What is that one thing that captures the entire mind space of each and every first year MBA student at this time of the year?
- The urge to meet people and forge new friendships? No!
- Indulge himself/herself into academics and kick-start learning a multitude of managerial concepts? No!
- Resort to the recreational and extra-curricular activities that his/her b-school has to offer? No!
As disheartening as it may sound but, it’s actually just summer placements that dominate the psychology and direct the efforts of each first-year student in Term 1. Blame it on the expectations of the society or the paranoia created by the seniors, unfortunately, the agenda of honing one’s business skills through all that a b-school has to offer takes a backseat as soon as one joins the course.
(Alert : Prepare for a Marketing Summer Internship by taking our specialised course
here.)
Riding on the experience of having interned at the largest FMCG firm of India (HUL), I thought of calming down the nerves of the new comers a bit by feeding them with 7 steps that can increase their chances of grabbing a marquee internship in Sales & Marketing manifold. Let’s start:
- Let your resume speak for you: Make sure that the lower half of the CV which comprises of pointers like Positions of Responsibility, Extra-curricular activities and Hobbies/Interests is overarching and clearly dominates everything’s that’s there in the upper half. It implies that you do not need to have stellar grades/academic achievements to strike gold.
- The newspaper is your best buddy: You may want to skip a case reading prescribed for the impending sessions but definitely not your daily dose of newspaper reading. Zero in on one or maximum two newspapers that you would religiously follow at least till your summer placements and stick to just them! Hovering over new publications every day won’t help your cause.
- The maze of brands and their companies: Don’t bother too much about mugging up the brands and their corresponding companies. This is a task which can be easily completed in the last few days ahead of the placements. You can even have a quick know-how of any company after getting shortlisted for further processes by going through certain sections of the annual report of that company (for example Managerial Reporting and Analysis).
- Embrace the industry and a particular brand: While you don’t need to dip yourself into the ocean of brands, it’s always a great idea to know one particular brand inside out! Information about its inception, ad campaigns, recent performance, competitors, etc. is to absorbed very thoroughly. In a similar fashion, start following a particular industry (FMCG preferably) from today itself.
- Do you know yourself? Your CV is your bible and your key to unlocking a great summer placement. Be prepared with a customary “Tell me about yourself” question and 3-4 questions that the interviewer can ask on each line that is mentioned in your resume.
- Domain knowledge: Even the most sought after marketing firms don’t expect a great deal of domain knowledge/jargons during summer placement process. For most of the cases, clarity on 4Ps and the STP framework will be enough. Common sense helps more!
- 3 golden words for acing the GDs & PIs: CONFIDENCE. OPTIMISM. PASSION.
Hope these steps clear the air to some extent and also allay the fears surrounding summer placements. Do comment below to get your queries addressed.
-----
Prepare for a Marketing Summer Internship by taking our specialised course
here.