Day 2, and it was the grand induction day at the Hilton Hotel at Guindy.Since I had a flight to catch immediately after the event to reach my project location(Pune), I took along all my baggage with me and placed it at a store-room at the hotel. The induction process started on a great note. We were welcomed to the ball room with some goodies from Cognizant,which included a bag, a water bottle, a book on Machine Learning (“What to do when machines do everything”) and a small notebook. We met interns from every nook and corner of India.56 interns from 12 different B-schools thronged the Banquet hall and I suddenly felt a sense of belonging to this place. The keynotes speeches were given by the directors of various Business Units, and we were intimated about what to expect in the upcoming months, the rules and regulations of the company, introduction to our work, etc. We also had some fabulous role-playing games to play, one of which I won, and was gifted with a coffee mug! After a sumptuous lunch at the hotel which also proved to be a networking session with the directors, I headed towards Pune along with my friends who shared the same location. The better part of my adventurous internship awaited there.
Honestly, right from day one Cognizant kept on redefining consultancy for me! It not only just involved sitting at a workspace and collecting and analyzing data on the software,but my project on “Flight-Delay Prediction using Machine-Learning’invloved a lot of primary research too, including regular video conferences with the onshore clients, online and offline surveys, discovering new tools and software, and what more - as a perk of them all, I got to make many awesome friends in the process. Though my project was independent of the functionings of my Business Unit, I had made quite a few friends who were always available to help me out.I was lucky to have a very supportive and accommodating mentor who not only guided me through my project, but also introduced me to the world of business consultancy and made it all the more fascinating for me.
Towards the end of my stint, I had to make a presentation to the director of our Business Unit.Nothing beats the feeling after being appreciated by the mentor as well as the director, in recognition to my hard work and arduous effort in completing the project.
CBC also conducted various CSR programs, like “wall-painting in primary schools”, “teach English intitative” which aimed to educate the housekeeping staff of the office, etc. I was proud to be a part of all of these events in the course of 2 months. Also organised were some fun activities for the interns, like “1-minute Video”(for which I bagged the prize!) and the “Ad-Design Contest”.
Summing it all up, it was indeed a one-of-a-kind experience for me. I had 2-month long internships before but nothing as good as this.
Since all good things must come to an end, I looked back at these days nostalgically while leaving, not feeling sad because it was over, but happy that it happened. I am confident that I know exactly what I need to get out of the remaining year of education to become corporate ready.
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