BLACK SUMMER EXPERIENCE

SUMMER INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE CONTEST

BLACK SUMMER EXPERIENCE

I would say it was a very bad summer internship experience which i wish no management student should undergo. I was interned at Alcor Hram Pvt Ltd, a small hr asset management company in pune. I had been selected through telephonic interview. I went through two rounds, both over the telephone. During my interview, the interviewer asked me questions from marketing and i was wondering about it even after informing them that i wanted to get an offer in hr because i was planning to specialize in hr that time. But they convinced me saying that the project would get me a very good exposure on hr. i was bit confused and do not wanted to get into that project.

After a week, i got news from my placement committee saying that i have got through alcor and would be flying to pune to undergo two days training. But i was very well informed that i would be working only in Chennai after my training in pune. Later on, i made myself comfortable about the project. Days passed. I was making all arrangements such as booking tickets, getting all my certificates photocopied, buying formal wears etc. One fine evening before leaving from Chennai to pune, i got a mail from my hr guide from pune office saying that i would be given food, accommodation in a five star hotel, provided sharing the room with other summer intern from Bangalore. I was over excited seeing this mail and i have planned to take my father to accompany me.

The most awaited day had come finally. I still remember it was on 2012, April 9th & 10th. I happily got down in pune with my father. I had been accommodated in one of the luxurious and biggest five star hotel in the city yerawada, pune with banquets for breakfast and dinner. The lunch was arranged by the company itself. The first day of the training was so astonishing and scary. Because that was my first entry in to the corporate life and as a fresher, i dreamt about so many good things. After entering in to the company, they sent me to the guest room where i came to know totally eight interns was sitting there from different colleges for the same project. We later became good friends. Then we were addressed by the vice president, operations asking us our travel experience and expectations from alcor.

Then we were taught on what the project was all on and how to go about it by the main head of alcor. He was considered to be one of the people in the top management executives in the company. After hearing about the project from him, i really got shocked because the project is purely on marketing. The project is about meeting 60 hr managers and promoting alcor’s product which is useful for recruitment and training & development in a company. I was totally disappointed and frustrated when he asked “how come u hr girls got through alcor for this project?” on both of us (my new friend, who had also dreamt of getting an hr project from alcor). At the end of his speech, he very harshly told us that he is expecting the project to be done the way he wanted and changing it into an hr project and submitting in our college is our fate. I was totally gone down and we were started thinking about the presentation which we had to submit it in our college. That whole night we could not sleep and talking about it for a very long time.

The unfortunate second day of the training started and we were given training on how to fix appointments to meet 60 hr managers, doing presentations and making them to buy the product. It was being in a different world for a girl who aspires to become an hr professional. The worst part was, we had a meeting with the company CEO that evening. He was more than everybody else in the company, saying that he is not satisfied with the mock presentation given by each of the student. So he asked us to prepare thoroughly and get ready to present it through Skype after we landed up in our own places. That again made me felt disgusting and uncomfortable to handle the project of different stream in which iam not interested in.

Do u think that they have left me only with these mental stresses? No. They gave us 75 browsers and cd’s which we have to issue to all the hr managers whom we are meeting during our project work. My father and i were carrying those heavy materials and started moving to the railway station to leave pune. I almost got frightened and extremely confused on how to finish the project. Getting 60 hr manager’s contacts and meeting them was exactly a nightmare for me. I was totally helpless but i had to do it.

The company started to provide deadlines to complete meeting 60 hr managers and scheduled the targets to complete the project soon. They had also insisted us that our project would be measured based upon the number of meetings we do. They also wanted us to report the daily tasks every day, failing a harsh mail from them would spam our inboxes often.

I suffered a lot to get contacts of hr managers. But fortunately my alumni’s and part time students from my college helped me a lot in finishing my project. i travelled a lot, roaming all over Chennai, covered almost a very long distance in that scorching sun every day, had to walk through the industrial estates to meet hr managers. So much i spoilt myself by taking this project which was nevertheless useful in any ways. i just made myself calm for getting this project, consoling myself that this would provide me some insights at least. But the managers whom i have met started asking me questions on what am i learning out of that project. The way they asked really demotivated and discouraged me from continuing that project. The stipend was also very low and did not meet all the requirements. They have just brilliantly planned to get that tough project done by providing us a luxuries accommodation which we have never expected. Even the other marketing students who had been assigned the same project, found it very tough to finish it.

I was just waiting for those three months to pass like anything else. And i have somehow made it and the next worries were all about how to convert the project into an hr project and present it in my college. At one point of time, i felt like lamenting about it to my project guide. And i had done that too. My project guide in my college also wanted me to convert that marketing project into an hr project. Mark these words, i met her thrice in those three months and asked for guidance. I was started panicking about the presentation which i was supposed to do. Tried all techniques to make it an hr project and finally made it.

But i seriously did not expect for another black day in my life, that was my presentation day. Despite knowing everything about my project, my guide screwed me for doing such an irrelevant project against my specialization. I felt embarrassed and shame in front of other students and staffs who were there with us in that room. After my presentation, i just wanted to go home cry! I do not know whose mistake that was!!

All i would like to convey is, even though i got such an irrelevant project i do not wanted to give up rather i took that as a challenge and somehow finished it. Then later i found out that there were some learning parts hidden in that project. Basically i was a reserved and very sensitive person. Through this project i have learnt how to build contacts, how to speak to top managerial people, how to get appointments, the advantages of being patient, the flavour of communication etc. So what i feel is even though this project did not give me some insights on hr, i am satisfied by learning something which is necessary for a management student who is dreaming about achieving a certain vision.

My kind advice to students who are reading this article is, be sure of what are you going to do in your career path , and particularly while opting for summer internships, ensure that you are getting what you have actually expected rather than ending up getting something which turn your dreams down!!!

Unfortunately i cannot publish this article in face book and twitter, because i feel that it might cause some problems for the company as well as for me. So thank you for giving this opportunity to express the bad experience i had during my summer internship
 
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