Summer Internship Experience 2021 - Vayana Network - Pratheek Denny , IIM Udaipur

Participate In Summer Saga Season 8 & Win Upto Rs. 15,000!

Hi, Tell us about how you got selected for this internship? Take us through the moment you realized you had got the internship.

The internship interview day: The day had started as any other, nothing special. It was your daily dose of missing breakfast and grogging yourself awake somehow for that first class. In the afternoon, the interview starts.

Tell me about yourself. I give the standard answer about me, my hobbies, and my goals. This is when it gets interesting, he asks me to tell me about my favourite subject in my undergraduate. I thought this is strange, why would that be relevant but it couldn't hinder me in any way, so I told him Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. He then gives me a case study on the spot, I want to design a AC system for a hospital in a small town.

I heard the question and I smiled to myself. This is something that truly intrigued me or in other words, unconventional cases. I immediately began asking him a few preliminary questions. How many customers, what type of customers, split, central or both, no of floors...My first branch in my framework was the no of floors in which I would provide constant cooling vs on-demand cooling. Second, I proceeded to understand the capacity of the central cooling system required factoring in the psychometric chart as well as the dust removal.

After which I proceeded to understand the requirements for implementation at which point, he mentioned that I could synthesise. He then proceeded to tell me more about the company and how it functions.

He proceeded to ask me more about my resume but unlike your typical interview, it was a conversation. This was the point at which I knew I had created a breakthrough. This was the point where I realised he had faith in me to help grow Vayana Network.

---

On joining the company as an intern, how has your onboarding experience been like?

The first day started with a somewhat iconic but cheesy line. I had joined the call a few minutes early and proceeded to ask my mentor (I didnt really know that he would be at the time) "Do you follow the system of referring to your team members by their first names?" and he replied "Well, there's a standing joke at Vayana. None of us have been knighted and hence it does make sense to call us Sir".

The rest of the onboarding was smooth with the team and mentor stopping at different points to ensure that we understand the various responsibilities of the company. Next, we(there was another person from IIM Udaipur) were given brief on the projects that we were undertaking.

I was lucky enough to be considered for their newest product the Good Business Score. Following the same, I was told that this is a real time project and I can go ahead and reach out to anyone in the company for help.

The first part of the project was a competitor analysis to help understand the different tools in the market which had provided the same service as us. To help you understand, the GBS is a business score which would help the understand the risk that your business faces if it onboards a certain partner.

The second part of the project was to identify strategic partnerships for the product. This was both to create a list of possible associations to help create a better offering as per the industry requirements as well as understand the various quirks of the B2B E-Commerce Industry.

The third was pre-sales, and business development. In this crucial phase, I connected with various businesses to help understand their concerns when they onboarded a new partner (distributor, vendor,...) and how their process was currently structured. In other words, Consultative Selling to help understand their current problems. We have started modifying our tools the GBS for the same.

The final and the most interesting part for me is devising the strategy on how the product needs to be modified according to the needs of the industry. The industry relevant insights and talks with various stakeholders have helped us devise how we can design further enhancements. We'll further develop roadmaps on consultation with the various experts scattered throughout Vayana Network.

Additionally, I have also been able to work with the marketing department and create possible techniques to help improve our outreach and presence. This article is also a small step towards the same.

---

How has your interaction with the team members and colleagues been like? How will you make sure to leave the best impression on your supervisors by the end of the internship?

The team members and colleagues treat you as one of their own. The flat hierarchy, especially in a budding organization such as this, has been a boon in many ways. They have always been ready to cooperate and help in any way possible.

To ensure that I leave the best impression possible, I have used project planning methodologies to create short tasks for each of my larger tasks ensuring MECE. Again, I try to submit and get the individual parts reviewed to ensure that I am on the right track.

---

Tell us in brief, about the project you are currently working on and how is this project going to help the company? 

I help in product development and strategy for their newest product, the Good Business Score. My project consists of 4 phases: They have been described below.

The first part of the project was a competitor analysis to help understand the different tools in the market that provided the same service. To help you know, the GBS is a business score that would help them understand the risk that your business faces if it onboards a particular partner.

The second part of the project was to identify strategic partnerships for the product. This was to create a list of possible associations to help make a better offering as per the industry requirements and understand the various quirks of the B2B E-Commerce Industry.

The third was pre-sales and business development. In this crucial phase, I connected with various businesses to help understand their concerns when they onboarded a new partner (distributor, vendor,...) and how their process was structured. In other words, Consultative Selling to help understand their current problems. We have started modifying our tools, the GBS, for the same.

The final and the most exciting part for me is devising the strategy on how the product needs to be modified according to the needs of the industry. The industry-relevant insights and talks with various stakeholders have helped us devise how we can design further enhancements. We'll further develop roadmaps on consultation with the various experts scattered throughout Vayana Network.

---

Are You The Best Summer Intern Of The Class Of 2022? Share Your Own Internship Experience.

---

Give us an overview of how you prepared for your summer placement season.

In simple terms, I focussed on the basics. I first noted down the different types of questions that interviewers could ask in interviews. This helped me narrow down my focus points towards case studies, HR questions, Domain Knowledge, and data analytics.

The next step was to identify my strengths and weaknesses. I attempted various case studies to help understand whether I found any vulnerabilities in my framework. Then, I proceeded to help understand how we could improve on the same.

Second, I used my preparation material from various sources to understand where I stood in data analysis. As in a previous manner, I practiced my analytics skills on multiple graphs.

Third, I gathered the various compendiums provided by the various functional teams of my college to understand these better. I also started reading multiple articles by different organizations on the latest trends in the industry. A staple at the time was consultancy reports.

Finally, I tried to refine my HR questions from my written answers to ensure that my SIP preparation goes fruitfully. Of course, I could prepare well due only to the planning, which accompanied all of this to help guide me and my studies.

---

Based on your internship experience till now, what are some necessary skill sets one must be prepared with before starting an internship? 

Technical Skills:

1. Presentation Skills - Helps when providing documents to clients or managers.
2. Excel Knowledge - Helps improve your efficency.
3. Understanding of various databases - To help you find data much more quickly.

Soft Skills:

1. Pitching - Understanding how you would structure your pitch, Creating the narrative, understand the business problems the client faces.
2. Organising - At the end of the day, you'll be tasked with working with various teams and responsibilities. An ability to organize yourself and your subordinates (if any) would be a great asset to have.
3. Planning - To split up the project into smaller parts and ensure tracking of deliverables.

Finally, an enthusiasm to learn

---

What are some new skills that you have developed while working in the company?

Consultative Selling: Understanding the possible scope of work both in terms of selling and improving the product functionality

Strategy Planning: Knowledge of in-depth problems that the industry faces would help design the product's functionalities better.

Competitor & Industry Analysis: In-depth analysis of the various tools helped in the product strategy also.

---

***