EnCompassing The Summers | Compass Group | Summer Saga 2020

I catch myself trying to grab any opportunity I might get to talk about my internship but this is only because I gained a mountain of knowledge from that experience. This summer, the summer of 2020 when the world was tackling a global pandemic, I got the opportunity of interning with one of the leading multi-nationals in B2B Food Services – Compass Group.

My experience with Compass Group India, could not have been more unexpected. I was seeing my peers getting their internships canceled and deferred because of the COVID-19 situation and was expecting the worst for myself, but to my surprise, Compass Group not only continued with the Internship Program – IGNITE 2020 in a virtual mode, but also made sure that our learning curve was not at all hindered.

The Selection Process

Attending the pre-placement talk was the most I had ever heard about Compass Group, but I still remember the words said in that talk “People who ought to know, know about Compass Group” and how I know that is the truth now.

The selection process was the standard Group Discussion-Personal Interview format but the company also went ahead and said that if a student feels that they resonate with the core values of the company and have not been shortlisted may come forward and be a part of the process.

1.      A list of shortlisted candidates was released.

2.      The Group Discussion was based on a case relevant to the company’s business with a group of 10-12 candidates. Selected candidates go into the PI round.

3.      The first personal interview was with a senior HR and a second interview with the executive leadership of the company.

All these processes were aimed at knowing our problem-solving ability, our communication skills, and how good we were when it came to thinking on our feet. Most questions asked to me were related to my resume and the answers that I gave during that interview.

My Preparation

Of course, I was keeping up with the current affairs and going through my basic marketing concepts, reading the papers, following the news on apps like The Economic Times, and getting into continuous discussions on these topics with my peers. The marketing concepts started making more sense when I could see the companies around me applying them and the impact it would create for the company and the market.

It also helped me that my seniors would engage with me in mock group discussions and personal interviews which pushed me to refine my answers to an inch of perfection.

But what I really put the most effort into was my resume. There wasn’t one part of my resume which I did not know in-depth. From my previous work experience to my hobbies to my areas of interest, everything was well-read upon, thoroughly researched, and prepared with utmost sincerity. And this is what helped me during the selection process of Compass Group.

My Internship – IGNITE 2020

My project needed me to come up with a set of definitive Business and Technical requirements for a menu planning IT Application. That is all I can divulge about my project because of the confidentiality that needs to be maintained.

I was working under the guidance of Mr. Manish Mamtani (Chief Information Officer- Compass Group) and Mr. Supriyo Dasgupta (Head- Business Applications and Digital Transformation) for this project. For coming up with the utmost relevant set of requirements, I needed to know each and every process that was followed in the company, all the terminologies that were used, and how various departments interacted with each other.

To achieve this, I got into in-depth conversations with firstly, the lead product developer, Mr. Vivek Dwivedi, and secondly, with the relevant stakeholders from the operations team, the culinary team, and the procurement team.  After learning all the intricacies of a B2B Food Services company, I came up with User Journeys for various User Personas based on their roles in the organization and compiled everything into fit-for-purpose requirements language to be used in a Business Requirements Document.

All the interns were also regularly engaged in sessions with the prominent leaders of the company from various verticals which gave us an even deeper understanding of the company operations and how Compass Group was tackling the Coronavirus situation.

Indulging in conversations with other interns gave me insights into other projects that the company was working on and on which all sectors Compass Group was operating in.

Everything was being done in a virtual setup and one expects to face issues, mainly with the communication aspect, in such an environment but my guide, mentor and the people team at Compass Group were all very forthcoming in letting me know that I could contact them with relevant doubts any time I wanted and I always got very prompt replies from their end which really helped when I needed feedback.

Interning with Compass Group was the most enriching experience and I could not have asked for a better opportunity.

Key Learning

This project helped me understand the B2B Food Services industry holistically. Not only did I learn about the functioning of Compass Group but also about how Compass Group is driving the B2B Food Services market. The knowledge imparted by my guide gave me an understanding of the project at hand and also helped to fathom the extent to which this will be effective in the overall dynamics of the organization.

While working on this project, I had the chance to interact with people who have a culinary background and I learned a lot of the things which we do not anticipate when we think about food planning or menu planning. The project helped me to gauge the intricacies of the development of such an IT application in tandem with the food services organization.

I also learned that when you hit obstacles it is the most important to ask for help, from your peers, from your seniors or even from people whom you don’t know personally but can help you. Making connections, and not with the purpose of milking them, is the thing that one really needs to learn and that’s when “Your Network becomes Your Net Worth”. My experience at Compass Group taught me this and so much more which I cannot put into words.

To all the readers, who are passionate about food, who think they can make a difference in an ever-growing industry such as food services and are willing to give in their 100%, Compass Group is the company which will give you that perfect combination of Food and Business with just the right twist of fun that you never thought you would get. So get prepping to crack their selection process and ALL THE BEST!!