Pre-Interview: This is one of the normal days when I was on an outing and my mailbox showed a pop-up. It contained registration form of DELL Technologies which was offering a summer internship in finance to PGDM students. After doing deep root analysis about the pros and cons I filled the form just a few minutes before the deadline. Now preparation was a mammoth task that stood in front of me. Assuming I would get a lot of time for the preparation, I decided to enjoy my outing.My outing was destroyed by another mail which said the company placement process was the next day. I was unprepared and started to feel under-confident. I only had one evening (If I started for home immediately) and so much to do. I felt like I was fighting a losing battle.Preparation: I started to re-calibrate every possible material I had on finance and revisit my concepts. I tried to gather as much latest news as possible in the last week so that I don’t look like I was not updated with current affairs. I tried to find information about Dell from all possible sources and do extensive research on the company. I revisited the work I had done in my previous companies so that I am clear about my past experiences. It was a daunting task pf continuous 6-7 hours after the lapse of which I continued to feel under confident and under pressure. Repeatedly only one thing was revolving in my mind that if only I had another day to prepare for it. I learned this lesson the hard way that it is mandatory for students to be updated with their concepts and current affairs on a regular basis. It is only the company information that can be researched about at the last minute and not everything else.Interview: The D-day had finally arrived when dressed in business formals, I reached the venue of company presentation with my heart pumping against my chest. I paid undivided attention to the speakers and listened to every single word they spoke. We had four rounds of the selection process as follows:Round 1: Group DiscussionRound 2: Technical InterviewRound 3: HR interviewRound 4: Director Interview1stround tested my current affair. I tried to speak as much as possible that I had grabbed the previous day. I tried to interlink all the information I had and put it forth as a strategy.2ndround tested my technical knowledge in finance and my clarity of concepts.3rdround tested was about my expectations from the company and future outlooks.4thround was the toughest which went on for 45 minutes. I had to speak about what exactly I had done in my previous roles and few financial concepts. I was also asked about the information company presenters had disseminated that morning and it is mandatory for all participants to pay undivided attention to their company presentations.One tip for all readers is to be confident about whatever you know and try to give a fair attempt to all the questions asked rather than simply saying “I don’t know”.Learnings of two months: Along wait from September to March had finally come to an end when the day of orientation had finally arrived. I was introduced to the Dell policies and my team. Without much further ado my work started. I was explained about my project and work finally started. My mentor had decided not to spoon feed me on anything. I was handed over the project and the work was left to me. It became very scary at the start because I had no knowledge at all about the company’s procedures and processes. I was handed over the raw data and It took a lot of patience to calibrate everything and make meaning out of it. With the help of my mentor and spending 10-11 hours every day, I was able to come up with a solution. The director wanted a presentation about my work at the end of my time period at Dell. Presentation was a big challenge since I was to present my work of 2 months in a short time span of ten minutes in front of big dignitaries. The experience taught me to be patient and fight till the end. I realized I had the potential to learn a new task and find a solution in a very short time span.Mentor: My mentor had decided to give me a hard time so that I learn more out of it. He decided to not to spoon feed meat at all. This resulted in me to find information on my own by contacting several people and accessing several databases. My mentor gave me proper guidance when I was completely failing to do my job. But more or less it was very tough to find his time to get that support. When the day of my presentation drew nearer it became increasingly tougher to recalibrate everything. He gave me a continuous two days of training on how to present in an effective way. This helped me improve my communication skills. He was extremely supportive when it was required. Working with him was a very good learning experience overall.The day finally arrived when it marked the end of my internship and we had to depart with a heavy heart. Overall it changed me as a person and the learnings I got from my internship at Dell is going to stay with me forever.