The 8 weeks that I spent under the tutelage of some of the most helpful professionals over at Zensar Technologies was something that I am glad I had the chance to experience.
Despite the current situation of the global pandemic, I had the opportunity to work at Zensar and get a feel of what it is like being a Zensarian.
With the behemoth of uncertainties hitting due to the COVID situation, I was a bit skeptical about how the internship would pan out. The logical step taken was to conduct the internship in a virtual mode which required a multi-pronged approach from my end. I charted out how I would try to communicate, execute, and be flexible throughout the internship.
As we were introduced to the firm and its vision during the orientation program, I got an opportunity to hear from some of the most inspiring leaders of the firm which led me to begin seeing myself working along that mission. The program also included an introduction to fellow interns through activities which were quite fun. The two-day orientation was followed by a mentor allocation and introduction week in which I was explained about the project I was going to work upon and start initial industry research in Consumer Services and Hitech industries. My Project Buddy had vast industry experience and guided me to design a thoughtful project plan for the next 7 weeks including adequate buffers to accommodate for unseen circumstances in the VUCA world.
The project was well-curated as per my skills, interest, and experience. It was an amalgamation of technology and business which will be required in the coming times. We decided to start off with extensive yet focused secondary research. Due to the virtual mode, it was not an easy task to engage with the project buddy and get comprehensive feedback. Hence, we settled on the daily EOD project progress updates initially. Based on my weekly connects with the project buddy, I used to decide my immediate next steps. Within 3 weeks, the project charter was modified meticulously given the virtual circumstances we were in. It was unseen but because of my interest in the project and immense guidance from my buddy & guide, I was spurred to quickly adjust to the new charter and make progress. For me, ‘Agility’ forms the new ‘A’ to the VUCA world.
The fostering weekly connects with the HR team, aimed at checking upon intern experiences and address any problems faced helped me in coping up with the challenges. I also got an opportunity to apply my project research on a real service offering designed for clients which catalyzed my learnings and helped me gauge the impact of our project in terms of various KPIs. We also included the pandemic impact on the project which is here to stay in the long-term. Thus, I felt that the whole process was forward-looking and well-crafted.
The internship helped me in unlearning my biases and adding new perspectives not only in the scope of the project but also in terms of work culture and ethics.
And of course, the “Fun Fridays” organized by the HR team at RPG were a much-needed stress buster at the end of each week. They were a really good way of interacting with other interns too, owing to the current situation.
I can’t help but wonder how the internship would have panned out had it not been for the pandemic situation. Getting to know what a day at Zensar is really like, interacting with my team and other interns on a more personal level is something I really would have enjoyed.
Despite the challenges, Zensar provided me with a good support ecosystem, and the people that I had the chance of interacting with really enhanced my learning. This reinvigorating experience spanned out across 8 weeks would be one of the most memorable ones of my professional life.
