How do I get internship at Microsoft if you are from a tier 3 college?

Tier 3 college students can get an internship as good as IITians, provided that they follow the right steps.

With the rise of the tech startup ecosystem in India, the number of tech jobs and internships are at the peak. Today, a large number of companies hire fresh graduates from college because college freshers bring fresh thinking, they are quite agile and they can easily be molded into any domain.

College freshers should consider this as a great opportunity to grab through which they can enhance their Software Engineering skills and also get a flavor of how things work in the industry.

First, let us note 2 key points:

• Generally speaking, the opportunities are available for the following profiles - Backend Developer, Frontend Developer, Full-stack Developer, Machine Learning Engineer (or Data Scientist), Android/iOS Developer, etc.
• Most companies perform recruitment via a 3-step process - screening round, the first round of interview and finally, the second round of interview.

Let’s talk specifically about Backend Development (I have mentioned about Machine Learning and other related guidance at the end of this answer).

Any Web or Mobile based application today is generally connected to a cloud-based Backend and therefore, by knowing the nuances of Backend Development, you bring in a lot of knowledge on the table. If you have a decent exposure to Backend Development, you will certainly be eligible for a lot of companies, particularly startups.

There are many Backend Development frameworks in multiple programming languages. The choice of the Backend framework usually is driven by your proficiency in the underlying programming language.

• Java: Spring
• Python: Django
• JavaScript: NodeJS
• Ruby: Ruby-on-Rails (RoR)
• PHP: Codeigniter

So, if you are proficient in say JavaScript, you can start with NodeJS or any other related JavaScript framework. Other than the underlying programming language, the differences between these frameworks aren’t really significant at the beginner level. Note that for advanced features, the frameworks may differ completely. However, for beginners, either is fine.

Django, NodeJS and Ruby-on-Rails are quite popular in the startup world. Spring and Codeigniter are common among corporates. You can choose 1 accordingly.

You should note an important point - although it could be a big plus point to have knowledge of the framework that is used by the company where you are applying, it is not really necessary. For instance, a company who uses NodeJS as their backend framework would certainly appreciate the fact that you know Django and have demonstrated good projects in Django. A good company understands that problem-solving ability and the ability to learn new things are far more important than knowledge of a specific programming language or web framework and that smart students can pick-up any new skill in almost no time.

How to learn Backend Development in Python?

Django Girls Tutorial is arguably one of the best tutorials for picking up Django. Django is a well-known Python-based Web framework. It is fast and easy to learn. Most importantly, Django is currently being used widely among startups and therefore, there is a huge market out there for Backend Development in Django.

What should you aim for? 

To catch the attention of companies, you should aim for a decent project in Django. For instance, in the Django Girls Tutorial, the blog project is a great simple project that you can put on your resume.