Sunday, May 29, 2016

Internship diaries

Phew, it has been a while since I wanted to get my superfluous thoughts into the metaphorical pen on paper channel, but the sheer pace at which life is moving, often made it tumultuous to sit and type.

Summer internship..well, certainly one of the milestones in the MBA sojourn of any aspirant. Not only does it give a a perspective of your your learnings align with the requirements of the "real" world, but it often marks the halfway stage of the two year MBA programme.


Image result for shop clues online shoppingFrom the day I cracked the selection process at ShopClues, I was eagerly awaiting to know first hand the intricacies of the internet industry and more importantly the startup culture and its rather steep growth in India. Having already worked in a Fortune 250 company with a rather high buttoned work style, I had a preconceived notion about corporate life in general. But all these notions were put to bay and squashed unceremoniously when I stepped into the ShopClues office.

Day 0
The ball was set rolling with a wonderful induction programme where we had candid interactions with the founders and business heads of ShopClues. Also, it was a great way to network with fellow interns, all of whom came from premier b-schools and had unique takes on the startup ecosystem.

Flat Structure
One of the striking features when one makes a transition from a conventional MNC job to a startup is the lack of hierarchy. ShopClues is one of the flattest hierarchies possible amongst all the unicorns in India. As an intern, I got a seat right next to the AVP (Marketing). If that wasn't enough, I also got to interact with the senior management and vertical heads during the informal meets and parties organised.

Research Project
Being a marketing enthusiast and a social media evangelist, I was delighted to work on a project that required me to design an online marketing strategy for order to increase traffic on ShopClues website. It required a thorough analysis and studying of previous trends/ campaign and to figure out the right metrics in order to have a robust algorithm and figure out the branded as well as non-branded keywords which can give us the desired traffic within the stipulated budget. The best part was that the research projects are chosen with utmost care so that the recommendations received as a result of its execution can be applied by the organization.

Able guidance
The mentor and the buddy assigned were extremely supportive throughout the internship. They were accessible and prompt with their help to help me move in the right direction.

In a nutshell, the learning curve was steep and I got a first hand experience about the functioning of an e-commerce organisation. Hopefully, I would be able to apply these learnings at workplace in future.

Signing off...

Udit Bhatia
Management Intern, Marketing
ShopClues