I remember being weak-kneed before my interview with Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail during the Summer Internship Process. I had my HR interview already and was now the last remaining candidate for the firm. Still, as I entered the room – everything washed away. Two hours later, I was calling home to declare that I was going to intern at one of the big-shot names in the industry.
For an MBA student, life can be explained by practically every adjective in the English language – but I am confident that “easy” is not one of them. Among all the changing seasons, it would not be wrong to say that the placement season is the jolliest of them all. The best way to prepare for SIP is to do a bit of research on the company and practice any possible interview questions. Study your résumé until you know it inside-out and have a family member quiz you on how your experience can be applied to the position.
For doing an internship with Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Limited, one has to go through 2 elimination rounds that test your capabilities. These are:
1) Group discussion
2) Two personal interview rounds
The first elimination round is a group discussion followed by a personal interview with HR and then with another representative from the Sales division of the company. An important point to remember in the entire process is that humility plays a big role in clearing the interview rounds.
Talking about the induction, my mentor and buddy showed me the way in the initial phase, they helped me in understanding the functionality of different domains and how exactly things go forward. E-meetings with the top delegates of the firm made me feel ecstatic. The ease with which we could approach and connect with them was amazing.
I was fortunate to get an opportunity to work as a Learning & Development Intern under the Retail HR team. It was exciting as it involved understanding the learning of the workforce, intensive competitor’s bench-marking, and providing an improved L&D framework. My internship with Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd. helped me improve the ownership factor and performance within a limited time frame. In fact, I can go as far as saying that I have mastered the skill of doing my work way before time! The major takeaway from the internship is that an in-depth understanding of the business is critical to maintaining the pace of the project. Secondly, it is necessary to have periodic discussions with your immediate superiors so that the project is executed on the intended lines. Also, these sessions pointed to me the areas that I needed to work on. Overall, the entire stint with the company was great and impactful. The whole L&D team was a treat and helped me not to lose track of the project in this WFH scenario and worked towards giving the best results. They helped me to discuss and resolve the challenges in the project.
In the end, Just a little piece of advice, Organizations seek interns who are motivated and exhibit a "go-getter" attitude. Employers also want people doing internships in their company who have a strong work ethic and are dependable and work well independently and in a team environment. Also, Take advantage of your student status and ask questions about everything you don't understand. Employers believe that students who ask questions are motivated and really want to learn all they can about the industry. As an intern, employers do not expect you to know everything about the job or industry. Internships are a great learning experience and the more questions you ask the more you will learn about the job and how the industry operates.
"Don’t just deliver what is required,
Go beyond the scope of what you know today
And always be inspired."
Recommended For You:
To read the summer internship experiences of your peers, click here!