In a testament to the growing star power of Infosys, the IT major hired 26 interns in Bangalore, the largest ever since the program was started five years ago.
The internship program called, InStep, offers a chance for international students to work at the Infosys headquarters in Bangalore.
InStep offers internships to undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students from the best universities around the globe.
Ranging from eight to twenty four weeks, the summer internship program draws students from over 49 universities across the globe. The success of the program is validated by the 8500 applications, the company received, for seventy internship positions, from world class institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Stanford University, Wharton School of Business, St Gallen University (Switzerland), London Business School (UK), Darmstadt University (Germany), Hitotsubashi University (Japan) and RMIT (Australia), said Infosys.
"The response this year has been exceptional. The number of applications we received are almost three times of what we got last year. This proves that InStep is a sought after internship program in reputed universities and that India is emerging as a destination for smart professionals across the globe," said Nandan Nilekani, CEO, president and managing director of Infosys.
During the year, InStep is expected to bring a total of 70 interns to Infosys' various offices across the world. The InStep program has representation of students from countries such as the US, Japan, Canada and Germany.
"InStep iInterns of today become the brand ambassadors of Infosys tomorrow. While the program has been designed to build brand awareness in global campuses, we also see this program as a relationship building exercise with our future stakeholders," said Nilekani.
InStep is also unique as it offers interns an opportunity to work on live projects and closely interact with top management at Infosys.
It also facilitates the sharing of knowledge between Infoscions and the interns and allows them to work in a culturally diverse and intellectually stimulating environment. This also provides them a better understanding of international markets.
Infosys has over 25,000 employees in over 35 offices worldwide.
Though the interns mainly work in the corporate headquarters of Infosys at Bangalore, India, the positions are sometimes made available in Infosys' global offices such as United Kingdom, Japan, Canada and the US.
Applicants are requested to submit a filled out version of the application form available on the Infosys website. Prospective interns are also expected to go through an interview, which matches their skills to the required profile.
The students get a monthly stipend as well as airfare, accommodation in a fully furnished Infosys guesthouse, food, free transportation within the city and an opportunity to capture the sights and sounds of India during the intern excursions.
"Interns are selected on the basis of their profiles and their suitability to the projects at Infosys. So, even though a student may have an excellent academic record, if he or she does not fit any of the preferred profiles, we will not be able to shortlist him or her," said an Infosys spokesperson.
Infosys, however, does not run an internship programme for domestic students. In exceptional cases, a few students from the Indian Institutes of Technology or the Indian Institutes of Management are offered a chance to participate in the existing global internship programme.
"Interns under the InStep program are our most powerful brand ambassadors on global campuses. The endorsement provided by former InStep interns to their juniors and peers when they return to their respective countries proves invaluable. InStep also believes in not being just another internship program but a facilitator of long-term relationships with future business leaders, academia etc," said the Infosys spokesperson.