Coming from a middle class business family, the decision to invest time as well as money in pursuing MBA was a well thought out and a calculated move, keeping in line with my capabilities and best of interest of both myself and my family. It was in class eleventh, when our business studies teacher introduced us to the world of business and sparked the interest. Besides maintaining consistency in academics, my interest in extra-curricular activities encouraged me to showcase my managerial abilities, like leadership skills, critical and creative thinking, teamwork, by participating in different kinds of business events at school.
Inquisitive about how the economy is working, from where the money is getting generated to where it is being spent/invested, led me to pursue economics honors at the graduate level. But, what I realized during my graduation was, in today’s times, a mere bachelors degree is not enough to be able to provide one with the best of opportunities. It is imperative to understand the nuances of the business before you get down to running or be a part of one. An MBA degree helps us in bridging the gap between our theoretical knowledge and practical application of the same.
So, it all started when I joined Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies. It wasn’t just a business school that we had joined, but a different world altogether. It was overwhelming at first with back to back classes, assignments, submissions, presentations, but a month later, it had all started sinking in. We kicked off with our Summer Internship Placements in the week of September, the preparation for which had begun the day we joined only. We used to have these mock GDs and PIs every now and then. The first company to visit the campus was Tata Capital which offered the internship in two roles – marketing and finance. I did not make it to the final round after getting through the group discussion and first round of interviews. There was another company interview that I sat for. And then finally the third and the last one was Bata India Limited wherein I had applied for an internship and got through.
It was an eight week long internship that commenced on the 1st of April, 2019. We were six students from NMIMS, Bangalore and all of us were assigned different projects. My project was to boost the omni-channel growth at Bata leading to increased conversion. For the same, I was allocated six stores of Bata India Ltd. in Delhi. I basically managed the e-commerce platform, an integral part of the Bata omni-channel for the six stores to ensure a seamless shopping experience to the customers leading to improved sales. I had to align the store staff with the overall business objectives and train them to strategically manage their relationships with clients in order to boost sales. As required by the role, I used strong business to increase top line sales by managing the interior /exterior displays and maximizing exposure of key pieces and aligning with corporate visual merchandising strategy.
I am really fortunate that, I had the kind association as well as supervision of the Regional Manager of South Zone, Bata India Limited, Mr. Gagan Gulati. His exemplary guidance and careful monitoring throughout the internship was so great that, even my profound gratitude is not enough. During my internship at Bata, I was mentored by the District Manager, Mr. Sandeep Kumar. He provided his precious time and effort in ensuring a smooth working experience. I also had the opportunity of meeting other interns from different business schools like IMI Delhi, etc. They were all really wonderful and talented people. It was an amazing learning and fun experience for all of us.
To conclude, I’d like to mention that business schools serve as the right platform in grooming our personality and to prepare us for the professional world that we all dream of joining!