Richa Deuri: Our second year HR student's Internship Experience at Mahindra Finance

Being a fresher always comes with its own perks and impediments when you are in a B-School. The reason why MBA is a remarkable and life changing experience is that we get to be a part of the platform where individuals across diverse age groups unite.

I was very enthusiastic about the Summer Internship Program and hence, began my virtual voyage of preparation. I always wanted to be a part of an organization that enabled me to learn and develop. I knew for a fact that I have to be one of the best, to fit the work culture of the best. What favored my journey for preparation was that I was determined from the very beginning about taking HR as my specialization in the second year and pick as a calling for lifetime.

In the endeavor to hone the required skills, I started attending my college HR club, read many sites about HR; People Matter, SHRM and tons of others, so as to remain associated with the most recent happenings in the Human Resources industry.

When you long to learn so much, the job profile is the thing that you search for, while appearing for the process. Luckily, 'Mahindra Finance', a brand name and one of the best NBFC organizations accompanied an occupation profile as varied as an intern can wish for.

They asked the candidates to collectively choose a topic for the Group Discussion, out of the numerous topics given, and from there, began the process! Persuasion and negotiation are two of the most essential traits of an HR. Candidates are judged right from the moment they enter the room and what worked to support me, I believe, was my ability to persuade my peers to pick a topic that at least I was guaranteed I am somewhat okay with.

The organization provided me various chances to exhibit my imagination and learning, and I cannot thank them enough for letting me explore the practicalities that involve in HR. Also, I learnt that no matter which specialization you are in, one will always end up using Excel. Two months at my internship had kept me on my toes and this was probably the last thing I would have asked for! “Start with something you are not comfortable with, which you think is tough, and tomorrow everything else will seem easy to you.” – these are few of the words that my guide mentioned on my first day.

From working on my project on Attrition Analysis and Retention Strategies to doing transactional tasks, this company made sure that my internship experience is about the art of giving and taking. There were times when I was a part of planning their CSR activities, employee engagement activities, and so forth.

We were taken out for lunch on Saturdays which, however, doesn’t compensate for the fact that I had to go to the office six days a week. Nevertheless, working six days a week meant knowing the company a little better and if we have the chance to know anything better, then why miss that?

SIBM Bengaluru always believes in imparting management education with a ‘Quantitative Difference’. The first year is a general MBA for us, and our faculties made sure that from Day 1, we are industry ready. Statistical tools like Tableau, SPSS and R Studio were a part of our curriculum in the first year itself and these played a major role in my project. The consistent direction by our senior batch has helped not only me, but others as well, of which I am certain.

An HR has so much of duties and responsibilities that can shape and make the organization s/he is working with. Beyond having the right blends of both EQ and IQ, it is important to be well versed with metrics and analytics which are the latest trends in the HR domain. I also got the opportunity to interact with people across other departments because my project demanded me to do so. As an HR, knowing the company culture and all the employees is necessary – the reason why ‘People Person’ is so famous probably.

Going by the words of Sandra Scofield – “We are not beginners forever, but we never stop learning”, my journey towards this field has just begun and all things considered, I hope that I get the chance to be a part of a wonderful organization as this, in light of the fact that each completion has a start.