Software Development Internship: Build a Full Stack App

The Elevate Skills Software Development Engineer (SDE) internship is a free, 5-week virtual internship in full stack development. Instead of watching lectures, you build one real web application, CredVault, step by step: first the frontend, then the backend and database, and finally the two connected into a working product. Here is exactly what you will do, what you need to know before you start, and how to finish strong.

What is the SDE internship?

It is an internship in the Full Stack Development domain for students who want to learn how real web applications are planned, built and connected from frontend to backend. You work from an SRS (Software Requirements Specification) document, the same kind of brief real development teams receive, and you submit your work through GitHub for review.

• Role: Software Development Engineer Intern
• Domain: Full Stack Development (frontend, backend, database and APIs)
• Duration: up to 5 weeks, at your own pace
• Format: 100% virtual, from anywhere in India
• Cost: free to join and complete; the verified certificate is optional (₹100)

What you will build: CredVault

CredVault is a certificate issuing and verification platform. By the end of the internship it should support:

• A certificate request form that people can submit
• Application tracking, so applicants can check the status of a request by its ID
• Public certificate verification by certificate ID
• A secure admin login
• An admin applications page to approve or reject requests
• A certificates page where the admin can revoke certificates

It is a compact but complete product, with public pages, an admin side, a database and a verification flow, which makes it a strong portfolio project to show recruiters.

The four tasks, step by step

Tasks unlock in order, and each one is reviewed before you move on.

1. LinkedIn offer letter post: share your internship offer letter on LinkedIn, tag ELEVATE Skill Development, and submit the post link. This comes before the development tasks.
2. Frontend development: build all the CredVault pages listed in the SRS using dummy data. No backend or database is needed yet. Submit a GitHub repository whose README includes screenshots of every page.
3. Backend development, API and database: build the APIs and database for certificate requests, application tracking, public verification, admin login, approval or rejection, and certificate revocation, with input validation and secured admin endpoints. No frontend is needed in this task.
4. Full stack integration: connect your frontend to your backend so that every page works with real data instead of dummy data. The admin can approve, reject and revoke, and anyone can track an application or verify a certificate by ID.

What is an SRS document, and how to use it

A Software Requirements Specification describes what to build: the pages and their fields, the API endpoints with their request and response formats, the data models and the expected output. Working from an SRS teaches you to build to a specification, which is exactly what you will do in a real job.

• Read the whole SRS before writing any code.
• Turn it into a checklist of pages, fields and endpoints, and tick items off as you build them.
• Use the exact names the SRS gives for fields, routes and models. Reviewers check against it.
• If the SRS lists technology or submission requirements, follow them exactly.

Skills you will practise

• Frontend: page layout, forms, client-side validation and responsive design
• Backend: REST API design, request validation and protecting admin routes with authentication
• Database: designing data models and storing, updating and querying records
• Integration: calling APIs from the frontend and handling loading and error states
• Git and GitHub: regular commits, clear README files and screenshots
• Working from requirements, which is how professional teams operate

What to know before you start

You do not need previous internship experience, but the tasks will feel much easier if you are comfortable with these basics:

• HTML, CSS and basic JavaScript
• How web requests work (GET and POST, JSON)
• One backend language or framework you can build an API with
• Basic database concepts, such as tables or collections, and create, read, update and delete operations
• Git basics: clone, commit, push

Check the SRS for any technology requirements. If it leaves the choice to you, pick the stack you can finish with confidence rather than the newest one. New to coding? Start with our Python guide to build fundamentals.

A suggested 5-week plan

1. Week 1: complete the LinkedIn task, read the SRS end to end, set up your GitHub repository and start the frontend.
2. Week 2: finish every page with dummy data, add screenshots to the README and submit the frontend task.
3. Week 3: build the backend APIs and database, and test each endpoint with a tool such as Postman before submitting.
4. Week 4: connect the frontend to the backend, replace the dummy data and handle errors properly.
5. Week 5: test the full flow, act on any reviewer feedback, make your final submission and download your documents.

Tips to get your tasks approved first time

• Match the SRS exactly: every page, field and endpoint it asks for.
• Keep your repository public, so the reviewer can open it.
• Write a README with setup steps and screenshots.
• Never commit passwords or API keys. Keep them in an environment file that is excluded from Git.
• Test the complete flow yourself before you submit: request, track, approve, verify, revoke.
• Optionally add a short demo video: upload a file of up to 50 MB, or paste an unlisted YouTube or Google Drive link.
• If a task is rejected, read the feedback, fix the issues and use Resubmit Work.

What you get

• An offer letter, which you can download from your dashboard
• A complete full stack project for your portfolio and resume
• An optional verified certificate (₹100) once all tasks are approved, with a unique ID anyone can check on the verification page
• An optional Letter of Recommendation (₹100) once all tasks are approved

After you finish, add CredVault to your resume and LinkedIn with links to the repository and a demo. Our guide on adding an internship to your resume and LinkedIn shows how.