The journey of PGDM accounts for a lot of experiences in terms of learning, fun and team work. One of such experiences comes with a two month internship where we as students are expected to hone our skills that we had learned during the first year of college and as a result, be better prepared for corporate world. We are told about the importance of internship from the very first month of college and how it is one of the major factors in deciding where we land up during our final placements. Companies start visiting the campus and we are expected to be well versed with the job profile, role and requirements of the company.
I started preparing for the same by taking help from the seniors and hence realizing where my area of interest lied. I used to read news articles through an app to help me through the Group Discussions. I also worked on my communication skills as it was important to catch the notice of the judge during a noisy discussion, where everyone was eager to put forward their points. Reading and developing an opinion towards certain areas helped me thoroughly during this process. The interview process was equally challenging where I was grilled on my technical and soft skills, but having a confident and composed demeanor helped me get through it.
My internship was at JMarathon Advisory Services, which provided comprehensive financial planning and intense training. It offered technology based services for its clients to effectively monitor their portfolio and help them in reaching their financial goals. The company has its branches in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, and it recruited students from our college for all three campuses. The experience I had with this company was very cherishable and pleasant. We were assigned a mentor on our first day who taught us the basics of forex and stock market. We were divided into batches for the ease of understanding and the mentor was available to take our concerns about stock market, portfolio management, wealth management, etc. The other employees working there were also proficient in this area and had been themselves putting their money into stocks and foreign exchanges for a couple of years. As the market is dynamic, we had to be on our toes to look for opportunities to invest our virtual money and to sell already purchased securities. We learned about different candlestick patterns and other strategies to make easy money.
By the end of my internship, I was clear on my basics of stock and forex market and was determined to learn more through primary and secondary research. Also, my project on Analysis of Gold Market helped me understand the demand and supply of gold, and various national and international factors responsible for the fluctuation in the price of gold. I used this project to forecast the price of gold using various models.
I would suggest the juniors to make the best use of the two months of internship you will be offered as it is the first step to be successful in your corporate career.
I would also like to express gratitude to my mentor who patiently and consistently helped us in understanding the dynamics the finance world has to offer. He knew all the subtle tricks to make a profit and never hesitated in sharing the knowledge he had obtained over the past few years.