‘La Niaque’ – is a French word which means the fighting spirit. Capgemini has seven core values that provide the basis for the conduct and define the foundation for its business, which are – Honesty, Boldness, Trust, Freedom, Team Spirit, Modesty, and Fun. But the ‘la Niaque’ spirit is the culmination of it all. It’s a quality that Capgemini looks for in all its employees.
People Matter, Results Count. This is the tagline of Capgemini – one of the few companies for which its people come first, and then results. A long-lasting taste of this tagline is what I got during the 5-weeks of my onboarding here.
“I don’t know. We apologise and will get back to you.” Those words would have gotten me out of the most challenging and intense presentation I have ever given. The 'clients' even walked out during the presentation. But for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to say them. Honestly, they barely even crossed my mind. In trying to save the presentation, I caught myself running in quicksand with every response digging us slightly deeper. Now, you may have noticed the word 'clients' was in inverted commas. Fortunately, this entire presentation was part of Capgemini’s Consulting Skills Workshop set up to prevent exactly something like this from happening when the stakes were higher. It was the culmination of 3 intense days (and a couple of weeks of preparation) which honed our presentation skills and client facing ability.
I updated my LinkedIn profile that I’m interning at National Stock Exchange (NSE). My friends called me, confused, and asked how can I get an internship in the first semester itself? Don’t I have classes to attend? With a sense of pride, I then explained to them what Fieldwork Internship is.
I am a first year student of M.A. in Human Resource Management and Labour Relations (HRM and LR) at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai and this is a story of what an internship in a corporate can teach us about our own sense of importance and how the typical management school worries are just a matter of perspective.
Life at B-School is filled with fun, challenges and great learning and the best thing that can happen to a graduate is that he gets a similar environment at his workplace. Capgemini’s E.L.I.T.E. Program has introduced me to a workplace that provides the most conducive environment to learn, grow and enjoy.
“Live and work but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it.” – Eileen Caddy
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” – Steve Jobs
