have placed into projects and the third batch has just been inducted, why don’t you check in on the general pulse of the teams?”

I sensed an opportunity for a new article. Perficient Chennai & Bangalore had taken in close to 60+ interns (Including yours truly!), more than ten times the number ever taken in before, quite an ambitious undertaking.

“Can I reach out to the People behind the Intern Bootcamp as well, Gayathri?” I’d asked.

Gayathri looked at me. “You’re going to write another article aren’t you?”

“I was thinking a three-part series, Gayathri.”

Pause.

“Go ahead.”

Time to get to writing!

A Step forward

“Our demand for talent has been exponential with our growth, and the current market pool wasn’t enough to meet our requirements. We needed bright minds with the drive and the intelligence to innovate and crack problems,” says Ganapathy Raj, Director of Talent Acquisition

Ganapathy Raj, Director of Talent Acquisition

The Intern Program is an absolute step forward.

“We reached out to the top colleges in India, and after an exhaustive screening process where we checked for multiple criteria from technical skills to academic performance and their passion to ensure that we got the best possible candidates.

We’re looking to tag them into projects, giving them practical experience and kickstarting their careers while increasing our own talent pool. Based on mock projects and feedback from the trainers, they’ve met our expectations and we look forward to their growth.”

First Impressions

“I felt very nervous on my first day at Perficient!” says Firdous Afreen Shaik.

“It was my first day at my first job, and I had a lot of anxiety about working for such a huge MNC. However, all these fears quickly slipped away as we were welcomed on our first day by the HCM team and our trainers, who were extremely down to earth. In our Bootcamps, they went out of their way to make sure all our doubts were clarified and had learning sessions on everything from technical concepts to etiquette lessons (which I enjoyed in particular).”

 

“The first day wasn’t very formal and was a virtual meet. I got my blessings from my parents and signed in! We didn’t have any scheduled meets or any joining formalities, as it was completed prior, but just got to know each other.” says Vikesh Pathipati.

“Every colleague is open to each other and there are zero barriers between me and them to reach out. In particular, I was impressed by how our interests were taken into consideration in assigning us our roles.

I like the work environment and culture followed by Perficient, and we got to know about our history in a townhall meeting especially for Interns. I find the transparency and openness from Perficient refreshing, and can see the opportunities to excel here.”

 

Bootcamp: Where Interns become Consultants

“We’ve designed an exhaustive curriculum, with all the skills required to transform a fresh graduate to a talented consultant,” says Parvez Maideen, Director at the Chennai BU. “Everything has been included from technical skills, group projects that require coordination and teamwork, and even soft skill courses such as business ethics and communication classes.”

“In addition, all the interns have been assigned mentors, who volunteered for the role and are experts in their chosen fields. It’s a two-way street, as the interns have a colleague to reach out to for guidance, while the mentors themselves get to grow their leadership skills and tap into the fresh perspectives of young minds.

The program has been going quite smoothly, with positive feedback from the trainers on everyone’s progress. All that was really needed was focusing their drive, one can already see the transition from an academic to a professional mindset.

It’s going to take some time, as all good things do, but they’re well on their way!”

 

“I think I can truly say that Bootcamp training has changed me from a college student to a consultant,” says Sangeetha Priya Chandran. “I’ve gained the confidence to believe in myself and that I can pull my weight in any project I could get assigned to.”

The great thing about Perficient is how they allow you to learn and grow your skills in areas where your interest lie and consider my goals and career aspirations when assigning me tasks.

“I’ve learned everything from how projects get developed to what tools & techniques are involved. So much so, I didn’t even notice the weeks flying past as we learned, in no small part thanks to our truly excellent program and trainers. The leadership truly cares about our careers, and it’s great to hear their experiences. Prakash’s speech during our virtual townhall was very motivating!”

 

“All our mentors are helpful, responsible, and friendly,” says Hariharan Vasuganesan. “They explained about the procedure of how the company is working, how it is generating revenue and they talked about their experience in Perficient from their own perspectives. We were advised about the importance of fixing short term and long goals in our life, and to not just work hard, but to work smart.”

“During my internship with the Perficient, I learned software development, testing, and soft skills through many different courses and training programs from the mentors of the internship program. I was able to put these skills into practice during our project work. The work was challenging and exciting!

I learned how to work as a team in our project, how to manage my time, and how to organize work to maximize efficiency and in the end, I’ve gained more confidence in myself. The work experience I encountered during the internship allowed me to develop a product with all the requirements met by the client and some value-added and delivered it on time.
My most valuable lesson was that life isn’t a sprint, but a marathon, and to constantly keep learning and growing!”

 

“Bootcamp was really a helpful stage for us,” says Gowtham Ramadoss.

“The soft skills training helped me with my communication while the technical training on Udemy was great to improve my knowledge vertically as well as horizontally. After the technical training, we were assigned to a project that gave us a good practical overview of everything that goes into a Real project and emphasized the importance of Team coordination.

This is my first job and I firmly believe that Perficient is one of the best things that could have happened in my life. I’m really grateful for how much care our seniors took for us.

I look forward to the upcoming tasks and challenges ahead!”

 

A Boss has the Title, Leaders have the People

I reached out to Sumantra Nandi, Managing Director of the Bangalore BU, who was happy to share his views.

“A consultant is by nature inquisitive, takes the initiative, and helps the client in any way they can.
They need to have the skills to quickly delve into a problem faced by the client, analyze it to come up with new frameworks quickly, and most importantly, communicate to the client the best possible solution customized to the client’s needs.”

We expect our people to be true consultants.

“We encourage people to learn and grow, and that’s we have Perficient academy to help them. Interested colleagues take the initiative to learn on their own, in addition to a TDC group that runs learning initiatives and provides multiple programs for growth.

It’s definitely not a monotonous environment, but an exciting one, and while it can be challenging- for someone with the right mindset, their growth will be accelerated exponentially by their time here.”

 

“The truly amazing thing about Perficient is our constant interactive sessions with the GDC leaders, who give us space to clarify our doubts at any time and give clear answers to all of our questions. We get hands-on training while hearing concepts explained to us with perspectives of experienced leaders which is incredibly valuable for a fresher right out of college,” says Vinodraj Thenraj.

“Perficient’s mission and its work culture, and how we established a base in India and the subsequent growth, all of these were highly impressive to hear, especially since we were told about it first-hand from the original team themselves. The courses and training were presented in an interactive and enthusiastic way by the trainers and developers.

I’m excited to be a part of such an organization which has welcomed us with open arms, and it truly is a pleasure to work as part of the Perficient family.”

 

“Being a Circuit branch graduate, Software and its aspects were very new to me,” says Aarthii Gurunathan.

“In fact, before entering Perficient, I had some anxiety about how I going to adapt to this. But the motivation and support given by our scrum masters, Trainers, and leads, gave me the confidence boost needed to go further and learn more about this domain.

We had many more sessions where we came to know about Perficient and its domains through our GDC leaders. They gave a clear vision of how Perficient works and they are really friendly. I still find it surprising how we are encouraged to connect with them if we have any doubts, and how helpful everyone is.

Honestly, I think Perficient is great for freshers like me. We’re encouraged to learn and grow from the start in all fields.
I hope to achieve great heights during my career with Perficient!”

 

“Everything I know about the industry today was taught to me during the bootcamp.” says Kavya Venkatesh. “The courses were all very good and easy to understand. All the trainers were wonderful and ready to clear doubts at any time.

I’ve been to the office twice so far and got to meet a lot of the leaders. I was nervous the first time but every single one of them was extremely nice. We met Prakash Chembai, the AVP and he shared the history of the company and what is expected of us. He said that Perficient is a garden we get to enjoy and the fruits are all the technology available to us, and we, in turn, had a duty to those who came after us. It was very motivating.

This is my first job and I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better company to work at. The general atmosphere is very easy going and the company is completely focused on training us and helping us grow.
I can’t wait to start reporting to the office full-time and contributing meaningfully to the company!”

 

Article done, I bounced over to my Director’s Cabin. “All done with part 1 of the Intern Bootcamp, Gayathri!”

“Great Vishnu, just in time. There’s a Winter Bootcamp to cover.”

Wait, what?

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READY TO GROW YOUR CAREER?