Being a fresher meant having zero experience in a company. So, the summer internship was my first stint at a company with a responsibility on me. The company where I interned was a startup. It was a Fin-Tech company in the NBFC domain, catering majorly to the SMEs across the country.
The company being a startup was in the expansion phase. And it was really picking up its pace, as it had received huge fundings in a span of one year, through Big players in the Private Equity sector, such as Black Stone. Given that SMEs form the backbone of the Economy, there was a need of such a company in the system providing Finances in a digital and hassle free-way. This meant, for the company, expanding the no of departments and verticals, increasing the team size of the existing departments.
I, as an intern, was given a brief introduction of the company and the background. After which, I was asked to report to my Project supervisor who happened to be the Vice President of the Operations vertical of the company. After a brief introduction of each other, he then assigned me the task of documenting and preparing the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the Operations vertical. It was the need of the hour to the company, as more and more employees were joining the company and riding the expansion wave. Being a company formed in 2013, it is in its developing phase and did not have an SOP in place for the Operations Vertical, to make the work of new employees easier. Also, having a proper SOP in place also helps in further auditing of the processes, if the need ever arises.
Each team was kind enough to help me understand their processes and handle all my queries with patience. I also had the opportunity to go through their actual processes on real time basis with actual customers. The supervisor periodically sat with me to monitor the progress and came up with ideas to make the work better and was also welcome to some of the ideas that I had planned to incorporate in the final project.
However, it would be only fair to bring to light that I am a Differently abled student, wheelchair bound to be precise. My physical inability has had no bearing on the internship process or the internship itself. I went through the process like everyone else and got into a company just like everyone else. I never for a moment felt in any way left behind during those two months of internship. The prime reason, being there was always someone to help me out with anything that I needed. I now believe the only disability is bad attitude. Friends or even strangers in the company always were willing to assist me without any second thought. Opportunities are there everywhere for us.
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About the Author:
Laxman Keshav is a 2nd year student of IIM Indore. In his free time he enjoys writing blogs, gaming and reading books related to cosmology and psychology.
