As a person, I have always worshipped Taylorism (There is always one most efficient way of doing things). Incidentally, this belief of mine hit a rock bottom and crashed out during my summer internship preparation.
To begin with, I felt that everything under the sun was my syllabus and I need to be prepared for it all. Obviously, I was wrong. Covering everything was neither efficient not advisable. There onwards, every SIP interview I gave (and I gave my fair share of them, before getting into JSPL) was more about my personality than my knowledge, and regrettably, I am an awkward nerd. This experience forced me to realize that above knowledge it is a test of one’s personality. Subsequently, even as I prepared current affairs, relevant facts and figures about the company and a few basic concepts of HR, I kept calm and composed at the top of my priority stack. In this expedition to find the fabled 'inner peace', I stumbled upon this wonderful mobile application called “Headspace”.
The strategy clicked with JSPL. The first question asked of me was about the hot trends in HR and how I would apply them in the company I intern in. Here, they were not only checking my factual knowledge but also whether I could implement what I've read or not i.e whether I had thought it through or just mugged up the facts. They further dwelled on my previous work experience and HR analytics in detail.
But truth be told, having analyzed my interviews threadbare, I still don’t know why I was selected in JSPL and not in others (before JSPL). Honestly, I am still baffled.
Be that as it may, I would still want to underscore the need to be honest in one's preparation, because deep down, I still believe “
Luck favours those who are prepared and it will continue to do so!”
Looking back, getting an SIP after so many failures can be overwhelming. But then, that is just the first step towards a long and arduous journey. In my case, even before we joined, we were suggested a few books to read (
Romancing With Balance Sheet by Anil Lamba) and for that instance, I was glad that I am interning in a company where knowledge is appreciated.
I vividly remember my first day was filled with mixed emotions, happiness, pride, and anxiety all at once. We were made to meet senior leadership at JSPL including CEO, MD and Director HR, Corporate HR Head at JSPL. It was a fascinating experience, meeting such stalwarts. In hindsight, it is uncanny how all of them emphasized on one thing-“learning with fun”.
In general, the best part about interning at JSPL was that everyone was willing to help you. My mentor, Ms. Alekya Nathulakanti (AGM), was one among them. She was always willing to guide me. In my first meeting with her,
she told me that we would learn together. She always used to ask me my approach for the project, helped me arrange the meetings with people in other departments (she probably knew that I was an introvert). She would have gauged my personality and thus nurtured me accordingly. This, in itself, was a sign of a great manager.
If I analyze, before my JSPL stint, I was the most uncreative person on this planet. I was one of those annoying people who believed putting bullets points is the most you can do to make a great PPT, but my mentor guided me to make better PPTs. She taught me how to attract eyeballs with PPT and it was eye-opening.
Moreover, what helped me during my SIP was my learning appetite. As a child, I was interested in learning everything. I still want to do Ph.D. in mathematics, Law, OB, IR, Economics and this list is endless. So, even during my SIP, I used to grab every opportunity to learn. I read 4-5 books for my project and also leaned video making as my project was a niche one -
To develop an e-learning module based on JSPL competency framework.
At last, if you ask me my most significant learning from my SIP, it would be being open to learning from every possible source. And that’s how I rolled - keeping a perpetual tab on all the time for whatever they decided to share with me!