When it is your first corporate stint, what are the words that define your desires? Brand value, decent pay, awesome work culture, multinational... All these words encompassed and were deeply imbibed in my summer internship workplace - Tata Steel, the 8 billion dollar behemoth owned by the biggest corporate house of India known for its ethics, stature, value for employees and also produces category defining Steel. The silver lining on the cloud was the internship location : Global Marketing Headquarters of Tata Steel in Kolkata – The sugar-coated City of Joy.
The sheer magnificence of the iconic structure brings out awe and excitement. We assembled on the 9
th floor to have an induction session with the HR. The HR manager welcomed us and assigned us to our Mentor and Guide. My mentor was a TAS Manager and Head of Marketing of Tata Tiscon as part of the Branded Products and Retail Segment (BPR ) - Mr. N. Karthik. He briefed us about the processes and the project and gave us complete freedom to spread our wings.
The Summer Internship Project was a mix of Market Research, Channel Management and Digital Marketing. I was given the Project Footprint : Increase the market penetration potential of Tata Steel across India. The dealer visits were excruciating and at the same time, opened my eyes to the respect and trust that is commanded by Tata Steel. I also was given the chance to follow my passion in digital marketing by doing campaign analysis for the Adwords and Facebook campaigns run by Tata Steel.
After 2 weeks, we had a sit down with the Chief of Marketing and Sales of BPRS – Mr. Sanjay Sahni, who gave us advice regarding career orientation, creative alignment and the reason for the global reverence of the Tata brand. The subsequent weeks were filled with pan India market analysis to tweak the ever growing market penetration potential.
Interning at Tata Steel was a dream come true. Working with enlightened minds, the camaraderie, the caffeine addiction, the city outings and working at the poshest location in Kolkata, which made jaws drop.
This 2-month stint would show the steepest learning curve in my career graph. I also learnt that respect and trust are virtues earned through consistent persistence and strong ethical backing, something that is scarce today. The sheer magnitude of impact this corporate leviathan has on the lives of its employees and the common man is unparalleled. Tata Steel, pushed me to think out of the box and venture out of my comfort zone and asked me to question the status quo.
I am proud to have been associated for 2 months with this Global Steel Industry benchmark for corporate citizenship and value creation and say proudly -
“ We have values stronger than steel and yes, we also produce steel”.