It's said the expert in anything was once a beginner. And my exposure to corporate life began with Capgemini, a global leader in consulting, technology and outsourcing services. When I was selected to intern at Mumbai as a part of Chrysalis, Capgemini's flagship B-school summer internship program, I had multiple hopes and dreams. With time, all of them came true and more.
My internship started on 2nd of April. The first-day orientation programme had lots to offer in terms of learning about the organisation, it's offerings and overall landscape. It was a healthy mix of fun team building activities and key-note presentations from senior leadership that gave us an understanding of the organisation's major business interests, key stakeholders and overall expectations of the interns.
The profile offered to me was Operations Lead - Business Competitiveness Expert in the Local Business Services (LBS), Business unit. I was extremely fortunate to be mentored by one of the most senior directors. The business live project required me to study the cloud market, understand cloud adoption history of specified client accounts from the retail sector, their future prospects and growth areas. For the purpose of the project, I had to continuously work in close coordination and collaboration with the sales team and the system architects. Though the teams were diverse, everyone was accommodating, nevertheless, the paucity of time demanded of me to manage my time well and interact effectively. My mentor was actively invested in the project and guided me at times of ambiguity. I was also assigned a buddy who was extremely helpful and took care of all the hygiene factors.
The two months at Capgemini helped me develop fresh perspectives, learn and interact with the best in the industry and provide impactful solutions to real-time business solutions with passion and rigour.
It was also my first time in Mumbai. And even in this brief time, Mumbai left a lasting impression on my personality and life. It was great exploring this beautiful city with the amazing company from my fellow interns from premier b-schools like IIFT (Delhi, Kolkata), IIM-Ranchi, JBIMS, NITIE, Welingkar Institute of Management, NMIMS and XIMB. They were my support system for the two months. I fell in love with this cosmopolitan fusion of a city where you can find great paradoxes and little delights at every turn.
And as the internship ended after two months, I realised the hard work, the struggle, the crowds, the lights and the friendships, like a firm yet a loving parent, has prepared me for life.
Hari Prasad Swain
Class of 2019
