An Opportunity To Rediscover Myself In The Summer Internship

I have already heard before that Deloitte treats its interns very well at which really came true in the upcoming weeks. The next week I reached my reporting location; already amazed at the beauty of sky touching nineteen storeyed office building designed in the Deloitte theme which was going to be the dream location. I ,along with five interns was assigned to SAP service line and we were to report in time to our reporting manager. Our reporting manager welcomed us with a grin and we were assigned to our respective projects. To help us in the process we were also assigned with individual mentors and guides who would guide us through anything everything related to our project deliverables. I was given a challenging supply chain sector project where I had to find out a tech solution going through use cases and address the problem statement with own recommendation and feasibility study. Each day after the project assignment was no less than a joyful professional experience. I must say Deloitte has the most professional and excellent work culture. The door of learning was always open. As they say it has an open door policy which gives you freedom to interact with anyone and everyone irrespective of designation and this was the most helpful gesture to have happened to me. I interacted with many people who never said no to any help, each of them was approachable and insightful. Adding sugar to it, I had the opportunity to get in touch with some of my college alumni and we used to have college-related light talks. Despite of the busy schedule, there never was ample stress on the faces of employees and that itself was the beauty of the vibrant and positive working culture. Even I was able to interact with some great minds who were working in US offices and they took out time for me to help me in my project with their inputs despite of the time zone gap. My mentor and guide were frequently evaluating my ongoing progress and always came up with valuable encouragement and suggestion box. Not to forget I was also assigned a buddy who would help me in case of any sort of problem if and when lightened up, luckily I didn’t have any but we (me and my buddy) used to blend well. The story will be incomplete if I don’t mention the beautiful office space, the well-built art-filled creative walls which had some stories to tell every time I looked at it, cool personalized cubicles, break out area with always available tea, coffee and carom board always ready for some fun activities and what not. We even had one to one interactive sessions with senior managers, managing directors and feedback sessions with the HR team. We were guided and handled with care in each and every step. To sum it up, I was getting fulfilling taste of the consulting sector at the campus of world’s best professional business advisor.

The other side of the story was more enthralling which was the weekends. This was my 2^nd visit to Hyderabad, in the first visit which happened some two years ago, it already was my favourite city. This time it had a lot to offer. I didn’t let go the opportunity to live the life in the city of Nizams and what followed were extravagant luxurious satisfying food trips and place visits in the city of Biryani over the weekends. One thing is sure if you are in Hyderabad you are strictly advised not to miss varieties of tasty foods starting from Bawarchi’s Biryani to Bilal’s Ice cream. What made it more exciting is to experience the experience with the company of my new friends who became the inseparable part of the ride. Even for an introvert like me these friends were the charming addition to the voyage. Amidst everything else the awaited the final week arrived. Despite of a pinch of nervousness I was able to clear my final presentation with good feedback and appreciations received from the senior leadership group. All of it ended well with a team lunch with the senior leaders and heart touching e-mails, handshakes from many wishing for a bright future.

For me, the eight week-long internship phase was a rediscovery of my personality and professional acumen. I discovered and rediscovered some hidden strengths blended with a cloud of learning of the real-life business sector. If I subtract the Ola/Uber hustle everything was more than alright. I am thankful to each and every one who made it memorable. The classroom experiences in the college, the corporate competitions I have appeared all of those played a healthy part to make the journey special and successful. When I look back I find a well-spent summer season, a humble opportunity to shine, a bundle of new friends and guides. Last but not the least some well-taken photographs too…..