Summer Internship Experience 2021 - ACKO General Insurance - Anish Choudhary , IMT Hyderabad

In this article, Anish Choudhary, a student of IMT Hyderabad who interned at ACKO General Insurance in the Human Resources Domain talks about his summer internship experience. Find out about how his onboarding process went, what his learnings are and his experiences during this internship.

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Hi, Tell us about how you got selected for this internship? Take us through the moment you realized you had got the internship.

I started hunting for a role in marketing communications for my internship, and that is when I approached 100s of companies via social media or direct emails. Though I got multiple options during the end of March'21, I wanted to close the internship by February since my college would not have approved beyond that. My hunt finally came to an end when ACKO posted their requirement of an intern in their internal communications and Employee Engagement department, having prior experience in leadership management and Public Relations. That very moment, I knew my profile would certainly get shortlisted among the 400+ applications. And that's what happened; I got a call on a Friday morning checking the feasibility to have an interview scheduled in the afternoon with the Sr. Manager. At 3 pm, all suited up, I was waiting for the meeting to begin, and then after an hour, when I was leaving the call, I knew I had made an impression in her mind. She was quite excited and talked about all the work I would have to undergo during the three months, and I started dreaming about the role since then. Three days after submitting the assignments, I got a call from the HR Head confirming the internship and my joining date in April'21.

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On joining the company as an intern, how has your onboarding experience been like?

The onboarding session was quite eccentric. Unlike others who send goodies and ask you to join Day 1, we were invited to attend an evening with Vipul Goyal, the stand-up comedian, followed by ice-breaking sessions amongst the team. We played games that didn't just require teamwork but also the brain. The work culture is amazingly impressive, and then after 2-3 days of onboarding session, we were told about the tasks and the project we would be working upon. We were also asked to speak to other department heads and understand whether my expertise in the domain could help.

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How has your interaction with the team members and colleagues been like? How will you make sure to leave the best impression on your supervisors by the end of the internship?

ACKO has a very transparent working culture where we all are connected via Gmeet/WhatsApp for any work. Having interned at the HR department, I was already introduced to everyone, right from the Co-founders to the interns of other departments, with the help of a welcome emailer that comprises our strengths and superpowers. Having my communications expertise, I was asked to create a campaign for LinkedIn employee spotlight that opened my paths to speak to every Employee and interview them for the stories. We started with the superwoman in Tech at ACKO. Followed by this, I performed exceptionally well in the very first week with my PPT making skills that even the EVP of Marketing stated, "such PPTs are way better than what we make for marketing proposals", and that was the day when I was asked to revamp every proposal whether ESOP or the quarterly town hall, all these under the guidance of the co-founder Ruchi Deepak- who also offered me to work with her on several other projects. I tend to leave an impression that even mediocre B-schools students are worthy of being an intern in the topmost organizations. Also, I am planning to take a PPO making my every bit of "Khoon pasina" worth.

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Tell us in brief, about the project you are currently working on and how is this project going to help the company? 

The project is associated with how Employees engagement leads to better employer branding. In this, we are asked to create quarterly communications and employee engagement plans to improve the working culture for ACKers. This is a direct implementation for the Millenials who don't just want a job or salary, and these plans are for someone who needs an experience worthwhile. ACKO, a 3-year old start-up, has already created such a lenient working condition that no one can ever get tired of the atmosphere. They started as three, and today they are 500+ employees, and the vision of the co-founders has always been employee-centric and making ACKO a Great Place to Work. This project will help me curate some of the live activities through which my next employer would benefit. Also, with the help of the survey, I would help the industry understand the requirements and how and what needs to be changed in their work culture to make their brand recognized among the youth and enhance their branding in front of everyone.

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Give us an overview of how you prepared for your summer placement season.

Due to COVID 19, I knew there would be stiff competition among MBA students across the nation. Everyone would be willing to join an organization that would enhance their CV. I had the same mindset, except for the fact that I wanted my own niche/department. I was not running after the company. Instead, I was looking to do what I am best at communications role. I started updating my CV and kept revamping it according to the JD of the selected company, checked on the internet what all skills are preferred in the domain and started learning them. For instance, I wasn't aware of the role of good PPT presentations and design thinking; I had undergone multiple sessions from the industry stalwarts and started networking with corporate communication professionals. They told me to utilise the time and learn few skills like those and get an understanding. Later, I created a crisp and short CV for the job roles and started hunting for internships. First, I searched via LinkedIn job postings and the hashtags #Internship #summerinterns, etc. Then, later I took part in few management competitions where I presented my ideas in front of the jury members and later connected with them on LinkedIn. I sent a copy of my work and the CV so that they can reach out as and when required. By the time my fellow peers would have understood what needed to be done, I had already rolled out at least 100 emails to the HR recruiters who had posted about hiring interns. This is what helped me fetching an internship at ACKO and 7 other organizations.

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Based on your internship experience till now, what are some necessary skill sets one must be prepared with before starting an internship? 

MS Office/Apple script needs to be expertise. Any domain, any industry required PPT and Excel work. If you already master it beforehand, you have championed. Second, for marketing purposes, one should read newsletters that would help them understand various marketing gimmicks in and around the work; I subscribed to Mad Over Marketing and The Hustle. There doesn't just increase your creative thinking but also makes your content strong, a must-have skill in this world.

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What are some new skills that you have developed while working in the company?

Campaign planning for employee promotions, designing quirky and on-point communication creative, how to approach senior leadership, data analysis of what works the best for Employee's engagement

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What are some of the challenges that you have faced in your internship and how have you overcome them?

Having prior experience in PR and Communications didn't make anything challenging but understand the key terms such as an intranet, Employee Engagement, listicle etc., was a little difficult to understand. Also, keywords related to the insurance sector such as actuarial, underwriting, assesor was also difficult and without their understanding, the work would have been impossible. To get used to it, I went through the company documents and understood the flair of writing, the importance of brand symmetry, logos and brand guidelines, etc. I also read few articles published on the company's website to understand the level of technical writing needed. One more issue that I faced, in the beginning, was to get out of the college-level thinking; I was suggesting presentation ideas that were good for college students but not for corporate. Here the brand colour, logo, more graphics, less text, no animation all matter. I asked the manager to provide me with previous PPTs to get through them and understand what is expected from me going forward.

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Tell us about a situation where you were complemented by your Manager for your work. 

There was a reward and recognition event, and my manager gave me a free hand to use creativity and present the winners and flow of the event in the form of a PPT. This was 3 weeks into the organization, and hence the expectations were set already. I went through multiple presentations and delivered a beautiful, self-explanatory PPT that was liked by the manager and the Co-founder of the company. Secondly, recently we completed an employee engagement activity where I created an escape room gameplay for all the employees, which saw massive participation from all the employees. There was appreciation floating all around for the creativity, engaging and well-crafted questions. These were some of the most encouraging days during my internship.

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What have been your major learnings during the internship? 

I have now understood the basics of the insurance industry, how Employee's happiness plays a crucial role in retention, motivation doesn't only need money but also a connection within the organisation, the Millenials demand for a random work break and it is employer's role to provide them without even being asked, the importance of symmetry in communications for better culture and rightly targeting the audience. I also understood why it is essential to keep a tab on your competitors because you aren't better than them; then, you lose your top talent. Company culture is the most essential thing in today's world.

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Tell us about your final presentation of the project to your manager in brief. What was the toughest question asked during the presentation and how did you answer it?

I was all prepared with a fancy PPT, a detailed research proposal and a questionnaire. It was supposed to be a 10+5 minutes presentation that continued for at least 30 mins. I presented the PPT, and after all the work-related questions, I was asked, "what have your learning been, and how will it help you in future?" I was not sure what is the correct answer to this. Still, I knew I had learned the art of communication and understood how employee engagement reflects good work culture ethics and eventually responds to better employer branding. I told my manager about all the problematic situations that we faced and how I overcame them. My approach was simple; I told her how specific activity resulted in the desired outcome: team building sessions or Baking competition.

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Some advice that you would like to give to your juniors based on your internship experience.

Consistency: This word is of utmost importance in the communications role; you can't keep changing the plan's tonality and creatives for every different activity. Keep it simple and basic: You need not require high thinking power, just put yourself in other's shoes and design the campaigns accordingly. Brand guidelines: In this hyperactive world, it is very much needed that you understand the brand guidelines, be it related to logos or font colours or the designing. The earlier you get an idea, the fewer approvals require, the better you perform.

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What was one of the best moments according to you during your internship?

The best moment would be when I created a presentation for the quarterly reward and recognition ceremony. The leadership acknowledged that "this is way better than the other presentations to date", and even the co-founder dropped an email stating how unique and engaging it was. I knew I had made a dent at that particular time.  

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