The Pilot
First day jitters? Yes! After all it is Daimler Mercedes-Benz, the most admired luxury car brand in the world. I was asked to report at 9 am. I reached the 150 acre plant at 8:45 am, which is the company’s Indian headquarters and called my HR to whom I needed to report. ‘Join us for breakfast’, she said and welcomed me at the canteen. Amazed to have my first day start with such warmth. Post breakfast I reported at the HR’s desk where I completed all the formalities and received a welcome kit with some cool goodies. Students don’t often get the opportunity to intern in Pune at a biggie like Mercedes-Benz and there are many reasons to consider interning in Finance profile a jackpot, but perhaps nothing is more worthwhile than being a part of something bigger than yourself, and when you get out of your comfort zone. I took this up as my most favorite challenge.
The Department and the Boss
The Finance and Accounting department covers the divisions of Fixed Asset Management, A/C Receivables, Payables, Imports, Working Capital Management, Inventory Valuation, Treasury, Closing and Auditing. My boss who is the General Manager of the department made sure that I got a good meat of work, always. My cubicle was right across his so that I could always rely on him for any help. He broke all the stereotypes about the ‘typical’ bosses by extending his genuine belief that I’d make a contribution. My other colleagues spoke to me about my daily work, expectations, clarity of thought and what I regularly used to envision, not because they felt obligated, but because they truly cared.
The Work
My project titled, “
Orientation on Finance Excellence , including processes, policies, system and documentations in Finance & Accounting Functions “, as serious as it sounds but was in fact a rich learning experience. Being a fresher from an engineering background and majoring in Finance, my internship couldn’t have been more value adding to my career. Every week, for eight weeks, I worked with each of the divisions mentioned above, learnt how they function on a daily basis, how they are efficiently managed and documented in the systems. The experience helped me understand better the incredible reach of these divisions and others and made me realize that the work interns do at Mercedes is not trivial, but an integral part to the company’s culture, motivation and innovation for carrying out the mission and vision of the company.
The Culture
The work, as meaningful as it was, was only a small part of what made my experience so special. There is a long list of what made the ride much more loved and remembered. Everyone I met, from the working staff to the CFO himself, whose cabin was right diagonal to my cubical and who shared a warm smile every time he looked at me, helped me grow, both as an employee and a person. It has always been people for me, and the 2-hour long bus journey everyday with my four German constants with whom I shared about the Indian and German cultures, people, food, lifestyles, places to visit and more, made me feel like I was interning abroad. I feel indebted to Mercedes for having an opening because it gave me an opportunity to actually experience the culture of a global firm in its true sense, instead of just sitting in my room, browsing in isolation.
The food used to be so amazing; it could easily brighten my day. I loved being around an employee for the short time that I was, tasting both Maharastrian and Continental with a new menu every single day. I feel extremely grateful that a highly reputed company with so much pressure on its back, dedicates every single moment in making a difference, and so the reason for an employee to be so accountable! Celebrations like Women’s day, Mother’s day, Environment day, birthdays, anniversaries, appraisals, retirements and the list goes on, to see to what extent you can align yourself. And by the end, I see it more as a rich cultural exchange, than just an internship with an experience.
Takeaways
First one always stays special. Very Very Special. My first ever corporate exposure has taught me things beyond my project. From learning how to dress-up for office, to how to smile at employees you’ve never interacted with to how to stay energetic all day to learning words in German.
Dankeschon!
Learning is a never ending process. Two months of work experience has taught me more than what three semesters with 20 courses had taught me. Practical knowledge once again proved to overpower the concepts imbibed in the textbooks. I trained myself to be punctual, to be disciplined and honest when it comes to the quality of work and to be ethical at work. My colleagues displayed a
happy to help attitude that never refrained me from asking innumerable questions for the sake of perfecting the art of learning. You’re given the time, resources and support needed to become an expert at whatever makes you passionate about working, and you’re encouraged as an intern to explore the dynamic work environment to ensure constant learning and growth. The icing on the cake was how my boss took time despite his busy schedule, by having a one-hour long feedback session on my last day after being quite impressed by my work.
You become a good manager of time before you become a manager of the firm! Learnt how not to miss a single deadline in these 60 days and the motivation that each deadline gave me for the next was impeccable. And thanks to the two hour commute, managed to indulge in my most favorite pastime, solving crosswords!
Work is not always boring! I think one of the things that make Mercedes so great is that almost every employee in the office works on a project, not just professionally, but also personally interested in seeing it to succeed. While people who slog 9 to 5 waiting for Fridays, is so cliched, sometimes making them wait to get back to work on Mondays, all credit goes to the company! Kudos!
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About the Author:
Pragati Raghupatrani, PGDM 2015-2017, specializing in Finance, graduated from Andhra University College of Engineering.