For any marketing major, Britannia Industries Ltd has always been a dream company to work with. Eventually, there was an enormous buzz in my college when the Summer Internship opt-in form for the organization was released. As per the previous year's report card, the posting for the interns was at West Bengal and the speculation was that it could continue this year as well.
Hailing from Chennai, the notion of geographic constraints was lingering at the back of my mind. However, my determination was firm enough to overshadow any inhibitions and I was confident to make a cut. The first shortlist was released and I was more than happy to see my name in it.
The big day arrived. The selection process was scheduled during the second half of the day. Well, I must say that the waiting hall was filled with tensed and nervous faces, anxious heads zooming into the laptops for browsing some Kotler concepts. I also had my style of preparation. I had with me a small notepad with a few critical pointers which I had jotted down for easy reading.
We were divided into groups of 10-12 for the Group discussion. The GD topic was given and then we were asked to take a stand on the topic. During the first ten minutes, I was defending the topic and a healthy round of debate took place. To our surprise, the moderator from the Organisation asked us to switch sides and I had continued the next ten minutes by voicing my opinions against the topic. This was a sheer test of spontaneity and presence of mind.
The results were out and from the list of 50 odd people, it boiled down to 10 candidates and I was one among the shortlistees. I was delighted and at the same time, I knew I had a big task ahead of me. The first and foremost thing I had decided to do was to keep cool. The Interview round began at 3.30 pm and incidentally, I was the last to be called to the interview room. It was 9.00 pm then. After a friendly conversation with the panelists, questions kept mounting up. The subject revolved around my profile, the Job description, current affairs, and was also situational based. For instance, I was asked if Sales is ideal for women and I had to combat that. In the end, I walked out of the room satisfied with my performance.
After the interview, I just stepped into the waiting room and I could see the placement team entering with the results. Before I could realize what was happening, they announced that two candidates were being given the offer and that I am one of them. At that moment, my joy grew no bounds.
During January 2020, we got a communication from the HR of Britannia that we would be undergoing a week of orientation at the Bangalore office and post that our respective projects at the allotted locations would be assigned.
It was all hunky-dory until the sinister virus reached our country. Everything was disrupted including the expectations of the students. "Hope" became the only mantra to stay optimistic as we witnessed numerous internship offers being rescinded by various companies.
Britannia which is known for its legacy of creating happy customers and employees sent across the Summer internship offer letter to us and modified the project to virtual mode. Well, the batch of 2021 became the first-ever set of students to undertake the Virtual summer internship in the history of mankind.
Initially, we had a week orientation as committed and then were assigned individual projects. A brand engagement contest was rolled out for the interns for which we had to share our Britannia story through a video. It was my debut attempt at Brand storytelling and I was glad that the output was quite appreciated by all.
My project revolved around driving the productivity of the sales team of the South 1 Region which included the states of Andhra Pradesh and parts of Telangana and Karnataka during the COVID 19 environment. My mentor and guide were the Regional Sales Manager and the Business Development Manager of South 1 respectively who proved to be my source of support throughout the project.
I planned my project execution with certain tasks such as Data analysis and tracking, Feedback from the team, Data validation, and follow up on daily basis. There were certain parameters that I was assigned to improve efficiency compared to the previous months. Any new beginning would have hitches and it was the same in my case too. I witnessed some hurdles in terms of interacting with the field force without visiting the market, had to collaborate with salesmen, retailers, wholesalers, and rural dealers remotely and the major challenge was the language. Almost everyone I had interacted in Andhra Pradesh conversed in Telegu which I was not familiar with. Initially, I tried striking a conversation in Hindi and English but gradually started comprehending in Telegu as well. Thanks to my virtual guru, Google translator. The weekly reviews helped me to improve on each stage of my work and getting acquainted with the various processes involved. In the final week, I got an opportunity to present my findings to the top executives of the company. It was an enriching experience and I was fortunate to get loads of appreciation and valuable suggestions from them.
On the penultimate day of my internship, a carton of surprise reached my house. Yes, it was such a sweet gesture that a couple of frontline staff had come in person to deliver Britannia hamper along with a heart-warming little piece of note appreciating my contribution to their organization.
Though I had spent only a couple of months with the Britannians, I was able to witness the four values that they uphold – InviTing, IgniTing, CreaTing, and RespecTing in every activity that I underwent.
With tons of learnings and memories to treasure for a lifetime, Britannia has made every day a Good Day!!
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