Intern Diaries- Huzaifa Merchant Learning the Ropes at Lemonade Stand Partners

Edited by: Sukshma S. Upadhyaya

Huzaifa Merchant, Talerang’s alumnus, is currently pursuing his BBA at NMIMS University. He is a Research and Strategy intern at Lemonade Stand Partners. In this article, he talks about his internship search experience and how peer pressure played an important role. Keep reading to know more!

“As a student entering the final year of your course, you are expected to divide your time over the summer vacations between actually enjoying the holidays and working a summer internship. I really took my own sweet time to make peace with the idea of not being able to sleep late into the afternoons and binge-watching Netflix in the night.

In fact, I took so long to make peace with that idea that I ended up missing out on multiple internship opportunities offered by my college. A week or two into my vacations most of my friends were already interning and I hadn’t even begun.

Peer pressure is the most effective driving force sometimes! I decided to get serious and I was focused on getting an internship where I get to put my knowledge to the test and also learn something new that helps me build my skill set and add value to my professional profile. Finding an internship with the pandemic still looming was a tedious process. Navigating through LinkedIn and Internshala on a regular basis looking for something that matches my interest, closing in on a lead, and reaching a dead-end, being turned down as the requirements for entry-level posts were too high were all a common occurrence, but I chose not to give up.

I was also in touch with my Talerang mentors and was completing the projects and submissions alongside. While I wasn’t browsing the internet for opportunities I spent my time productively reading finance articles, mastering excel, and picking up other useful skills. Finally, after a little over a month my hard work paid off and I was connected to Lemonade Stand Partners, one of Talerang’s corporate partners. They are essentially a growth lab for consumer tech startups, they liked my profile and after a few interviews, I was in.

The college has reopened now, and juggling between my final year academics and the internship is a challenge but also an enriching experience, definitely felt out of my comfort zone at the start but with every passing day I enhance my capabilities, learn something new and wake up every day as a better version of myself.”