On a rainy evening in September last year, when the Placement Committee announced, in their inimitable style, the beginning of the Summer Placement season, a surge of excitement came over me. However, after two gruelling and unsuccessful months of interviews, when Robert Bosch Engineering And Business Solutions came knocking for HR Interns, I was ready but not overly optimistic.
Having got a shortlist, I brushed up on the learnings of the previous five months and went over my answers to some of the fundamental questions that are asked in almost every interview, including, but not restricted to, the purpose of doing an MBA, the reason behind choosing HR and expectations from the Summer Internship.
After the interview (over the telephone), I felt fairly confident since I thought I was able to drive it, to a certain extent, the way I wanted to and was able to answer all questions in a reasonably convincing manner. The kind words from the interviewer at the end of the call seemed genuine and I was quietly hopeful of a conversion.
On getting the news a few days later, I was relieved on landing an Internship opportunity in a respectable organization. It also taught me that, in order to crack an interview, it is essential not only to be very self-assured, confident and well prepared but also to be able to focus on the current opportunity, keeping past disappointments behind.
On arriving at Bangalore, I was pleasantly surprised by the weather but not as pleasantly by the traffic. There was nothing unpleasant though about the Bosch office, as the swanky premises with state-of-the-art facilities and very helpful people helped me settle in, in no time. I was assigned a project on Learning and Development, as I had expressed an interest in the same during my interview.
I was given the task of designing a personalized learning program for the employees, based on Adaptive Learning tools, including AI. The project had a vast scope of learning and I could apply a lot of relevant concepts that had been covered as a part of my first-year curriculum.
Over the next eight weeks, I dived into the culture of learning at Bosch and how the employees perceive the importance of training and development in their jobs. Having a detailed layout of my weekly activities, which was regularly monitored by my mentor, enabled me to progress on my work with clear objectives to aim at. The continuous reviews were of immense help in making me stay on the right path towards my final deliverable. The final review, on my second last working day, turned out to be a dream as most of the panelists seemed thoroughly impressed by what I could come up with.
The internship experience was laden with learnings and significant takeaways that are going to play a key role when I step into the industry next year. The corporate way of life, the experience of interacting with a diverse group of employees, the opportunity of getting to contribute to a real-time business problem and delivering a presentation in a corporate boardroom are some moments that are going to stay with me forever.
I cannot thank my mentor, Mrs. Rajini G P, enough for her support, guidance and playing a huge role in making my internship a memorable affair. From the very first day, she provided me the freedom to go about my project in my own way and it gave me a great sense of ownership and accountability. Her constant feedback and inputs helped me progress in the right direction.
As my second year begins, I look back on my internship stint at Bosch with great pride and I am certain that this experience would be a major stepping stone in my career.
They say you might forget your jobs, but you don't forget your internships. Now I know why!