Coping up with the newly started semester after a long break and adjusting to the logistics of new courses? Worried about securing a good internship or a decent project before summer begins? Exploring and shortlisting different career profiles? Facing these dilemmas? Worry not, this is something all of us had also experienced and although I am just a year ahead of you, here I am to share my experience of how I moved towards breaking through these confusions during my sophomore year.
Hii, I am Khyati Jain, a thirdie who was literally as confused and baffled about what I liked and wanted to gain experience of, or what was something which I feel is a complete no-no as most of you might be. The best thing I think I did was pestered my seniors (take my word, guys, it works ;P) to know what exactly things meant. What is a supply chain? What kind of work is expected in finance fields? How exactly does product management work? What type of skill is expected for areas like analytics as we hear them? After talking to several people, I finally concluded that coding karni nahi hai and core thoda-thoda pasand hai!
HEADS-UP: I would be focusing more on how I went about looking for an intern majorly in this article.
APPING
I started searching for something on similar lines- something away from coding and something aligned to the core. Generally, internship opportunities for sophomores along these lines are rarely available through the PT cell, and so I had to go about finding one for myself. This was when having an up-to-date and developed LinkedIn profile came in handy. Keep your LinkedIn up-to-date and organized because for an outsider wanting to know whether they should hire you or not, LinkedIn is the first thing they look at, apart from your resume. Make sure it is descriptive of your personality, apart from simply stating facts and listing down your PoRs. I looked for companies that worked in the most common ChemE core fields like pharma, oil&gas, polymers, etc. and found our alums working there. A few chrome extensions like Prospectin, Kendo, and Rocket Search help you find Email IDs and send bulk messages on LinkedIn. Contacting your own alums gives an added benefit and probability of response, although this process is like shooting an arrow in the dark, to be very honest.
I created appropriate databases and contacted people. Some responded, some had pre-requisites I could not offer, and some rejected my application. So, I was exhausted and irritated in around a month of this process that I had begun in mid-February. Then again, the ‘lovely seniors’ came to my rescue :). I was suggested that I should leverage my own (and my family’s) contacts in the industry because, at this point, the main aim should not be money or brand but the skill and experience that I would get. My father is in the medical field, so he had contacts in the pharma sector, so I tried that as well and was offered one internship in the operations domain. However, I was somehow stuck to core-core that I did not avail it…
We were approaching the month of May. Summer break was pretty close, and I was still unaware of what I would do to not while away my time. Then I remembered an event organized by the ChEA council- Time Capsule, which talked of different career diversifications. I contacted one of the alums on its panel working in the clean energy domain. He took a small interview to know what I was expecting and explained his expectations, and after a thorough discussion, I finally took up the opportunity. (Takeaway: Whenever you interact with a person via any event, and you like their work or feel that connecting with them could be fruitful, do so without hesitating!)
THE INTERNSHIP
I was working in a Singapore-based firm focusing on clean energy solutions named ‘Feyn Partners’. It is headed by our alums from the batch of 1995, Mr. Amit Pathare and Mr. Umesh Bhide. It is basically a consulting firm that provides inputs in renewable energy practices. So the dual benefit here was that I would be working on the core competencies of the projects, energy analysis, chemical processes, etc. while experiencing the dynamism of a rigorous consulting environment. So, it essentially acted as something on the crossroads for helping me whether I wanted to go towards the core or the non-core side of things.
In this internship, I worked on a project on green hydrogen for assisting the market entry of a billion-dollar MNC manufacturing hydrogen electrolyzers into the Indian market. So my core area of focus was analyzing the electrolyzer technologies suitable for the Indian landscape and the company. I also did extensive market performance studies to assist competition and market research. During the last 15 days, when the project deliverables were complete, I suggested a revamp of the company’s decks which helped me understand various aspects of formal presentation as well.
P.S. The interaction sessions with the alums were the best where they gave me constructive feedback on how I could improve on certain aspects. They would also share stories of their college time. In the end, my promised stipend also doubled as an incentive for the effort I had put in.
LEARNINGS
The various things I learned can be divided into two parts:
During the Internship:
1. People generally say consulting is a hectic job, and it is true. You may be expected to work at any time of the day, and the deliverables should meet a certain standard of professionalism and accuracy.
2. Always keep yourself open to learning new things as opportunities can come your way anytime. You just need to be vigilant enough to grab them.
3. Take feedbacks positively and try to understand and clarify why and how you need to incorporate them.
During the Process: Getting to understand your own interests and being able to work on something on similar lines is a challenging task, especially with the limited exposure we have during the second year. LinkedIn is a great place to connect. Be active there and keep updating your profile as well. Do not restrict yourself to specific fields because you feel that way without experiencing them even once. I never had consulting in my mind, but this internship changed my perspective towards it, and I actually enjoyed working in that fast-paced environment.
Also, keep note of what you want to see yourself growing into. It might change over the months but helps you track your development. Always look back and consider the skills that you have acquired. It definitely helps while deciding the next step in your journey!
Lastly, do not ever hesitate to ask things you do not understand. Your DAMP and ISMP mentors are there, and just talk to any senior you feel you are comfortable talking to. We had been in similar positions, and we can understand the confusion. And sorry for such a long read :P I hope I did not bore you :)