A stepping stone to my happy career!
It was during the 3rd trimester of my PGDM Course where it was mandatory to have an internship experience for 8 weeks and submit a report. I was not satisfied with the kind of job profiles which were coming for a student from a finance background. I still remember the morning of 4h December’18 when I was getting ready in my formals to sit for skype interview with a company called RSM Astute Consulting Private Limited which ranks amongst India’s top six accounting and consulting groups and has multi-disciplinary personnel strength of over 1,400.
RSM in India offer a wide range of specialized services to meet the immediate as well as the long-term need of the business, that include internal audit and risk advisory, tax and consulting. RSM has a national presence in 11 key cities viz. Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Gandhidham, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi-NCR, Pune, and Surat. Their clients include several large Indian business groups, multinational corporations and first-generation entrepreneurs.
Gathering the above information about the company helped me clear the interview round and finally I had my summer internship offer letter in my hand.
My Internship with RSM Astute Consulting Private Limited was a great learning experience. My objective was to gain corporate exposure and develop myself in every possible way. Since Auditing was a new field for me to work, I took up this internship as an opportunity to learn as much as possible. After 2 months of internship, I find myself to be more confident and knowledgeable. Each day was a learning here. I have made mistakes and recovered, took up advices from the whole team, worked on my ideas, and updated after every possible review.
RSM Astute Consulting recognized my accomplishments and unique potential, and mentor me as a future leader. By working directly with key decision makers - both inside and outside the firm - you’ll move quickly along the learning curve to jump-start your career in accounting or consulting. I was nourished with:
1. Orientation and training – I was prepared for the client service role through a combination of formal and informal training.
2. Hands-on experience – I got the opportunity to see a variety of clients and work directly with key decision makers and company owners.
3. Events – From lunch-and-learn workshops to sporting events or community service projects, I developed myself both personally and professionally with my peers and co-workers in the office.
4. Mentorship and performance management – RSM paired me with both a navigator and a career advisor to help my transition into the role.
I was part of the Internal Audit Team and my reporting manager was Mr. Anand Mohta, Associate Director Audits. My learnings include:
• Understanding of Retail Sector and gaining product knowledge of various clients.
• Various tools and techniques used to perform a retail store audit and how to produce a signoff annexure which includes stock audit mismatch and commercial audit observations.
• Importance of maintaining relationships in an organisation and working with cooperation & coordination.
• How to communicate within team and business partners.
• Corporate ethics- sending mails, attending meetings, greeting people.
• Interpersonal Skills which will help me grow in my career.
• Research and Documentation
• Time Management
Few things that made me fall in love with Mumbai were:
People- People here are genuinely helpful. They were so warm and no matter how busy they seemed to be; they always took out time to help us.
City- It seemed like the New York of India. This city just doesn't seem to sleep. I am from Delhi and past a certain hour, everything mostly shuts down. Here, I lost track of time. The cafes are bustling with people, shops stay open, the local and traffic never ceases.
Transportation- Autos ran by metre. All the time.
Marine Drive- Easily my favourite spot in the city.
Pulkit Chaurasia
NMIMS Bangalore