Internships Gave Me The Confidence To Break Out Of An Unambitious Rut

“When opportunity knocks at your door, always be willing to take a chance, because you never know how perfect something could turn out to be.”

Until a few months ago, I was a homemaker whose responsibility and commitment was solely towards her family. Well, I’m still the same person, only with an addition of confidence, ambition, and my own earnings! Having worked for nearly six years before my marriage, I’d always had an independent spirit. While I was free to go wherever and do whatever I wanted, not being employed made the four walls of my home seem like a cage. I would question the point of my education when all I did was sit at home and make chapatis. Years passed by in this distress; my daughter, now in 7th grade, was also becoming independent in so many ways, which made me long for my independence all the more.

One fine day, my nephew told me about an online internship platform that helps women (re)start their careers by offering them work-from-home jobs as well as in-office jobs. This was the opportunity I had been waiting for; I downloaded the app and registered immediately. I found an ocean of internships in various categories along with online trainings to upgrade one’s skillset.

Having studied IT in high school, I applied for a content development internship at TalentBattle.com, a trivia games website. As a part of their selection procedure, I was asked to submit 20 sample general knowledge multiple choice questions and my previous work samples if any. They also asked me to state my work experience in the same and furnish my social media handles. Soon after, I got hired to work there for three months. During this internship, I submitted 200 general knowledge questions every month under the chosen categories.

Just when I was about to complete my first work-from-home internship, I received an email regarding Internshala’s Woman Ambassador Program that focused on reaching out to women and encouraging them to (re)start their career. This opportunity was a godsend for me. I applied for it and when I got selected, my confidence and joy knew no bounds. Through this program, not only did I get a chance to help other women stand on their own feet, but I also became one of the top performers of the program!

Next, I applied to Mediklik where I was asked to submit my previous work experience. After a brief interaction about my background and responsibilities in the last internship, I was hired as a translator for a duration of three months. In this internship, I translated medical descriptions of uploaded diseases on their website from English to Hindi.

I didn’t stop there and applied to Samrat Investments for a digital marketing internship. I was selected after I submitted my previous experiences in similar fields. During this internship, I promoted the organisation on all my social media accounts. Once this internship ended, I applied to another content development internship at a start-up called Hapiens Digital. My first month involved developing general knowledge multiple choice questions, and by the second month, I was promoted to a digital marketing position, specifically for marketing the start-up on Instagram and working with the team to uplift the goodwill of the company.

These internships brought out the confidence that had been hidden behind household chores until then, and it’s something I will never forget. Not only have I regained my confidence but I have also become financially independent; I work as a blogger, freelance content creator, and product reviewer, and I’m also an aspiring writer.

About the author: Harinder Kaur, a homemaker and mother, shares the extraordinary story of how she reignited the ambitions she had before her marriage by completing several work-from-home internships. This article was first published on Internshala, an internships and training platform.