Neeraj Pandey

My corporate experience began on April 01st as I reported to the BKC lounge all set for day one at Jio Studios, Mumbai. I was eager and nervous at the same time. I didn’t really know what to expect and had no clue what I would learn. But the amount and level and action I witnessed and became a part of at Jio Studios was beyond my anticipation. Although during interviews we talked about roles in digital marketing, content marketing, branding and sales, I wasn’t sure where my interest truly lied until I began working. Experience I was working with the Research, Strategy and Client Servicing team headed by Sanket Patil, Asst. Manager at Jio Studios, who was also my mentor during the two months. Jio Studios gave me an opportunity to learn about marketing and promotion of products, services and brands with the help of one of the strongest and most effective means, which is media. It provided exposure to the industry and industry experts and encouraged regular interaction with team members at different levels of the organization. Thus being a part of the digital agency like Jio Studios for duration of two months provided great exposure to brand management and internal workings of an agency. From an intern’s perspective Jio Studios provides a healthy competitive work environment where each intern is encouraged to do more than their potential. The teams are cross functional which provides a diverse experience and yet there is a culture of individual accountability. Contribution to the Company My internship period consisted of a wide array of group projects for multiple brands. Based on the requirement of each project I covered areas such as research, insight generation, competition mapping, proposing IMCs to the client/content team, designing branding solutions and media planning. Learnings I took up multiple projects and the key roles performed in each differed. For one of the clients I was able to put to use my experience in graphics and visual communication. I learnt the crucial role professional pitch presentations play and how they difeer in their purpose. I learnt patience as some projects took too long on the drawing board and required out of the box thinking. About the Mentor My mentor at Jio was super supportive, knowledgeable, humorous and a lot of fun to work with. He gave me multiple challenging assignments and exposed me to an entire gamut of activities, which helped me learn more. He guided me, gave continuous constructive feedback and provided marketing gyaan in small doses as and when needed. Tips for Aspirants If you are someone who wants to explore wide spectrum of opportunities both exciting and challenging, this would be a great place for you. It is important to understand that these marketing roles are specific to a marketing agency/digital agency. The work environement, the culture, team dynamics would differ in some other industry and so would the kind of work. Creativity takes courage but everyone is certainly capable of creative thinking. Jio Studios is a great place to brings your ideas to life, hone your talent, engage in peer to peer learning as there are a large number of interns from top bschools in the country. Prep Strategy During the interview and GD, panelists test you on how quick you are on your feet and how you potray confidence in yourself and your ideas. Approach both the selection processes with an open mind and don’t be hindered by you reasoning of right and wrong. Take risks and show how you are different from others you are competing against for the role. Your chances of slection would be higher if you prove that you can bring something new to the table which others probably cant. So my tip would be: Be yourself and you’ll stand out.