Transcending boundaries with my internship at Myntra -By Sachin Singla from Delhi Technological University

My internship journey at Myntra started a year back with companies visiting our campus, offering coveted internship offers. It is when Myntra visited our campus on 7th August 2019, and selected 3 students after rigorous shortlisting through one online coding round and two interviews.

Just like any other student excited to work in one of the coolest places, I waited eagerly for the coming summer, making plans for what all to do when in Bengaluru. But alas! Destiny took a turn and we were forced to live in the new normal. All dreams seemed shattered. No one had surety what was in store for us. However, I got my joining date as 27th April 2020 for the internship at Myntra. I was super skeptical about how the virtual mode will work. But the team at Myntra made the onboarding process seamless and welcoming, which was followed by various introductory sessions, kudos to the HR team.

The ML Platform team and my project

During my internship at Myntra, I joined the ML Platform Team in the Analytics Department. Moreover, I can’t thank my luck enough for getting an exciting project, something I had never heard of before because our college projects usually revolved around Web Development, Android, and Machine Learning.

My project required the knowledge of technologies like Kubernetes, Docker, and BinderHub and implementing BinderHub integration with the Bitbucket repository. I was excited to work on it because it helped the ML Platform team to initiate the Model training pipeline. Knowing that my work would be in production and help the data scientists to automate the process, and save precious man-hours, in the long run, gave me the adrenaline rush.

I spent sleepless nights resolving the nasty bugs and getting head around the new technologies. And since this technology is still in infancy, there were fewer resources available to help me resolve errors. But with the constant support from my mentor and team, I was able to read, learn, and implement in order to finish the project in the stipulated time. 

All said and done, I feel fortunate enough to get this project which introduced me to new technologies and amazing team members, without whom my internship at Myntra would have been only a dream to achieve!

Being a part of EORS

I bet everyone knows what EORS is, but this time it was a bit unique - India’s biggest Fashion Sale, Biggest Deals, Biggest Brands, Big on Style, and Bigger on Safety!

Well, I got this brilliant opportunity to be a part of the 12th edition End of Reason Sale (EORS) during my internship at Myntra. In its simplest form, it is the time of festivities here at Myntra. What seems a 4-days sale to any user, actually involves the sheer hard work and coordination of all the teams working behind the curtains.

As it was taking place after a long lockdown in the country, EORS was much more than a sale this time. It was an attempt to revive hopes in the hearts of consumers, producers, retailers, and the whole fashion and e-commerce industry. 

Every Myntraite gave its blood, sweat, and tears to make it a successful event. To help rejuvenate the teams, the EORS extravaganza included the Lagori Band virtual concert and the virtual standup-comedy by the very witty Rahul Subramanian!

Work hard. Have fun. Make a difference.

My internship at Myntra was not just working and presentations, the team ensured a good dose of fun sessions to maintain a healthy work-life. Yes, it cannot be denied that we missed the fun that would have taken place when meeting everyone in-person but sessions like weekly Fun Fridays and The Virtual Happy Hour sessions, where anyone could display any talent, or discuss anything apart from the work quite well made up for it. 

All of this provided a chance to know each other better because who knows the great Data Scientist sitting beside you might be a great Standup comic, or a Guitarist, or an awesome photographer.

Another exciting component was talks and meet-ups, which was a major missing, all thanks to the shut down of colleges due to the lockdown. This gave me an opportunity to present my work to the team and deliver a talk in “ABCT talks”. So, ABCT abbreviated for AnyBody Can Talk, is an initiative where any Myntraite can present his/her work. This gives an excellent platform to show your awesome work and understand how different teams work in Myntra. All in all, my internship journey at Myntra ranged from attending the ABCT-talk in my first week of internship followed by giving talks thereafter till the end. 

To all the future interns…

I had an amazing time at Myntra and garnered a multitude of learnings from my internship. So, here are some tips for the future interns that might prove beneficial and make your journey memorable:

• Your team is your strength: Know your team in and out. Interacting with your teammates will give you a bigger perspective and will make it easier for you to approach the right kind of people when in need.
• Planning and documentation: Tracking your progress is a mandatory requirement. It will help you stay on the right trail and ensure cent percent performance. Documenting your work should always go hand-in-hand with your planning. This will help your team to take forward your project in the future and work on it.
• Hunger to learn: Leave everything behind, and have the burning curiosity to learn as much as you can. Do not get bogged down by the worries of placement, PPO, or package, etc. because once you have the right skills and knowledge, you will surely land at the right organization.
• Speak up: Do not hesitate to ask questions and clear doubts. Your team must have gone through your phase and knows how difficult things can be. So, it is okay to ask for their perspective and help. But make sure to do appropriate research beforehand and offer your own views on the statement.
• Have fun and be yourself: In the end, it is an internship and not the end of the world. Enjoy the process, your setbacks, and screw-ups. Learn from them. Do things your way. People will admire you for your work, no matter how you do it.

Good Luck!