I was selected to be a part of Capgemini’s coveted
Chrysalis Summer Internship Programme 2018. Being one of the most sought-after companies in the campus, I was looking forward to the company’s visit. Preparation strategy for the interview involved numerous activities. Firstly, one needs to be up to date with regard to latest events especially in your area, HR in my case. Take out time to read
newspapers, journals and
magazines regularly. Further, be thorough with your
theoretical knowledge. This is really important because this sets the path of translating this to the practical corporate life. Thirdly, schedule
mock interviews with your friends. Trust me this gives you numerous insights and helps you in preparing well. This will boost up your confidence.
My journey with Capgemini started a month before the internship actually began. The project description and responsibility were shared with all the interns. There was regular communication with the company. When I look back, I believe that these efforts to keep us engaged with the company helped us in getting geared up for the internship. Our internship started with an induction program where all the Chrysalis interns interacted with each other. The induction was well structured with the right combination of leadership talks, team building activities and fun sessions. And to add to the fun, all the interns were given goodies. We were briefed about the key milestones in our 2-month journey which ranged from the First Dipstick to Final Panel Assessment. Each intern was assigned a
buddy and a
mentor throughout the period of 2 months.
I interned with the
Learning and Development Group at Capgemini. My project was on co-creating a model on determining ROI for learning intervention and socialising the same in ongoing Learning Journeys. One thing that I would like to highlight upon is the quality of the projects that were given to all the interns. These projects were identified by the business having an indefinite value and business impact. My project was extremely challenging. I started conducting focused interviews with various stakeholders related to the project. This helped me in understanding the business offerings and how I can contribute to over and above my project. With the insights received, I created a straw man framework of my model and kept on augmenting it after regular discussions with the same stakeholders to achieve the final goal.
My project mentor and buddy took keen interest in my project. They were not too directive and there was no hand-holding when it came to my project, but they gave their insights and views and that helped in building a perspective about how things were different between theory and application. My mentor encouraged me to think outside of conventional techniques and frameworks and develop something new. Having said all this, my internship was not just about work – we used to have a lot of fun too! The close bond developed among the fellow interns made it a memorable journey.
My advice to the future interns will be:
- Think out of the box. Challenge the status quo. As clichéd this may sound, trust me it is achievable. Talk to people and deliberate on your problem statement. You never know when a brilliant idea strikes you.
- Build relationships- within the interns’ community, the team you work with and with other people in the organisation.
- Do not start your internship with any pre-conceived notions. Go with an open mind.
- Ask, ask and ask questions. This is a learning experience for you. Do not fear being judged.
- Be optimistic and smile! The world does not end here.
Good luck!