Packed with thorough and rigorous training sessions, assignments, deliverables, the internship had a learning curve as steep as possible, almost 90 degrees. It helped me expand my technical knowledge. But my internship proved to be a lot more than that. It helped me develop my personality and hone my skills. The bank I worked in boasts a very strong culture within the organization. Being on the floor, I realized the magnitude of that. No one on the floor was ever too busy to help us interns. The commitment was so strong that some people ended up staying back for over 2 hours to help interns with their work, teaching and guiding them. No question was too dumb or stupid to ask. They had an open door policy where anyone could walk up to anyone, including the VP to discuss anything ranging from problems faced, suggestions, doubts or even cricket! They stressed on an eye for detail, making me learn to be a perfectionist in everything I do, including something as insignificant as font size, color, or spacing.
Apart from having a hectic work schedule, the team made it a point to provide regular de-stressing opportunities. There were weekly cricket matches, regular parties and networking dinners to give us interns an opportunity to bond and connect with senior management from other divisions even, and broaden our horizons. These sessions helped us become more confident, improved our networking skills and enabled us to interact with highly successful and intelligent people apart from the de-stressing they were primarily aimed for.
There was a regular feedback mechanism in place which helped me improve and learn from my mistakes, and plan the next leg of the internship in a much more aware manner.
Personally, this period made me a more confident and a stronger individual. It helped me approach people without inhibitions, improved my communications skills along with my technical capabilities.
There are many instances where we feel that a particular domain is our forte but soon on entering the corporate world realize that the reality is very different from what we had envisaged. Summer internships are a great way of aligning the reality to our dreams and expectations. Never having imagined a future in the banking sector, let alone becoming an investment banker, this internship made me realize that this is what I want to do in the future once I graduate from the institute.
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