Gaining work experience in the form of an internship is key for boosting the career of a business student. I was fortunate enough to undertake an eight-week internship at Dr. Reddy’s, a world-renowned pharmaceutical company.
Preparation Strategy
I started with reading about the inside-out of the pharmaceutical industry, key products of Dr. Reddy’s, its market reach (both India and abroad) and the main competitors of Dr. Reddy’s. Then I read about a few key people working there, the financial health of the company and various business verticals. Finally, I had a glance at how Dr. Reddy’s is leveraging analytics to enhance its business capabilities as I believed being an MBA student in Business Analytics my project was to revolve around the same concept.
Overall Internship Experience and Key Learnings
I had the privilege to work in the Digital and Process Excellence- Manufacturing and Supply Chain division at Dr. Reddy’s. It was truly an enriching internship experience for me which polished my knowledge, skills, and abilities in the analytics domain. The entire two months of the internship was well planned and organised. A big thanks to the HR team at Dr. Reddy’s which made this experience so seamless and insightful.
Just a day before the internship start date, I was given a mail login id along with virtual desktop access and MS teams access to have hassle-free and smooth working as the entire internship is to be virtual.
On the very first day of internship, myself along with my other fellow interns were warmly inducted and welcomed. For the next few days, we had a very informative session with the top management of the organisation who briefed us about the various business functions of Dr. Reddy’s. I was very amazed by the presentation and the way they lucidly communicated with us.
I was assigned a mentor who explained to me the project details I had to work upon. My projects were to suggest the potential opportunity to increase monthly production by correcting SAP activity timings and also to eliminate operation confirmation failures thus reducing overall cost and increasing profitability. I was very excited to work on this project as it directly has an impact on the main business area of the company. My mentor was very helpful in guiding me throughout this project. He also asked me to take ownership of the project as it will help me to mould my managerial skills also. I was also introduced to a few other stakeholders of this project. From time to time I was provided with the required data to work upon. I had weekly reviews which ensured I was going on the right path. Though my mentor and other stakeholders were too busy with their official work, they always ensured that I was also given the necessary attention whenever required. I also got the chance to present my project work to the department head who applauded my work.
This entire internship honed me as a better business analyst by giving me the experience of both technology and business aspects. The best thing I learned from this internship is that like there's no final goal for a business, there's no final limit to excellence. We always set new standards and move ahead to set a higher one.
Learnings From College
Being a graduate in mechanical engineering, analytics was a whole new chapter for me. But a big thanks to my college SCMHRD, which made my journey through this course a memorable one. I got the chance to learn the concepts of business analytics from scratch from very renowned faculties (both in-house and visiting), which surely helped me to develop a deep understanding of the subject and secure an internship in this company.
Advice To The Upcoming Batch
As Abraham Lincoln rightly said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
The best way to achieve what one desire is to have proper planning and strategy for that. During the initial days before internship, one should try to have a sound knowledge of the subject both theoretical and practical. This will make them confident and knowledgeable which I feel is enough to give their best.