Internship at Accenture Digital, a clear sky for flying also felt as tricky as a vast ocean -By Subham Paul from VGSoM IIT Kharagpur

5 mins read

Ever since my childhood, I dreamt of setting off on a journey, enjoying the soft rock beaming through the earphones and relishing the cool breeze. Plans for a Goa trip kept developing and have been evolving for years now. Various imaginary scripts and castles on the life that I am to enjoy outside the corporate world. Had I known that this internship at Accenture Digital is going to teach me a completely new way of viewing the world through data, I would have probably reserved a portion of my dreams for an experience like the one I received over the last two months.

Summer Internship at Accenture Digital, the highlight of 1st year MBA

After working as a web developer for two years, I decided to complete my professional outlook. An MBA from the Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur! A summer internship at Accenture Digital is one of the best moments of my 1st year of MBA. In anticipation, I gathered some basic learning on data science and natural language processing.

As my joining date approached, there was a tinge of nervousness about me since I did not have any prior experience in data analytics. Nevertheless, armed with my zeal to learn and to explore new places, I set off on my journey and reached the lovely accommodation provided by my organization in Gurgaon.

Big city life! 

DLF Cyber City is one of the most sought after office locations in India, and once I reached there, I instantly knew the reason behind it. The infrastructure simply amazed me and I had already started to feel lucky enough to have got this opportunity. Moreover, the warm welcome and orientation program provided by the HR team made me and other interns feel at home. It was great to get the feel of working in an organization so big and in a location so posh after a complete year. My co-joiners, from various other institutions, are very friendly and I get along fairly well with them. Thereafter, a few managers took us out for lunch for better networking and breaking the ice.

It is time to get, set and go!

I was part of a team of five, one of whom was an intern like me. Initially, the project objective seemed ambiguous. I was only aware of the field in which I was about to work in (Social Media Analytics) and was told to research on the subject and get to know the basics. What seemed to be a clear sky for flying also felt as tricky as a vast ocean. I could keep on sailing but I didn’t have all the time in the world to wander about without finding a coast!

My mentor the Superhero!

Thankfully, my mentor came to my rescue and became my lighthouse for the entire duration of my project. I started learning the techniques for analyzing social media data, researched about our client’s business and also revised Python programming. By the end of the first four weeks, passing at the speed of supersonic jets, I got to work on things I could never have thought of. I am fairly skilled at web-scraping (supplemented by my prior experience in web automation). I also got a chance to collect data from more than 1000 web pages.  In addition to learning about various APIs. These all are important factors that add to the overall knowledge bank of the organization.

My manager appreciated my work during the mid-review. We discussed the way to go forward and achieve our goal. The fact that the project objective was finalized based on my own use case gave me a new sense of ownership for the work. Apart from work, I had become quite familiar with my office and other employees. On interacting with many people I am taken aback by the plethora of learnings that I can get through mere small talk. The office provided several ways to relax and breakout. A major stress buster in the form of table-tennis and pool adding heaps and bounds to the fun factor.

Data a virtual periscope

My project involved a lot of technical learning and application of social media analytics as well as learning to present any work to a global audience. The art of making a winning presentation can only come if it is done in a real-world scenario. The experience that I gained in my internship could easy be one of the best ways to understand this. Understanding customer emotions was a new experience altogether.

Data, as I believe, can act as a virtual periscope if used in the right manner. Moreover, I fell in love with the work culture and ethos of my organization. The feeling of staying a little longer to work overcame me. Nevertheless, I shall take back numerous memories and learnings that have made me humbler, stronger and more attentive to detail. As I pack my bags to get back to B-School life, my heart is full of gratitude for my recruiters and colleagues.I am grateful for having capitalised on this chance of a lifetime.

This article was submitted as an entry to Become an Author with Dare2Compete.