As summer placements are based on prior MBA experience and academics, I would say to be oneself would be a good strategy and avoid been overprepared. During the interview, I was confident with my previous experience and showed confidence that I will be able to do whatever Internship demands. So, attitude matters a lot.
We had an induction program at LDP, Lonavala Campus of L&T Constructions. It was an enriching experience as I interacted with interns from BSchools allover India. Even I made friends in those 3 days. After induction, I travelled to Chennai for my 2 months of a rollercoaster ride. I shared a PG with three others from IIM Kozhikode. We shared our b school experiences, our learnings, had fun, celebrated our journey, our victory.
At L&T, I was in General Management and the project was to propose a value for the ongoing problems that company was facing i.e. getting to the root cause of the problem and measures to overcome problematic situations in future projects. First few days I understood the Smart Cities business and started with the work. So, I had to interact with people from all the departments to get data. Getting data is the most tedious task because the right data is the path for the right solution.
Gathered data, accumulated it and analysed using different tools. I interviewed almost 30 people over the phone and in person, to gather the right data. Initial people were resistant to sharing critical data, but that was the task. I had to made them understand the seriousness of issues and how it was impacting the profit margin.
The next phase was to solve the problem. Analysing data and with problem-solving tools, reached a conclusion at the last week. Along with that I also programmed a system that is helpful for the business unit in case of an instant problem. That was an added bonus work done by me. With insights and implementation of value proposition company saved X amount of money. Overall my experience was good in terms of learnings. My learnings include how to develop a thought process for problem-solving, what kind of tools are needed for a specific problem, how to ask a relevant question in interview targeting for correct data.
Along with the work, I enjoyed been travelling to places near Chennai i.e. Pondicherry, Tirupati Balaji with interns from other B Schools.