When I hear the word ‘DREAM’, I start thinking about ‘THE BEST’ things of life, such as a ‘dream house’ (a house with all modern amenities), a ‘dream bike’ (Harley Davidson) and things against which no one can ever point a finger. But when I say ‘DREAM INTERNSHIP’, it’s been a combin
ation of DREAMS and ‘NIGHTMARES’ for me. I believe an Internship can be called a ‘dream internship’ only when the intern is able to convert the nightmares into dreams and learn from all his experiences.
Ever since my internship started with Business Standard, this is exactly what I have been trying to do. My internship consisted of Market Research, Promotion and Sales, with sales enjoying a major chunk of my work. Being a marketing student, I undersand how important ‘sales’ is in order to climb the corporate ladder, but I’ve realised that it comes with a cost. I met and interacted with people from all levels of the society. My target group consisted of all those who read newspapers, it could a housewife or a President of a company. A major learning for me during the prospecting journey has been that ‘Meeting people is not a big deal but listening to them is!!’
Summer internship normally starts in the month of May and I strongly feel that the choice of month is deliberate, just to test our mental and physical strength. Otherwise who would prefer going door to door in the month of May (when the Sun just squeezes each and every drop of water from our body, just to create awareness about a brand? I have had people slamming doors on my face professionally and sometimes rudely too. At times people seem to entertain you, but in the end you realize that they had no work and just wanted to be entertained by someone and that ‘someone’ was you. Some people treated me with respect but I also met people who insulted me on my face. I had to make constant changes in the strategies that I adopted while speaking with them. I treated them professionally but whenever I got an opportunity, I tried to create a personal rapport with them. I don’t know how but I was just motivated to know more and more about the people I was interacting with.
I walked for hours and hours in the scorching heat just to create awareness about the brand. I have had my lunch at the bus stop when I didn’t find any college canteen nearby; I lost one kg in the first week of the internship itself. Thanks to stretching my body to its limits but somehow I enjoyed it. Making new friends, talking to different people, getting to know them, trying hard to make some of them talk and also make some shut up, mapping the roads of Mumabi and getting darker in the ‘Mumbai May heat’, with no AC classrooms or offices to relax, I’ve taken it all in my stride.
No matter how good or bad the experiences have been, I’m satisfied with the amount of efforts that I put in. This is what summer internship is all about, ‘learning to do’ things you’ve never ever done before and that you would never ‘choose’ to do otherwise!
Jitesh Pillai
Batch of 2011-13
MMS
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