I was placed as a Sales and Marketing Intern for Bajaj ‘Octane’ Summer Internship Program. Right from then, I was extremely excited to intern with such a reputed company.

Interview tips: The interview focused largely on the things mentioned in my CV. I think for summer internship process the focus of the interviewers is to find out how well do you know what you claim to know. The panel mostly checks for the “organisational fit” of the candidate during the interview. The questions generally involve knowing the candidate better on the various grounds such as knowledge, soft skills and most importantly the Ethics he/she has.

To do: Be natural, be yourself. Show genuine interest in the organisation and ask questions.

My unique Internship: If you think internships are all about sitting in front of an excel sheet or selling soaps in villages, let’s just say you haven’t met me yet. Few things sound as interesting as being an International Intern, and even fewer when your company has a staggering 96% market share in the market assigned to you. Yes, I did my internship with Bajaj Auto in Uganda, the place where the mighty Nile starts.

I vividly remember, 13 days prior to my joining, when I was coming back home from a dinner party, I received a mail from the HR stating Uganda as my project location. Yes, that was the location allocated to me. Being a person who has spent his entire life in Rajasthan and Delhi, I had to adjust myself to deal with people from a country with extremely different demography and culture. Gradually, I came to know that I am the only person among all interns at Bajaj to get Uganda as internship location. Considering the perception (rather the misconception), we Indians carry about Africa, immediately people started consoling me for the location. Along with consolation came the innumerable suggestions to prevent my kidnapping in Africa which looked quite fearsome to me. But, the HR and my mentor resolved all my concerns.

I reached Pune on 7^th April 2018 for my Induction Program at Bajaj. A cab was already waiting for me at the airport to take me to the hotel. Bajaj had a well-planned, three-day induction program for all the interns wherein senior leaders walked through different functions, products, services and general business knowledge and experiences.

Feeling a little nervous on my first “working” day, as soon as I received my laptop, I dashed into a frenzy to check my first mail, soon I received a mail from MIS Team to change my password for security. I consoled myself with a coffee in the canteen and then I was introduced to my mentor and key project members for immediately taking over the complete responsibility for the project. I was responsible to execute entire life-cycle of the deliverable right from requirement gathering and understanding of consumer mindset, competitor strategy, launching and marketing the new product in Uganda. I experienced first-hand the open, collaborative and autonomous culture that Bajaj foundations are built on and which drives its members. Even though my mentor had a very busy schedule he always took out time to discuss the direction of my project, right from valuable insights, and to provide access to any resource I needed for my project.

During my visit to Uganda, I had to visit Ganga, Jinja and the capital city Kampala. In the process of meeting hundreds of customers, I visited places like Corporates, Universities, Retail shops, Service camps and roadside umbrella shops. Sometimes, I had to walk continuously for 4-5 hours or ride on a motorbike (I am inclined to mention Boda-Boda or motorcycle taxis here) throughout the town. These interactions and visits helped me in understanding the crux of the actual market. For all I know, you can never be a true marketer as long as you are not aware of the actual market. During this whole process, I got the helping hands of so many people from distributor team in Uganda, without which I could have never imagined the completion of my project. People there were just waiting for the chance to help me out, and I really want to thank them for their time and suggestions.

During these 2 months of experience, I have realised at this very moment that, this internship has broadened my thinking and helped me grow as an individual. The extent of unpredictability offered by an international stint makes it one of the best for any newcomer enthusiastic about learning. Also, as a rare opportunity, I worked on a project which was related to both Sales and Marketing along with Consultancy domain, and it has given me the kind of exposure which any intern always dreams of.

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Ayush Vijay

A Dream Internship In Africa - Ayush Vijay, IIFT Delhi