Being a part of the prestigious management course at JBIMS has brought me many opportunities for making the career that I aspire for. The most wonderful of these so far was undoubtedly my 2 months- stint at the Development Bank of Singapore.
While considering opportunities for the summer internship, I was keenly looking forward to working with a bank, where I would be able to contribute towards strategic planning and product development related to recent trends in banking. Looking back, I realise there couldn't have been a better place to work with, given the affinity that DBS has for becoming a pioneer in digital banking - a phenomenon that has transformed the banking industry in recent past.
While preparing for the summer placements, having decided the sector I want to work in, I updated myself thoroughly with recent happenings from the banking sector and their details. I studied about the prospective banks coming to campus and prioritised based upon how much I can relate my interests and values with the vision, mission and way of working of the respective companies. I was fortunate enough to get into the first one on my priority!
I remember every detail of day one, when we, 24 interns from b-schools across the country, were inducted at the Nariman Point office at Express Towers, a location which can easily mesmerize anyone, with a splendid sea-view from the 18th floor! We all really admired how smooth the transition from academics to corporate was, all thanks to our trainers and congenial people at DBS. Post the induction, we were in a position to empathise with every value that DBS believed in, and that's what I believe is of utmost importance to get the best out of your work, no matter what your work is!
The best and unique thing about the Internship program at DBS was the team-wise allocation of projects among interns. We were given one project per team, unlike the traditional approach of assigning one project per intern, followed by other corporates. Working in teams brought the best out of every member, as we worked towards finding out what could each member do best as per their skills, thus completing the jig-saw which we called "Team Mavericks", a name was given by our compassionate mentor, who guided us at every step, giving us insights we were totally intrigued with!
We worked on a marketing project which dealt with the positioning of Digibank - the first-ever paperless bank in India. The project required us to interact with customers from different age groups and locations. Knowing how people perceive the bank and gathering insights from them made it all the more interesting.
This has been a phase of immense learnings for me and my team. Right from analysing the dynamics of consumer behavior in an industry as highly volatile as banking, to devising marketing strategies so as to hit right the chord with the right target group, to make the overall banking experience highly personalised and convenient, all of this with one motive - "Live More, Bank Less" that DBS aspires to achieve for each of its customers.
Besides this, we got an opportunity to interact with the CEO of DBS India, when we realized the importance DBS gives to its interns, thinking of the long-term association rather than the 2 months stint with the company.
Overall, my experience with DBS has given 2 months full of learnings and has been the most value additive phase of my career so far.