My experience with SarthiQ during my last internship was very good. I had been thinking about reaching out to the company for a long time. I searched on LinkedIn and tried to contact the HR team members who were already working there. I even visited their website, but I did not get a good result.

I searched a lot in the beginning because it was a startup. Startups have many tasks to handle. So, it may take time for them to respond to you. The same thing happened to me.

I applied on the SarthiQ platform around March or April. I could not find any job opening where I could connect with the company and join the startup.

Then I saw a post on their platform named Campus Representative. I just wanted to give an interview at SarthiQ so that I could connect with the founder. This was my thinking.

So, what did I do? I applied for it. I thought, let's see what happens. I was in the final year of my B.Tech, but I still applied for the Campus Representative position at that startup. At least I could talk to them, show my skills, and tell the founder how I could help the company.

My point here is that if you want to connect with something but cannot find a way, or if you want to reach a big place, you do not always need to start there directly. You can start small. Maybe taking one step back can help you move two steps forward.

The same thing happened to me. After at least three to four months, I received a message saying that I had been shortlisted for the Campus Representative position.

I was excited, but I was also a little disappointed because the startup had taken a long time. I understand that.

I was at home when my interview took place directly with the founder because it was a startup. At first, I thought he was from HR. But when the interview started and we answered the questions, there was a final question: "Do you have any questions for the company, or would you like to ask anything?"

I asked, "Sir, are you from HR or are you the founder? What is your position?"

He told me that he was the founder.

I became a little more polite and told him about myself. I explained that I had been trying to reach out to the company for a long time. He said, "Okay, that's fine. Start with this position for now."

I worked with him as a Campus Representative for one month.

My tasks included sharing content on my campus and representing the company.

I worked for one month. At that time, I had a different understanding of the Campus Representative role. I thought it meant advertising the company everywhere throughout the day.

I worked like this for the first few days. Then we had another meeting. The founder asked me, "How much time are you giving to this work?"

I was a little confused because I used to work whenever I had free time. But the main point was different. The founder asked me, "How dedicated are you? How much dedicated time are you giving to this work?"

I could not answer that question.

Then he explained that I should give the time mentioned in my offer letter. For example, if my offer letter mentioned three to four hours, I should give at least three hours to the work with full dedication.

I thought about it.

Earlier, I used to spend small amounts of time on the work. So, I divided my work into time slots. I decided to give half an hour to one task, one hour to another task, and one hour to another task.

In this way, I added the work to my daily schedule.

In reality, this method was so effective that it did not affect my daily life. I was still doing my work in small chunks, but now I was more dedicated to it.

I also started making progress in my work.

My one-month internship was completed. During that time, I learned many things, including networking, communication, and time management.

Most importantly, I learned time management during that one-month period.

What I had understood about time management during my four years of B.Tech turned out to be wrong. I learned that this was not the right way to manage time.

My one-month experience as a Campus Representative was more valuable than what I had learned from my first, second, and third years of B.Tech.

As people say, taking one step back does not always mean that you are moving backward. Maybe you take one step back, and your luck or destiny helps you move four steps forward.

The same thing happened to me.

My internship ended there. My tenure was one month. The offer letter mentioned that it could be extended, but I decided to close it after one month, and I did so.

I also sent a note to the founder saying, "Sir, I have completed my one month. I want to contribute more to your startup. I do not know how I can contribute further. What does the company need?"

I wanted to work in a technical role, so the founder asked me how much time I could give.

I said that I could give three to four hours along with my studies. Honestly, I could give three hours, and when I was free, I could give four to five hours.

The founder understood my situation and hired me again for the Community Engagement position.

As people say, when you take one step back and learn something new, you can continue moving forward with that experience.

I started working in Community Engagement there.