I stepped into JBIMS with an aim to pursue Marketing as my Career and Hindustan Unilever as the place I want to be at. I started my preparations to make that dream come alive, on Day 1.
Know More About The Preparations Here
Or in this video -
Fast-Forward a couple of months and there I was, en-route the journey that started with HUL Campus in Mumbai. The first few days of an indulging orientation program helps the interns selected from top B-Schools participate in fun events, dance and understand the way of life at HUL.
HUL provides great attention to interns and ensures the surroundings are very conducive for learning. I could take my laptop and work where I felt comfortable – be it sipping a hot coffee at the Bru Café or sitting at the lively Adda with HUL’s Water Wall in sight. The internship program was well defined and structured. The intrinsic level to which the deliverables and milestones had been set for each intern shows the level of commitment and effort the company puts into ensuring the interns have a great time at HUL.
Right from the day, I joined my Internship, there had been a million instances where it was evident that this company totally operates on its value and principles. Keeping aside the ostentatious on-boarding with fun-loaded activities and a party at Hard Rock Cafe, the entire internship did not feel like an internship! Like how ironic is that?
Working on a real project, being given real responsibilities, you are totally an integral part of the project you are working with!
My Tutor was a super busy Brand Manager who connected with me EVERY SINGLE DAY and worked with me in my all silly and not-so-silly doubts and reservations. The most surprising part was the day when my tutor asked me, "Do you have like 10 minutes, I have to finish a task at Hand?"
[I was thinking,
#SuchRespectMuchWow]
But that's how the culture here at Unilever is like. Interns are not looked upon as freeloaders doing silly jobs. In fact, nobody is. Every single person is approachable and talks effortlessly. Just walk up to a table and start a conversation and you might end up with loads of insights and ideas that can help you in your project.
Working here at Unilever has been fulfilling for me for so many reasons. The biggest of all I feel is the ownership. I literally owned my project. I took decisions regarding it on my own, conducted meetings on my own inviting stakeholders who were way senior in the organisation and discussed the issues related to the project. The stakeholders? They have no issues in an intern kid like me conducting a meeting and calling them to give answers to the raised questions. In my stint here I have booked my own consumer connects, my own market visits and everything. All these activities incur costs to the company and nowhere I was questioned before deciding to do so. This is ownership. This drives me to wake up every morning and think about what I need to do for the day. This drives away what they call "Monday Morning Blues"
All learning objectives, project objectives and even career counselling by the Special Mentor Connects helped in my all-round development that made my goal to be an integral part of Unilever even stronger.