Pros
The biggest positive of my internship was the exposure. I worked on multiple projects that were completely new to me and gained valuable experience in consulting and problem-solving. The work was intellectually stimulating and I had opportunities to contribute to real client-facing deliverables The hybrid work policy was also reasonable, with two days in the office and three days working from home.
Cons
I interned with the DSA team at Think Through Consulting for two months. Going into the internship, I had high expectations in terms of learning and growth. To be fair, I did get exposure to good projects and worked on assignments that were completely new to me.
The problem was everything around the work. What frustrated me most was the mismatch between expectations and reality. The company would hire large numbers of MBA interns, pay a stipend of ₹20,000 per month, and then expect deliverables that felt closer to management consultant-level work. We were expected to perform as though we already had years of experience while receiving very little guidance on how to actually do the work.
If you hire interns, treat them like interns. If you expect consultant-level output, then provide consultant-level training, mentorship, and support.
As an intern, you are not expected to know everything. That is the whole point of an internship. You learn by doing, asking questions and receiving guidance from people who have more experience. Unfortunately, that support system was largely missing.
We were often assigned tasks, given deadlines and expected to deliver without proper context, references or guidance. Whenever we approached senior team members with genuine questions or asked for clarification, the response was often frustration rather than support. Instead of feeling comfortable asking questions, I started feeling like asking for help was a problem.
A major issue was that the team lead was frequently unavailable, either absent from the office or away. As a result, most of the pressure fell on the consultants, who were already juggling multiple projects at the same time. I understand that managing several projects is stressful, but that does not justify taking out frustration on interns.
There were multiple instances where I felt I was being spoken to harshly, receiving unnecessary comments, and being made to feel incompetent for not knowing things that I had never been taught in the first place. It affected my confidence and morale significantly.
The culture was another challenge. Office politics were very real. It often felt like visibility, recognition and opportunities were not distributed fairly. There were situations where I felt that people who were better at pleasing seniors received more attention and credit than those quietly doing the work. I also observed behaviour and comments that made me uncomfortable and created a perception of favoritism.
The emotional impact of this internship was much larger than I expected. There were days when I genuinely cried because of the pressure, the communication style and the feeling that no matter how hard I worked, it was never enough. I pushed myself beyond official working hours, stretched my limits and constantly tried to meet expectations, but instead of feeling encouraged, I often felt drained.
Looking back now, especially after working in a healthier professional environment, I can clearly see management issues that I could not identify at the time. A company can have talented people and interesting projects, but if employees and interns do not feel supported, respected or valued, eventually that becomes a much bigger problem.
The infrastructure was also underwhelming. There was only one small pantry serving two floors. During lunch hours, people often had to wait for others to finish eating because there simply was not enough space. Sometimes it genuinely felt like you had to reserve a seat in advance. Basic facilities did not seem designed for the number of people working from the office.
As for perks, there was coffee. Ironically, even something as simple as having coffee felt uncomfortable because people would pass judgment if you took more than one cup a day. As an intern, it felt strange being judged for using one of the few basic amenities available.
I learned a lot, but I learned most of it the hard way.