My sweet summer internship experience with Mondelez -By Utkarsh Bajpai from IIM Ahmedabad

Most of us have fond memories associated with Mondelez products. From having a cup of BournVita every morning to sharing a Dairy Milk with our friends and gifting our loved ones a pack of Celebrations on special occasions, we have all grown up with these Mondelez brands. And this is why I was keen on joining Mondelez for my summer internship. 

Throwback to pre-Covid times

I interviewed with Mondelez on a cold November morning in 2019. To my pleasant surprise, the interview table was stacked with Mondelez products, and after my interview, I was asked to pick anything of my choice. I picked a newly launched Dark Milk bar; unsure of what the result of the interview was going to be. I soon received the good news and shared the joy and the Dark Milk around with my friends, delighted to make it to my dream firm.

Talking about the selection process of Mondelez, it is a three-step process. First was the application stage, where we submitted our CVs and cover letters. Shortlisted candidates were called for a GD, which was about creating a marketing campaign for a certain Mondelez product. The final stage was a PI round. The questions in the PI covered three themes – Why I wanted to pursue marketing?, Mondelez specific questions, and marketing concepts. 

Mondelez's ‘people first’ culture

Cut to five months later, Covid happened. Due to the lockdown, our internships got converted to a remote form. Needless to say, I was anxious. I am happy to share that the fears I had back then were unfounded as I had a fantastic i-Taste summer internship with Mondelez. Many students lost their internships during this time, as firms facing adverse impacts of the pandemic rescinded their offers. Mondelez was one of the few firms that provided internships to such affected students and onboarded them just a few days before the internship season started. This was heartening and a testament to Mondelez's ‘people first’ culture.

Besides being engaged in an exciting project, we had weekly catch-up sessions with fellow interns, where each of us shared how our project was progressing. We also had many different sessions along the way, both formal and informal. The HR team took regular updates from us. When I was facing some issues in one of my deliverables, they were receptive to feedback and promptly helped me with it. We also got a box full of chocolates at the end of our internship (the biggest perk of working for a snacks company!).

Apart from the people assigned to me, I also connected with several other people from different departments at Mondelez. Everyone I reached out to was more than willing to lend a helping hand. The support I received from everyone at Mondelez ensured that my output and experience were never impacted due to the virtual medium. This kind and helping nature of everyone in the firm was one of the best aspects of the Mondelez culture. 

A good start is half the battle won! 

Before the official duration of our internship began, the Mondelez team conducted sessions and provided lessons on how to make the most of a virtual internship. The internship started off with a three-day long induction. Over these three days, we had sessions with the India leadership team, where they walked us through the ins and outs of Mondelez's business. I found all the leaders to be supportive and approachable. We also had ice-breaking sessions with our fellow interns, which ensured we did not miss out on peer learning during the virtual internship with Mondelez.  

A little help from above

Our detailed project briefs were shared with us with expected deliverables, timeline, scope, etc. Each intern was assigned a Guide (mid-level manager for regular correspondence) and a Mentor (senior-level manager for overall insights and feedback). We were also assigned a Buddy (Alumns from our respective institutes, former i-Tasters, and present Management Trainees). 

I had daily connects with my Guide and weekly connects with my Mentor. All of them were extremely helpful throughout my internship. They entertained my endless doubts, always made time for discussing my progress, and ensured that I was on the right track. Their contribution to my project cannot be emphasized enough. 

The ABC of my project 

I worked on a Sales project, which had two primary objectives. First, identification of priority markets in rural India and; second, to digitize rural sales data. Two months of working on these deliverables have given me a deep understanding of how different sales channels operate, especially rural. It has taught me about how retailers, sales executives, and distributors operate.

I got practical experience of how sales happen at a micro level, which is something I would have never learnt from a marketing textbook. Since rural India has huge growth potential, and my takeaways from the internship will prove invaluable in my career ahead as a marketer. 

Some important takeaways 

Of course, I did face some challenges due to the virtual medium. I was unable to visit the market physically, which was something I was eagerly looking forward to. Additionally, I had planned on conducting a pilot test for my recommendations, but it had limited execution due to lockdown. My two key learnings from my summer internship can be summarized as follows:

• A marketer/sales manager must have a data-driven approach for answering macro and micro-level problems and,
• The importance of networking and collaborating can never be understated. 

Being a fresher, this was my first full-fledged corporate experience. The learning curve throughout my internship was steep. Covid was a curveball none of us expected. But I am happy to share that the Mondelez team ensured that all of us had an amazing internship experience despite Covid. There were undoubtedly some challenging and stressful times. But whenever I got too stressed, I would revisit a sentence that was told to interns in one of the sessions. It went something like, "Don't forget that we make snacks, so don't be too serious and remember to have fun". And I followed this advice to the best of my ability.