Interned Into Skill And Experience!

"The bad news is... 

TIME FLIES. 

The good news is... 

YOU'RE THE PILOT" 

It has not been quite long to the time when the transition from school to college happened in my life. Yet, I find it somewhat awe-inspiring that at the same time, next year, I'd be at the threshold of being entitled to my graduation degree, after four years of what has been a lifetime in its own. 

From a sense of accomplishment to having procured the pursuance of a Bachelor's degree at DTU, for which 'formerly Delhi College of Engineering' seems to be as imperative as a title to a person, to realizing that the perseverance put in over the last leg of schooling got me here, to burning the midnight oil for the showdown time each semester, it is in the innumerable such trips as a 'day-scholar' from the home to the campus, and from the classroom to the labs to the in-campus photocopy shop to the canopied Nescafe to the once relished food of Mech-C, to the Wind Point to the Library to the OAT and the Auditorium, that I have realized that I was meant for such a life's canvas. 

Time sure flies past in the blink of an eye, as it seems just like yesterday when I had first stepped into the college campus - MY college campus - which is at the heart of all experience. Some of them came as firsts, some of them felt like Déjà vu, quite a handful of them are being cherished at this very moment.

Such a cherished experience is the one which came along as the FIRST ephemeral transition from 'College' to 'Corporate', i.e. the customary 'Industrial Training' that we students are expected to undergo after the immediate completion of the V and VI Semesters (constituting the Third of a Four Year course), dubbed as the month-long Winter Internship and the two-months-long Summer Internship respectively. 

It was in the December of 2015 that I first stepped into the premises of Micromax Informatics Ltd. and that is primarily the reason why the nuances of the experience are as fresh as a daisy (the secondary reason being that we are also expected to elucidate the aforementioned during the Viva to be conducted any time around next week I presume). :)

The first sight as I entered the building

With the preconceived yet upheld notion that I would not move out of Delhi, neither to pursue my internship nor to take up a job, when the opportunity comes forth, I expected these Winter Vacations to be different from the preceding two, and rightfully so. 

While the breaks following the completion of my first and third semesters were spent on a lighter note, this one was to be serious work, (coupled with some light notes) that came along.

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The initiation came as a series of calls (which were missed by me, owing to the fact that I was writing one of my end-semester exams, at the time and day those were made) followed by a message from the Assistant Manager - HR, making me realize that I had missed an important call.

After a few calls and messages for the company to formally induct me as an intern, the next four weeks were all about following a 9-to-5 routine, while learning about Business Intelligence from scratch, observing the ongoing project and reporting directly to the Manager(IT).

You could say that's me, sans the headphones, taking notes from the documentation provided to me, before hitting the ground running. 

What came as a surprise, and a pleasant one at that, was that the consultants from one of the Big Four auditors - KPMG - had a partaking in the said project too. I like to believe that I interned in two companies at once, from that point of view. :) 

From grasping the basics and some intermediates about not just one but many services offered by Microsoft, for instance MOSS & VB.Net, to acquainting myself with the interface of BI Tool, Qlikview and gaining an understanding of its usage by the organisation in analyzing their sales pattern over the past couple of years, I learnt that what mattered the most was the urge to learn, be it the professional or personal front. 

My Desk and the quintessential Visitor Badge

From setting into the mold of a naive individual on the corporate scene, with nuances such as procuring a Visitor's badge to begin the day, to witnessing and participating in some funny, some philosophical discussions over lunch (recall that Odd-Even Phase I was also to be initiated in January), all of which were interesting in one aspect or another, I did not realize the pace at which the month of December went past. 

But, December could not have ended without Christmas, could it? Not possible at all. 

While I was expecting the building to be all decked up on the day, I was pleasantly surprised to witness the jolly mood and vibe prevailing in the atmosphere. That Christmas was a different one altogether. What if Santa would have donned a geeky outlook that day, at Micromax too? :) 

Another aspect about my internship at Micromax which I would like to highlight is the positive work-vibe at the office. It was all about learning through interaction and not hesitating to ask doubts. More so, that I was told at the time of leaving that the office's doors would always be open for me. 

That reassurance had a different kind of feel-good factor attached to it and I always cherish that one statement for not only the office as an organization but also the people working there, who guided me, be it in terms of work principles or life principles, is going to stay with me, life-long. :) 

That's Micromax! :) 

While the Summer Internship beckons in a month's time, soon after the end-semester exams in May, my first Internship would always remain special to me. As they say, "There's a first time for everything", a first time at going to school, attending college, and now interning in the corporate world. 

Firsts always remain special, and this memoir will always be. 

That is MY Intern Theory for life! :D 

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I’m sharing my first internship experience for the #MyInternTheory activity at BlogAdda in association with Intern Theory.