Building the foundation of my professional journey with an internship at Hero MotoCorp -By Prashant Khichi from IMT Ghaziabad

A summer internship is an integral part of one's MBA journey. It helps in the transition from being a fresher to someone with work experience, and definitely from the first year to the second year. Apart from getting a glimpse of the professional world, it provides the skills that would act as the foundation on which young aspirants like me can thrive on. It is a push in the static studious life towards achieving the dreams and ambitions in a practical and competitive world. 

I vividly remember the moment I was selected for the internship at Hero MotoCorp, India's leading and largest two-wheeler company. And I was excited to join the company in Pune office which would have been my maiden step towards success. Unfortunately, with the announcement of lockdown, curiosity and anxiety that kicked in. 

With the things changing after the lockdown imposition it was an email from Hero MotoCorp stating that they will be onboarding us virtually made everything NORMAL again. There was a blend of dilemma and excitement to work in a never before condition, and the biggest task was to constantly stay motivated and productive in spite of all the social and emotional hurdles. 

The legit professional experience 

On-ground induction vs virtual Induction, just a difference of a word but comes with newer challenges and opportunities. Hero MotoCorp Ltd. (HMCL) onboarded us for a seamless virtual internship experience and honored all its offers despite such a global pandemic.  I was soon exposed to various divisions at HMCL and learned about the roles, the challenges, and, most importantly, how HMCL plans to shape this industry in the future. The HMCL team left no stone unturned in encouraging me to look deeper into solutions. The optimistic working arena made me experience professionalism in legit terms.  I was pushed to the limits and was made to carve the best out of myself. 

HMCL HR team took great efforts to organize learning sessions along with interactive sessions by top management, gave us a perspective of HMCL's working culture. It was an opportunity in disguise to be able to learn from such experienced and skilled people who not only gave us lessons in a doting professional life but also imparted the core values of focus, dedication, and seamlessness without which any organization or an individual is incomplete. They taught us the real balance of hard work and smart work which is a takeaway for a lifetime from this internship.

My two-month stint and the project in hand

Because of the virtual internship at Hero MotoCorp, I also got the chance of working on two projects during my two months stint.  The project was to leverage the digital platform to drive business across channel partners in specific key markets of West and conducting a market survey to understand the customer profile for the new product launched. 

It was under the guidance of my stupendous mentors that I was able to complete both the projects effectively and efficiently in the virtual environment itself.  It would have been nearly impossible to put in the amount of devotion that I had, without their guidance. They enlightened the path for me as a learner today and a leader tomorrow. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to them for deeming me worthy enough for shouldering upon me the responsibilities with so much trust. 

Unlocking a plethora of opportunities

Before the internship at Hero MotoCorp, I was excited to join the company in Pune, get to know new, like-minded people and work with them but the excitement came to hold when the lockdown was announced, but HMCL team made sure that the excitement level stayed at the peak. They did not let us deviate from our goals instead highlighted the pros and faded the cons for us. With this opportunity, I learned things that would have been otherwise impossible to learn. 

The virtual internship gave me the opportunity to interact with many leaders which I couldn't have in the offline world; it also helped me to adapt to the changing world and getting used to the new Normal. It was a bit overwhelming in the beginning, but as is rightly said, “It always seems impossible unless it’s actually done”. 

All in all, it is virtuously said, “Uncertainty is the key to unlock opportunity”, and that describes my perfect virtual internship at Hero MotoCorp.