It was 18
th November 2015, the day of Chatth Puja (a festival dedicated to sun god), when the result of summer placement process of Tata Steel was declared. I couldn’t believe that I had cleared the final round and was now going to be a part of the Tata family for two months. Without any prior work experience and unacquainted with the corporate world, I was both jittery and thrilled to venture this new experience.
With ten days to go for the internship to begin, I received a call from my mentor. I was informed that I would be working on a project titled “Value Mapping of CAB in West Bengal and Sikkim”. At the outset, I couldn’t make heads nor tails of it.
On day one, without any idea about what was in store for me, I stepped into the gargantuan and exquisite 17-storey building of TATA Steel (M&S Headquarter) at Kolkata. I was filled with pride for being a part of the biggest conglomerate in the country. I already had meetings to attend. I felt important, however clueless. With the support of my mentor and buddy, things gradually started making sense to me, and we chalked out our path for the project.
My project had finally taken off, and I was able to collect substantial information for the same. The next few weeks of my internship were filled with scores of meetings, field tasks, updating different sheets and what-not. Every meeting had a new face and with it, a lot of new data and information to put my grey cells to work. It was the thought of making a tangible contribution in shaping the marketing strategy of India’s steel bellwether that propelled me to work harder. The constant support from my mentor and buddy immensely helped me complete the project well in time.
During my stint at Tata Steel, apart from getting acquainted with corporate culture, I also got invaluable opportunities to interact with the leaders and customers of the company, which helped me get a clear idea of the intricacies of the steel industry, the company, and its products. Understanding the complex buying process and consumer behavior in business-to-business environment was one of the key takeaways of the internship. The city of Kolkata showered its own share of joy with its cultural and historical diversity. Last but not least, the internship helped me discover my interests. Cutting the long story short, the internship at Tata Steel was an experience of the life time, and I’d love to relive those two months.
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About the author:
Palak Agarwal is a second year student at IIM Rohtak. A member of the Cultural Committee at IIMR, she loves to cook, travel, and organize events.