In terms of preparation for Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, a quick understanding about the life insurance industry, their market shares and competitors and brushing up on the basics of marketing was more than satisfactory. I had two rounds of interviews where my understanding of insurance and other basics were tested. Being a fresher, my basic knowledge in marketing and also my previous projects were assessed.
The summer internship is a much anticipated experience for any MBA graduate. Despite the unprecedented circumstances of moving to a virtual internship, my experience of interning with Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance was a huge learning curve. From the onboarding process to the final review, every day was about learning something new and growing as a professional. My project was to benchmark the customer experience or online buying of a life insurance plan with seven other competitors and identify gaps and modes of improvement in ETLI’s process. With proper structuring of the problem into further sub problems and constant guidance throughout the two months, I was able to successfully demonstrate shortcomings in the process and provide recommendations based on this. Also, frequent engagements through meetings, activities and leadership talks have bridged the gap between the interns and the organization and made us feel as part of the family. Overall, it was a smooth and seamless experience and a truly memorable journey with ETLI which has evolved me as a professional and provided me a platform to unwrap my potential.
Being a fresher, the attention to detail and the granularity put into each decision was beyond belief and is something that I would take with me for the rest of my career. The constant support and guidance I received from my mentors has helped me evolve into a better professional. There were constant meetings with them so as to ensure I was on the right track but they also gave me enough freedom so that I could make certain decisions on my own. The major learning from my internship is awareness on how to approach a problem, the importance of structuring it which could ease the task further down the timeline. Also, it gave me a sense of courage to trust my instincts and make decisions based on my understanding.
I would extend my gratitude to SCMHRD, Pune for providing me this opportunity and also giving me able guidance before the internship by providing raw skills and knowledge which I could work upon to further sharpen these tools. Understanding of concepts of marketing like digital marketing or SEO was helpful for me to analyze the project deeper. Availability of the faculty during tough times was really helpful and gave us a lifeline in case of problems. Also working on excel and presentation skills would be a major differentiator as it could be the easiest way to stand out for the reviews. Since my project was allotted a week before my internship, I took this week to understand the problem and also complete certain courses related to the project which was helpful for me to get into the thick of things once the internship started.
The advice I would give to the next batch would be to have an understanding about the industry of the company and about the vision and mission of the company, which could be a way to crack the interview. Prerequisite knowledge on soft wares like Excel and Presentation could be a major differentiator for you to stand out amongst the rest. Finally, give it your best and cherish every moment of those two moments and grasp every bit of knowledge you can as hands on experience will always be more prominent than textbook knowledge.