For someone who had no prior experience in the development sector, I jumped at the opportunity after getting to know what the project would entail. I worked on “
Evaluation of Rural Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Study on Banking Behaviour of rural business people” spread over three assignments. The projects on rural entrepreneurship opportunities warranted me to begin from scratch, from the analysing stage and up until the implementation.
This role in development sector required a completely diverse set of skills, the sort of skills that encompasses the whole of an MBA course. One could draw parallels to this with consulting - it required a good grasp (or at least the mindset to learn) of the different verticals of an industry. Being one-dimensionally inclined towards a stream of thought would spell disaster in a role such as this. The extensive research, traveling for field visits, meeting up with prospective clients and experts – everything accounted for one splendid learning experience. I had to be on my toes for the entire duration of two months, through thick & thin (literally, because the weather wasn’t helping matters any bit).
More importantly, it helped find a purpose to the learnings from my MBA at IFMR.
From conducting the initial research to implementing the plan, from developing questionnaires to arriving at a workable plan of action, from strategizing to product-positioning, from analysing the production unit economics to arriving at the costing -
THE PROJECT HAD IT ALL!
The stint gave me a good experience of how a proper consultant role will be. From interacting with industry experts to working out of my comfort zone, the project groomed me for the better. The fact that it involved understanding the crux of the matter, along with analysing all possible alternatives fit me to a T. The learnings and the exposure from the summer of 2018 proved to be unique and I’m sure this will keep me in good stead in reaching upper echelons.
Girish Kumar V
Rural Entrepreneurship Intern at Dr. Reddy’s Foundation
2nd Year MBA Student at Institute for Financial Management & Research