From the
beginning of MBA journey, I was always fascinated by the stream of marketing
and wanted to work in that domain only. I got the opportunity to fulfill my
dream, when I got an offer from a company which has dominated the automobile
battery market in India- “EXIDE Industries Ltd”.
Prior to B-School, I had worked in a
Steel company in construction domain. Going back to the same type of role could
have been easier, but it could have prevented me from taking the once in a
lifetime occasion of stepping out of my comfort zone and exploring new avenues.
With this thought I started my journey of Summer Internship. The summer
internship period was close to two month and the experience was quite adventurous
and full of exciting tasks.
April 1, 2013 was my first day at the
regional marketing office of Exide at Kolkata. I was told to report the
Regional Sales Manager at 9.30AM. I was too excited to start the wonderful
journey of two month and reached there by 9.00 AM. When I reached there, the
office was almost empty with the presence of two security guards. I was told by
the security guards to wait till my guide come to office. Meanwhile some more
interns came and they are from some Top B schools In India. I waited there
almost three hour, before I called by my mentor (RSM) to his chamber. I was
asked about my area of interest and some questions about academics, hobbies
etc. The Regional sales manager informed me to come after two days to meet the
Area manager who will be my industry guide for the period of two months.
After two days, I met my guide and I
found him very co-operative and knowledgeable about the battery industry. I
have been told to analyze the competitor’s market position including
distribution channel and Sales promotion. The first week passed by spending
time on service department looking out for information about the battery and
its function. In the second week I searched Internet and asked local garage
owners about the dealers and retailers of Competitor Company. So basically, I
started my actual work in the third week of my Internship.
In the first phase I tried to cover the
region of Kolkata. The travelling in summer in Kolkata is really tough, that
too in the crowded city buses where you will be literally trapped inside .But I
had to do my work irrespective of any condition. I had to visit the
distributors and retailers to collect the information about the competitor
company and this was not an easy task! I found this job to be quite challenging
because most of the time the distributor and the retailers will not to give you
any information. You have to snatch some information indirectly. I did exactly
the same to collect the data.
In the second phase I visited Bankura ,
Purulia , Medinpore , Berhempore , Krishnagar etc. My visits to different places were very
enriching. I was travelling to all the places for the first time in my life. The
travelling was quite adventurous. I traveled by Bus, Rickshaw and even took
lift to visit the interior part of the area. I visited a lot of garages and met
many mechanics to know their mode of working. I remember one incident where a
mechanic was constantly explaining me how terrible the condition of people in
west Bengal and how political parties are playing dirty games but gave a little
information which I could have used in my project. Eventually I completed my
entire ground work and covered most part of west Bengal. One Good thing was that, my company had given
me the freedom to work according to my plan. My guide had never pushed me to do
something of his choice. I was given a complete freedom to execute the entire
work.
As the final phase of my SIP came
closer, I compiled all the data and prepared a complete report and presented it
before my mentor. I was able to satisfy him with the effort and the information
which I had collected in the period of two months. The last day of my summer
internship was quite eventful with my mentor inviting me for lunch. I was
informed by the corporate office to collect my certificate and the stipend. I
enjoyed my work and learned many things which will definitely help me to be a
successful manager. The journey ended with an experience of a life time.
Jillam Parida
PGDM II, Marketing
IMI-Bhubaneswar
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