Internship Chronicles: From the MBA Class of 2025

March 27th, 2024

Here are the diverse and enriching internship experiences of our three MBA students. From developing national launch strategies and conducting in-depth research on the Indian Banking Ecosystem to being awarded ‘Intern with the Highest Progression’, these stories showcase the challenges faced, skills honed, and invaluable lessons learned. Join us as we explore their unique paths to professional growth and success.

I am excited to share my challenging yet rewarding experience with Pidilite as a marketing intern.

My internship started with the challenge of developing a national launch strategy for a new product, which was later pilot tested in Ludhiana. It required me to engage with the market at a grassroots level. I visited multiple distributors, interacted with hundreds of applicators, and built relationships with over 50 dealerships. These interactions not only deepened my understanding of market dynamics but also sharpened my communication and negotiation skills.

One of the highlights of my project was developing working demo tools and various enabler items, which played a crucial role in the product’s successful pilot testing. The process was fraught with challenges, from logistical hurdles to on-ground execution issues. However, these experiences were instrumental in my professional growth, teaching me resilience, adaptability, and the importance of perseverance.

The courses taught at BITSoM played a crucial role in enabling me to hit the ground running and not feel overwhelmed by all the factors. Courses like Consumer Behaviour, Marketing Management and Design Thinking proved helpful. I was able to apply some key concepts directly in my project and all the groundwork we did during these courses helped me execute all the strategies in the market seamlessly.

This internship has been a transformative experience, and I look forward to leveraging the learnings in my future endeavours and contributing meaningfully to the industry.

Shantanu Singh

Class of 2025

Exploring new domains, expanding my skills, pushing my limits further, and truckloads of learning – That’s how I will sum up an exciting and a challenging consulting experience I had as a Summer Intern at EY in their Business Consulting Performance Improvement (BCPI) team.

As part of their banking division, my tasks and projects revolved around in-depth research on Digitalization in the Indian Banking Ecosystem over the years with a special emphasis on Digital Lending and a multitude of other digital developments including Open Banking, Neo Banking, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) schemes, UPI and Applications of AI and ML to enhance the overall customer experience and ultimately presenting my insights, recommendations and potential business opportunities to the senior management. Additionally, I was tasked with calculating the percentage share of loans issued digitally by a Public Sector Bank to project the overall growth of its digital loan book. This entailed thorough research and analysis of annual reports, analyst presentations, media interviews, and news articles/reports and presenting key findings in a detailed report.

These 2 months were filled with numerous challenges, doubts, and uncertainties but that is a part and parcel of any rewarding experience that comes our way and interestingly,

overcoming these very difficulties and tough times was the highlight of this stint for it gave me the much-needed exposure and confidence to tackle such situations going ahead.

Undoubtedly, this journey would not have been possible without the constant support and guidance of my Project Mentor and the supremely helpful seniors and colleagues at BITSoM who made me realize how important it is to get honest and regular feedback on my performance and improvement areas which ultimately made all the difference.

I look forward with much enthusiasm to learn more about further developments in this industry and witness how this experience elevates my professional career to the next step.

Pulkit Khandelwal

Class of 2025

I had the incredible opportunity to work as an Account Manager (Sales) Intern at Gartner. This role allowed me to engage closely with both technology and service providers, as well as buyers of technology. I had the privilege of interacting with C-suite executives, organizing meetings to understand their business needs and demonstrating how Gartner’s insights could drive their business growth.

The highlight of my internship was being recognized for my work. I was awarded with “Intern with the Highest Progression”, a testament to my growth and effort during this period.

Throughout this journey, I gained profound insights into various technologies and their current market dynamics. I explored unique tech products and services that diverse organizations offer, and my main responsibility was to manage relationships with end-user clients. This involved extensive research to identify the right clients and personas that aligned with Gartner’s sales objectives. I spearheaded several outreach campaigns using multiple communication channels including LinkedIn, emails, WhatsApp, and cold-calling—each proving to be highly effective.

The guidance I received from my buddy, mentor, manager, and HR was invaluable. They helped me understand the intricate processes, evaluate my fit within the organization, and fostered a culture of openness and structured learning. Peer learning played a crucial role in my development during this period.

Special mention to Professor Abhijeet Vadera for his insights on Negotiation Analysis, which sharpened my skills in negotiating and persuading clients for exploratory calls, and Professor Raj Raghunathan for enlightening me on consumer behaviour, which helped me grasp what clients truly seek.

Grateful for this incredible experience and looking forward to applying these learnings in my future endeavours.

Shriya Rao Pochampally

Class of 2025