Holaaa!! I am Kriti Chaturvedi, a 3rd year undergraduate in the chemical engineering department. I am pursuing a minor degree in management as well. Since my first year, I have had interests in both core and non-core, so I tried to explore both of these domains through my internships.
I did a core research internship at Pfizer and two non-core interns in the marketing domain at IIM Ahmedabad and Sugar Cosmetics.
I did a course in marketing management, which interested me in marketing, so I wanted to explore its practical application. Hence I pursued two internships in marketing. The one at IIM Ahmedabad was on market research, and the other at Sugar Cosmetics was about digital marketing.
I learned about the IIM Ahmedabad internship through my senior, who had previously worked at IIM A under the same prof. The prof had a vacancy, and she asked him to share it with interested students. I grabbed the opportunity and applied. I had to send my resume to them via mail. This was followed by a short interview which consisted of some basic questions about social media marketing and the cosmetic industry, which was the subject of the research project. After the interview, I got the call that I was selected. The internship was two months long (January-February). I got an opportunity to learn how market research is actually performed. I assisted the professors in the company officials’ interviews and helped them formulate a comprehensive report summarizing the observations. I also took a few interviews myself, where I developed a ton of soft skills and the art of getting relevant information from the client and connecting with them. This internship gave me a deep understanding of how a business works as we studied the company from a startup stage to the state it is in. You can apply to similar internships by mailing profs from different universities and departments. While sending a mail, you can highlight your interests in why you want to pursue the internship, what you will gain from it, and what you will provide them. If the prof has a vacancy, they will definitely revert back and if not, try your luck and keep mailing!
Sugar Cosmetics was the company IIM Ahmedabad was researching on, so I was present in the interviews with officials, and they got to know me by name. After the internship was over, I had sent a mail to the Marketing department regarding my interest in social media marketing. I chose social media marketing at Sugar, as it has a substantial online presence. I got a call for the interview and a test. The test was a basic aptitude test, and the interview was more of them explaining their work and gauging which area I was interested in working. I finally worked at their Instagram and YouTube accounts. The work involved competitor analysis on these platforms and ideation of new and innovative content. Sugar treats its interns as employees, so I was involved in every team activity, which helped me build a huge network. There I got to know how a company’s social media marketing domain is considered one of the most crucial departments to display its presence in the market. It was a 2-month summer internship.
My internship at Pfizer was in the worldwide research and development department. I learned about this opportunity through my professor, under whom I was doing a research project. He referred me to it and asked me to appear for the interview. The interview was just an ordinary conversation, gauging my interests. Then I got a call that I was selected. It was a wonderful experience for me to work at Pfizer. The supervisors were very helpful. My job role entailed the development of new computational tools to increase the efficiency of the post-processing of a Bohle coater. This required extensive python skills and sufficient knowledge of the Discrete Element Method.
It was a two-month summer internship that got extended till mid-August.
All these internships helped me understand that I want to pursue something that is a mixture of core and non-core, as I enjoyed both of them equally. So during my third year, I applied for the healthcare department consulting role, which was a significant overlap of my interests.
In the end, I would suggest you all to explore everything and then decide what you want to pursue. Be open to opportunities and leverage your connections a lot in the apping process!
Thank you!