My internship at Capgemini is worth cherishing for more reasons than one. Capgemini’s Summer Internship Programme , ‘Chrysalis’ is a highly-structured program to capture the best minds and zealous students from leading B-schools in India. Among the 80 interns selected for various portfolios, I was selected as an HR Intern from MHRM, IIT Kharagpur for ‘Chrysalis 2018’.
My engagement with Capgemini began a month before my joining. I was informed of my project and my responsibility beforehand so that I could prepare myself accordingly. I was equally excited about Bangalore being my joining location. Timely communications smoothened our internship journey right from the beginning.
A 2-day Induction programme, which began on 2
nd April 2018 was held for all the interns through a VC from their respective locations. I got to interact with 15 other interns from various B-Schools during this time in the Bangalore Office. Through the Induction Programme, we were given an introduction to the company and its numerous verticals to give us a holistic view of the business. Top leaders from Finance, Marketing and HR engaged with us and laid out the expectations of us in the 2 eventful months at Capgemini. The leaders were patient and forthright when we asked our doubts. Moreover, each intern was assigned a buddy and a mentor to assist and guide us throughout our internship. We were also briefed about the key milestones ranging from the First Dipstick ( a feedback on the internship journey) to the Final Panel Assessment. And so I was all set to begin!
I interned with the Leadership Hiring Team at Capgemini. My project was based on how Analytics could influence Talent Acquisition for Leadership Hiring. A point worth noting is that the projects assigned to every intern were Live Business Challenges so that we could help develop fruitful solutions for the organization. My project required a clear understanding of HR Analytics. Since this was a new and emerging area in HR, I found the project very interesting and hoped to learn a lot while I worked on it.
My mentor guided me throughout the project and encouraged me to think outside of the box. I could easily approach him in case of any challenges or any new ideas. This gave a boost to my confidence and helped me work in the right direction. With the zeal to utilize every opportunity that came my way in such a big organization, I did not hesitate to interact with other team members, managers, senior managers and never said ‘NO’ to any task assigned to me.
Internship at Capgemini was an amazing 2 months for me. It was coupled with great learning, good interactions and a lot of fun. The key takeaways for future interns would be:
- Do not limit your thoughts: Keep an open mind and it will help you enjoy work to the fullest
- Focus on relationship-building: Interact with the intern community, team members and the larger organization wherever possible
- Be prepared for surprises: There will be some new assignments put on your plate but do not be stressed. Your mentor is there to guide you and assist you whenever possible but obviously, he or she will not spoon-feed you
- Be passionate: You must be ready to accept challenges, think unconventionally and show a keen interest in your work Most importantly, Enjoy!! Cherish every moment of your internship period!
