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Hello Everyone, this is Anuj S Agrawal, a fourth-year undergraduate in the Chemical Engineering department. I recently concluded my summer internship at Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) as part of their prestigious Unilever Leadership Internship Program (ULIP). While I take you through the journey of my intern season and the offline internship, I hope it provides some insights and clarity to you guys.
The Intern Season
Just like almost everyone during the intern season, I had targeted 2-3 profiles and FMCG was one of them along with Consult and Finance. Having clarity on this and not panicking during the initial shortlists was necessary, as it got a bit overwhelming. There are many good companies that come after Day 1 and it is important to not get disappointed during the first few days. As a chemical engineering student, I had the privilege of being from the three departments HUL opened its IAF for. Having done a Strategy Intern in my second-year summer at Cashflo, a supply chain finance startup, I was exposed to a lot of supply chain knowledge which backed my interest in this profile. While you may be surprised that I didn't attend the pre-placement talk for HUL, I was pretty sure about trying for all the FMCG firms that came along.
The FMCG internship preparation session by Career Cell was really helpful in understanding the approach to resume building and the supply chain profiles. While HUL required a balance of tech and non-tech in its resume, I made sure to include my chemical course projects from Heat Transfer and Fluid Mechanics. Getting your resume reviewed by multiple seniors is key. The application form by HUL plays a very important role at HUL. I gave ample time to the form and thought through all the introspective questions present. It is on the basis of the resume and the application form that the first shortlist is released. An from this was that CPI wasn’t a major factor. In spite of falling short of the 8+ category (set as a benchmark my many), it gave me an immense sense of satisfaction on getting shortlisted and evnetually bagging a Day 1 intern.
The preparation for HUL henceforth was pretty hands-on and on-the-go. You had to toil hard after the case round shortlist to be ready for the subsequent rounds. As I didn't reach the interview rounds of any other company, it was a blessing in disguise to devote all my time to the preparation for HUL. The Hireview Case Interview round was like an extempore, where we had to answer supply chain problem statements in 3 minutes. Thoroughly going through the entire website of HUL, and reading supply chain news articles and case studies really helped me in this round. Last-minute guidance from seniors who were selected for HUL previously also helped.
Having a few mocks with relevant seniors and getting your HR doc reviewed is very very important for the final interview. It gave me an understanding of what I needed to work on. The interview was a roller coaster experience. With my camera suddenly not working on MS teams, I had to join through my phone. As amusing as it may sound, it was scary when the interviewers were waiting for me to figure out my technical issues. The interview was mostly based on my resume, with a major emphasis on justifying and defending my heat transfer project. They also asked some random questions on the extra-curricular points, with something like “the weight of a badminton shuttle in ounces”. One major tip is, to be honest, and frank in such situations and admit if you don't know about it. Over and out, the interview went decently, but in hindsight, staying thorough and confident is what took me through.
The Internship Experience
With the uncertainty around COVID-19 and the third wave in January 2022, we weren’t sure if the internship will be physical or remote. With no communication from the company, the hope for an offline internship experience was discussed repeatedly with all my co-interns at HUL. I worked on-ground with my brother on his FMCG startup in December 2021 to understand the nitty-gritty of a supply chain. It was in April 2022, a few weeks before our joining date that we got the news from HR that our internship will be offline. I was really looking forward to it and couldn’t wait to experience a corporate setup.
The location for my internship was the Head Office in Mumbai. The company took good care of us with hotel stay for the first 7 days followed by the company guesthouse for the remaining duration. This was instrumental in creating an extensive network during the 2 month period. The guesthouse stay ensured interaction with co-interns from other IITs, IIMs, and commerce colleges. The HUL campus was huge and I was awestruck on day 1 itself. While my co-interns from insti were sent on factory stints at Gandhidham and Hosur as part of their projects, I was stationed at the Head office as part of the Central Planning and Excellence team.
Every intern had a different project, a tutor for guidance, and a coach and buddy to help along the way. While it was difficult getting hold of all of them, the tutor was the main point of contact and mentored me throughout the project. I was allotted a project which required interacting with multiple stakeholders and functions of the company and having focused group discussions. While this opened doors to having an extensive network of people to learn from, it was difficult for an intern to get time due to the busy schedules of the employees.
Nevertheless, the most important and exciting part of my project was mapping an entire process, creating an end-to-end workflow, and understanding the bottlenecks in the same. This sums up most of what supply chain interns at HUL do. The timings were not very hectic for me (usual 10-6), and we had Saturday and Sunday off to relax and spend time with co-interns. While the initial weeks were slow, once everything started coming together, the work became exciting and demanding.
I also got an opportunity to travel as part of my project. A travel enthusiast myself, it was a surreal feeling to be on a work visit and use company resources for the same. I visited Bengaluru to meet the HUL IT team and Chennai to represent the company at a third-party service provider. Both these trips spread across a week were a great learning experience as provided a lot of exposure.
End Note
Overall, the internship was everything I could ask for. My tutor gave me the freedom and opportunity to work on multiple tasks. He ensured that I learn from a wide scope even outside the purview of my project. I made some great connections with the employees I interacted with and look forward to staying in touch with them. I was also asked to present my work to 50+ employees which helped boost my confidence. The 8 weeks I spent at HUL will have a great impact on my future endeavors and I hope to make the most of the learnings from my internship experience.