How I upskilled myself as a management trainee at Flipkart -By Lokendra Ahuja from NITIE Mumbai

I received a PPO from Flipkart after my summer internship in 2019. The summer internship process was fairly simple. Candidates were shortlisted based on resume or test, which was followed by GD and PI. A similar process is followed during final placements as well. Questions asked during the interview were mostly from projects and previous work experience. Some additional questions asked were based on guesstimates and critical thinking. 

The orientation procedure

The first couple of weeks as a management trainee at Flipkart was all about orientation where I got the opportunity to meet leaders from across the organization i.e. Marketing, Finance, Planning, Operations, Packaging, Logistics, Human Resource, etc. This helped me understand the scale at which Flipkart operates and the key values of the organization which are Audacity, Bias for Action, Customer First and Integrity.

How we started the work

After orientation sessions, I was allocated a team for the first stint. Flipkart currently follows a Stint structure in which each MT (Management Trainee) is allocated two teams, one each for six months in different BUs (Business Units) and four small cross-functional immersion programs to get an overall exposure of the organization. 

I got my first stint in the Management Team under the Chief of Staff - Ekart. Being a part of the Chief of Staff team, I got a chance to work on some key projects. My first project was around customer experience framework. For this, I worked closely with the Customer Support team to understand various CS processes, worked with the analytics team and market intelligence team to gather insights on customer expectations around customer support through data available within the organization, primary research, FGDs, Surveys, and interaction with industry experts. 

The projects I handled

The second project during the same stint was around the supply chain framework. Here I closely worked with stakeholders from Supply chain, Business, and Finance on current execution strategy, RCA, and project management to make sure everything is on track and delivered as promised on deadlines. In addition to the above, during BBD (Big Billion Days), I worked with Supply Chain and Customer Support. During BBD one gets to realize the scale of Ecommerce in India from the huge sale numbers, the number of customers served, the number of pin codes served, the number of products delivered, etc. During those 5 days, no one at Flipkart sleeps and it's a festival here at Flipkart. 

My final project during my first stint as a management trainee at Flipkart was around Final Strategy Refresh for Ekart 2021. It was the most fulfilling learning experience for me. I closely worked with the strategy team to finalize strategy 2021 for Ekart and Customer Support (CS). The process involved connecting with leaders across various BUs to understand expectations from Supply Chain and CS, incorporating POVs (Point of views) from customers, internal and external stakeholders with market insights on competition, and finally working closely with the leadership on the overall flow of the final strategy deck.

The overall experience at Flipkart 

During the first six months, the exposure and responsibility I got at Flipkart was beyond description. I got an opportunity to work on some key projects like Customer Experience Framework, Supply Chain Framework, and Strategy Refresh 2021 with leadership. The work culture at Flipkart is phenomenal. Overall, my learning during the entire process has been immense. 

I can easily recommend Flipkart to anyone as it gives you a chance to work on the supply chain, marketing, planning, strategy, customer relationship, and finance without any differentiation, giving you enough opportunity to explore and find their true passion for career growth. Everyone at Flipkart is very supportive and especially during this time of the pandemic, the overall process of onboarding to completion of the first stint virtually has been flawless. Kudos to the HR team and my manager who has been a mentor to me for providing continuous support and guidance.

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