My expectations from the internship were simple: To experience a marketing job and figure out if it was compatible with me. But I learned much more than I expected to.
“Nowadays, working for a start-up has become a style statement but let me remind you that it comes with a no shortcut policy and you guys will have to work hard. Really hard!” These were the words with which the COO of Faircent.com finished addressing all the interns on the first day of my summer internship. Now, after having a two month experience in a start-up, I can say that his words substantiated most of it.
The incessant rhythmic chugging, a distant whistle once in a while and muffled snores of sleeping souls; this is the music of a train as it darts across the rails at night. In this ever bustling world, a train journey seems a luxury to many of us as we take flights to save time. But every time I have taken a flight, being the romantic I am, there has been a nagging feeling - “I reached my destination, but did I make the journey?” So when it was time to start my internship, I knew it was significant enough to take a little journey by train before starting the big one!
During the first year, getting used to doing pre-reads, burning the midnight oil, adapting to the rigorous routine and juggling among classes, quizzes, summers’ preparation and attending company presentations took time and effort. But in the end it was all worth it since I got placed with the top recruiter at my campus, The Boston Consulting Group, during summers.
My interview with Ocwen Financial Solutions for the Summer Internship went like a breeze. The partners who interviewed me and I, conversed like old friends – our love for swimming, old classical music and everything else. I got out of the interview room feeling relieved – Day zero, first interview cracked - awesome summer it was going to be. Summer came. It was the 4th of April, and I was excited. The orientation went smooth until I was informed that I will be working from 4:30 PM to 1:30 AM, EVERY DAY for TWO MONTHS! Even worse – my project had a “no camera phones” policy in the work station. That meant no Whatsapp, no Facebook, no contact with the outside world – I was doomed.
Looking back at those two months will always make me nostalgic. The journey with L & T began at the beautiful hill station of Lonavla which gave a respite to the blazing heat. The induction program was full of fun and learning. We not only learnt about the rich heritage and culture of Larsen & Toubro but also did a lot of fun activities. I also met other interns from different B-Schools from across the country. Thereafter the real journey began. On the first day, as I stepped into the beautiful office building of L & T Hyderabad Metro Rail, I had butterflies in my stomach. The day was relaxed as it was the day of completing joining formalities and knowing the company and its working. The day ended on happy note knowing that we had an extended weekend over the next three days. The coming days were full of challenge and new opportunities. Rather than allocating a project himself, my mentor asked me to come up with a project. This not only gave flexibility but made me exercise my brain. I also realized that my project has to fit into the business of the company and its strategic goal. Therefore, I worked on optimizing energy cost and building long term and short term strategy for it. The team as well as my mentor was quite supportive and encouraging. Knowing my prior inexperience in my project field, they offered me full support. They never spoon-fed me with readymade data and always encouraged me to go beyond my comfort zone. They kept throwing new challenges to me which became more and more interesting as the days passed by. Wherever I got stuck they gave me direction which helped me to exercise my brain. I interacted with different departments and collaborated well with them which helped me a lot. I could also connect with few alumni, who also guided me well and encouraged me. At the end of the two months, I could learn a lot about working of metro operations not only in India but across the globe and I provided few recommendations for optimizing energy costs and building long term as well as short term strategy and felt confident when they were duly accepted. This internship also gave me the opportunity to see the practical applications of various concepts learnt in the classrooms. I could learn about the organizational structure and behaviour of such a large company which we had studied in OB course. Concepts of Operations Management and Strategy came in handy while working on strategy building. Overall, I had a great experience in those two months. In those two months I could challenge myself to come out of my comfort zone, push my limits and explore the unknown territory. I now feel confident to work on any complex project. --------- Siddharth Kumar, PGP 2, IIM Indore
For many students following the conventional education curriculum, the onset of summers means soothing vacations, taxing examinations coming to a halt, and an opportunity to shed the pounds gained eating junk food during the late-night study sessions. However, while the rest of the student community typically spend their time pool-side, soaking up the sun and meliorating their tans, MBA grads spend their summers interning with companies as they try to maneuver their career trajectories.
As it goes, “The aim of education is not knowledge, but action”, Vodafone Discover program gave me an opportunity to put my thoughts into action. In a word all I would say about Vodafone is “Innovation.”
My expectations from the internship were simple: To experience a marketing job and figure out if it was compatible with me. But I learned much more than I expected to.
“Nowadays, working for a start-up has become a style statement but let me remind you that it comes with a no shortcut policy and you guys will have to work hard. Really hard!” These were the words with which the COO of Faircent.com finished addressing all the interns on the first day of my summer internship. Now, after having a two month experience in a start-up, I can say that his words substantiated most of it.
The incessant rhythmic chugging, a distant whistle once in a while and muffled snores of sleeping souls; this is the music of a train as it darts across the rails at night. In this ever bustling world, a train journey seems a luxury to many of us as we take flights to save time. But every time I have taken a flight, being the romantic I am, there has been a nagging feeling - “I reached my destination, but did I make the journey?” So when it was time to start my internship, I knew it was significant enough to take a little journey by train before starting the big one!
During the first year, getting used to doing pre-reads, burning the midnight oil, adapting to the rigorous routine and juggling among classes, quizzes, summers’ preparation and attending company presentations took time and effort. But in the end it was all worth it since I got placed with the top recruiter at my campus, The Boston Consulting Group, during summers.
My interview with Ocwen Financial Solutions for the Summer Internship went like a breeze. The partners who interviewed me and I, conversed like old friends – our love for swimming, old classical music and everything else. I got out of the interview room feeling relieved – Day zero, first interview cracked - awesome summer it was going to be. Summer came. It was the 4th of April, and I was excited. The orientation went smooth until I was informed that I will be working from 4:30 PM to 1:30 AM, EVERY DAY for TWO MONTHS! Even worse – my project had a “no camera phones” policy in the work station. That meant no Whatsapp, no Facebook, no contact with the outside world – I was doomed.
Looking back at those two months will always make me nostalgic. The journey with L & T began at the beautiful hill station of Lonavla which gave a respite to the blazing heat. The induction program was full of fun and learning. We not only learnt about the rich heritage and culture of Larsen & Toubro but also did a lot of fun activities. I also met other interns from different B-Schools from across the country. Thereafter the real journey began. On the first day, as I stepped into the beautiful office building of L & T Hyderabad Metro Rail, I had butterflies in my stomach. The day was relaxed as it was the day of completing joining formalities and knowing the company and its working. The day ended on happy note knowing that we had an extended weekend over the next three days. The coming days were full of challenge and new opportunities. Rather than allocating a project himself, my mentor asked me to come up with a project. This not only gave flexibility but made me exercise my brain. I also realized that my project has to fit into the business of the company and its strategic goal. Therefore, I worked on optimizing energy cost and building long term and short term strategy for it. The team as well as my mentor was quite supportive and encouraging. Knowing my prior inexperience in my project field, they offered me full support. They never spoon-fed me with readymade data and always encouraged me to go beyond my comfort zone. They kept throwing new challenges to me which became more and more interesting as the days passed by. Wherever I got stuck they gave me direction which helped me to exercise my brain. I interacted with different departments and collaborated well with them which helped me a lot. I could also connect with few alumni, who also guided me well and encouraged me. At the end of the two months, I could learn a lot about working of metro operations not only in India but across the globe and I provided few recommendations for optimizing energy costs and building long term as well as short term strategy and felt confident when they were duly accepted. This internship also gave me the opportunity to see the practical applications of various concepts learnt in the classrooms. I could learn about the organizational structure and behaviour of such a large company which we had studied in OB course. Concepts of Operations Management and Strategy came in handy while working on strategy building. Overall, I had a great experience in those two months. In those two months I could challenge myself to come out of my comfort zone, push my limits and explore the unknown territory. I now feel confident to work on any complex project. --------- Siddharth Kumar, PGP 2, IIM Indore
For many students following the conventional education curriculum, the onset of summers means soothing vacations, taxing examinations coming to a halt, and an opportunity to shed the pounds gained eating junk food during the late-night study sessions. However, while the rest of the student community typically spend their time pool-side, soaking up the sun and meliorating their tans, MBA grads spend their summers interning with companies as they try to maneuver their career trajectories.
As it goes, “The aim of education is not knowledge, but action”, Vodafone Discover program gave me an opportunity to put my thoughts into action. In a word all I would say about Vodafone is “Innovation.”
