One of the most awaited moments for a 1st year MBA student after their fresher's party is their summer placements and the internship. This wait ended for me when I joined Tata Steel in the summer of 2018 at Jamshedpur.
As soon as one enters the world of Management Education, we hear stories of summer internships which are touted to be experiences that are remembered for life. Experiences filled with functional & personal learnings, lasting friendships, and impromptu parties.
They say FMCG is the heaven for marketing. After getting placed for a summer internship at Yellow Diamond, a leading snacks company in India, I was both flattered and frightened. Flattered by the hope of receiving maximum scope that a marketer can have in this industry, and frightened as it goes with the phrase, ‘with great power comes great responsibilities’ when I was to be the face of my college for the next coming months. IIM Rohtak has exceptionally prepared me for a smooth transition from student to business professional by providing me with the skills essential to succeed in critical thinking, analytical expertise, etc. I honed in on my marketing skills by developing useful strategies with a team which was expected to be implemented now.
With summers comes a lot of excitement. As a kid, the excitement revolved around summer vacations, basking in the sun, playing as much as you want, ice-creams, and everything summer-y. As we grow up, even though the excitement level remains the same, the things we are excited about change; especially if you are pursuing your MBA. There are a whole lot of new things to be excited about.
I still remember that day, when the batch was informed that Nivea is visiting the college campus for summer internship interviews. Being a sales and marketing enthusiast, I was happy that a well-known brand is visiting the campus but at the same time, like any other MBA student, I was confused. Students of NMIMS Bengaluru were full of anxiety and every marketing student was nervous and preparing for the selection process of Nivea. It is a dream company after all for any MBA marketing student.
Initially, the good pay package and a well-established brand name are what attracted the students of IIM Sambalpur to the BPCL summer internship program. I got excited to look for what BPCL can offer me in terms of experiential learning. The company provided the role of a Third Party Business Consultant in its core function of Petrol and Diesel Retail. Our topic was “BPCL Retail Outlet Customer Satisfaction & Brand Evaluation”.
It was 15th of April 2018 when I found myself on the floor of a 4-lakh square feet warehouse with my helmet on and ready to coast through a humongous mezzanine (as they call it in industry parlance) to kick off my internship experience. I wondered ‘Did I take a wise decision to go for my MBA, let alone this internship?’ The forklift honked as if saying a loud ‘NO’. But that was to alarm me that I had stepped out of the designated walkway. Indeed, I had. I had stepped out of my comfortable campus life to take a glimpse of what actually goes on in the real world. Such a cliché! With this discomfort and nervousness, I started my GEMBA walk, a practice as simple as it can get yet as rare and unseen as occasions wherein our study groups indeed have worthy discussions on intended agendas! One of the many practices brought into the industry by the Japanese, this walk actually gave me the flavour of what lies ahead for me.
One cannot plan for the unexpected. (Aaron Klug)
One of the most awaited moments for a 1st year MBA student after their fresher's party is their summer placements and the internship. This wait ended for me when I joined Tata Steel in the summer of 2018 at Jamshedpur.
As soon as one enters the world of Management Education, we hear stories of summer internships which are touted to be experiences that are remembered for life. Experiences filled with functional & personal learnings, lasting friendships, and impromptu parties.
They say FMCG is the heaven for marketing. After getting placed for a summer internship at Yellow Diamond, a leading snacks company in India, I was both flattered and frightened. Flattered by the hope of receiving maximum scope that a marketer can have in this industry, and frightened as it goes with the phrase, ‘with great power comes great responsibilities’ when I was to be the face of my college for the next coming months. IIM Rohtak has exceptionally prepared me for a smooth transition from student to business professional by providing me with the skills essential to succeed in critical thinking, analytical expertise, etc. I honed in on my marketing skills by developing useful strategies with a team which was expected to be implemented now.
With summers comes a lot of excitement. As a kid, the excitement revolved around summer vacations, basking in the sun, playing as much as you want, ice-creams, and everything summer-y. As we grow up, even though the excitement level remains the same, the things we are excited about change; especially if you are pursuing your MBA. There are a whole lot of new things to be excited about.
I still remember that day, when the batch was informed that Nivea is visiting the college campus for summer internship interviews. Being a sales and marketing enthusiast, I was happy that a well-known brand is visiting the campus but at the same time, like any other MBA student, I was confused. Students of NMIMS Bengaluru were full of anxiety and every marketing student was nervous and preparing for the selection process of Nivea. It is a dream company after all for any MBA marketing student.
Initially, the good pay package and a well-established brand name are what attracted the students of IIM Sambalpur to the BPCL summer internship program. I got excited to look for what BPCL can offer me in terms of experiential learning. The company provided the role of a Third Party Business Consultant in its core function of Petrol and Diesel Retail. Our topic was “BPCL Retail Outlet Customer Satisfaction & Brand Evaluation”.
It was 15th of April 2018 when I found myself on the floor of a 4-lakh square feet warehouse with my helmet on and ready to coast through a humongous mezzanine (as they call it in industry parlance) to kick off my internship experience. I wondered ‘Did I take a wise decision to go for my MBA, let alone this internship?’ The forklift honked as if saying a loud ‘NO’. But that was to alarm me that I had stepped out of the designated walkway. Indeed, I had. I had stepped out of my comfortable campus life to take a glimpse of what actually goes on in the real world. Such a cliché! With this discomfort and nervousness, I started my GEMBA walk, a practice as simple as it can get yet as rare and unseen as occasions wherein our study groups indeed have worthy discussions on intended agendas! One of the many practices brought into the industry by the Japanese, this walk actually gave me the flavour of what lies ahead for me.
One cannot plan for the unexpected. (Aaron Klug)
