Before joining B-school, I tried venturing towards the world of corporate finance. After completing my undergraduate degree, I applied to a leading American company for a role that I was not suited for. While this didn’t work in my favor, the rejection did not deter my ambition. With the belief that credit rating agencies help markets function better, I soldiered on and finally got the chance to pursue my ambition at IFMR Graduate School of Business (GSB). Thus began my virtual summer internship.
In today’s world, virtual internships have become the new norm. But, while the learning happens from the comforts of one’s home, the quality of what one learns cannot be discounted especially if it’s from a leading credit rating agency like CRISIL Global Research & Analytics. Interning at CRISIL meant fulfilling my one true ambition - pursuing finance and working towards a purely financial role irrespective of how wide the FinOps role market is.
The CRISIL experience:
- Selection process
The SIP selection process for CRISIL was very competitive, involving 3 rounds in total. With such a big opportunity in hand, I gave my best as I truly believed that out of all the opportunities out there, working at CRISIL would truly hone my finance skills. The process resulted in me being the only one selected for the internship from IFMR GSB. In a non-pandemic world, I could have imagined myself strutting inside the office of CRISIL House in Mumbai. But, despite this period of uncertainty, my summer internship continued remotely, supported by a smooth on-boarding process.
- Conquering challenges
At CRISIL, I worked in the Global Research & Analytics division as a Sell-Side Equity Research Analyst. Working from home, undoubtedly, brought its own set of challenges. During my virtual internship, my main project involved constructing a robust financial model of a foreign oil exploring and manufacturing company to generate investment recommendations for the clients. I was testing advanced financial modelling for the first time where I was tasked to build a highly accurate model based on the company’s financial instruments and assess its credibility. To me, a huge project meant proving myself and resolving problems on my own - something that made me apprehensive as well as excited.
I completed my project early, a little ahead of the end of my internship tenure, and gave my final presentation virtually, attended by the directors and head of the division. The presentation was the culmination of 60+ hours of financial modelling, with the addition of studying 6 companies and 1 industry-grade equity research report, backed by a world of learning!
- The journey forward
A summer internship is not just an internship or an opportunity to grab a Pre-Placement Offer (PPO); it is an event where you can learn the corporate practices in the finance industry. A one-of-a-kind learning experience, this virtual internship would have been impossible if it wasn’t for the relentless effort of corporate mentors, the HR and technical team, and my fellow peers. The company culture encourages flexibility and transparency - two qualities that made my overall internship a breeze. From learning advanced financial modelling to figuring out how to conduct equity research and analyze companies and industries in order to give them investment recommendations - the internship was truly one to remember.
By
Jaykumar Patel
Second-year student of IFMR GSB, Krea University
