I was coming out of my student attitude when I could even go to classes in an un-ironed T-shirt. Internships which are an integral part of the MBA student’s curriculum obviously vary in experiences. For me it happens to be in one of the best companies of the world. Well, the previous statement in no way does justice to the company. It is the most well known company in the world. The HR of the company has been doing a lot of things to make our life comfortable here with travel daily arrangements, unprecedented support 24X7, a warm attitude, and lots of freebies/goodies and so on. Well at least, settling into the job will be a smooth affair.
The last one week proved to be a mixed bag for me consisting of multiple grueling sessions on different verticals, functioning of the company, overwhelming me (and maybe a few others) on the scale and operations of things happening in the background of a massive 126 year old company. Getting to know so much about management in a huge company from actual professionals who executed the work themselves was a lot better than going through case studies. With occasional fun filled activities such as visit to the IPL match at Firoz Sharh Kotla stadium and a welcome dinner party on Friday, the weeklong orientation had its memorable sides too. Sitting through the full day sessions on the variety of functions of a marketing company, I realized that so much of work went into getting in the shoes of the consumer. While on one hand, a bunch of the things went way-way over my head, I did notice a few others who were holding back desperately on droopy sulking eyes.
I wonder if they were in the same predicament as me or already knew the concepts that were basic to a marketing “enthu”. During the induction, we got a chance to visit a plant, where we got lost from our group and they ran around the plant checking out places on our own. I also got a chance to tick off another thing on my TO-DO list. Drive a fork lift - Check!!
With a visit to a few shopping complexes in an attempt to see how the bookish theories were applied (or rather modified before applying) in the field, we saw the day to day challenges also of a marketer.
Meeting my fellow interns, I was reminded that the world has a lot of smart people who would easily make it to the higher strata of corporate leadership. Not only are they from the Ivy League schools of our country, they are also probably the cream of their own school.
Envying them would be an understatement, but making friends with them and getting to know them better I know they are good people who deserve to be where they are. (PS: dear fellow interns, please reserve some IPL tickets for me if you get any)
With a highly challenging project that stares at me leaving me with a blank expression, I wonder how I would tackle the unexplored territory head-on.
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