“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Mahatma Gandhi.
I used to be always curious to learn since my childhood and my life also never stopped me teaching. During my graduation days at NIT Warangal, I always wanted to work with Technology Giants like Samsung, Texas Instruments. Finally, Summer Internship selection process at TISS, Mumbai helped me in realising this aspiration.
I was able to draw a roadmap and prepare a list of to do things after Summer placement process, receiving valuable advice from my senior batch at the campus. But before realising, time just flew by and I could not prepare necessary ammunition for the summer saga.
Landing up in Bangalore was a deja vu moment for me as I worked at Bangalore for one year earlier. After interacting with fellow interns, I realised the exceptional talent existing in various MBA schools. Though the initial environment was bit competitive, very soon we melted into a gang of crazy minds.
After induction processes, we were allotted with projects and mentors. Fortunately, my project was based on Job Evaluation which was one of my favourite topics during my first year. Theoretically, my project seemed to be so facile but I understood the intricacies involved when I faced real situations in the organisation. Gradually, I started discerning the amalgamation of Subjectivity – Objectivity and Perception - Reality in HR Industry. Support extended by different departments at Samsung was phenomenal.
My routine was filled up with extensive work related to project and rejoicing parties with fellow interns on weekends. Gradually Research papers started emerging as friends and I started connecting dots of the project and finally was able to solve the puzzles included in the project. The project mainly revolved around the corners of research papers, Surveys, Data Analysis, Benchmarking. Though due to the paucity of time I was unable to complete all the tasks assigned, my mentor and other heads of different departments were contented with my work. The final presentation was a very informative and interrogating session.
The entire exercise was an enriching experience for me. Also, I had an opportunity to learn about Samsung’s future technologies and pivotal areas. One thing which I liked about my internship was that during all the reviews and the entire course they were very particular about learnings apart from what all we are delivering to them.
Though Internships have become more of testing grounds, Interns should leverage this opportunity to gain as much as possible in terms of practical experience. Learning should be the utmost priority and build monuments wherever you go with all the bricks that you accumulate at your b-schools.