Understanding the soft power of companies with my internship at Nestlé -By Simran Manchanda from Jesus and Mary College, DU

Being an economics major, I was always fascinated by socioeconomic issues and readings by Abhijit Banerjee, Amartya Sen and Thomas Picketty. My internship at Nestlé helped me gain insights into the ground dynamics of community service and social responsibility. 

The selection process of Nestlé

The selection process at Nestlé was rigorous due to the high application rate. I was one of the 1,000 interns selected from 91,000  applications for Nestlé’s flagship internship programme. The application process included essay type questions, CV, and resume shortlisting. The next round comprised of challenging online tests followed by an interesting gaming interview test. 

This is what a Corporate Affairs intern do

I was selected as a Corporate Affairs intern for the CSR project at Nestlé. My role during the internship revolved around analyzing the impact of the pandemic of the CSR arena, extensively studying adaptation and mitigation strategies by key stakeholders: NGOs, Government, and other companies and navigating the post-COVID CSR plan for Nestlé India.

I was given an opportunity to autonomously conduct live discussions with NGO partners to find the impact of COVID 19 on ongoing CSR projects and deliberate over adaptation for the post-COVID CSR plan. I went on to extensively map opportunities for CSR over changing government policies and also gave a deep analysis of other F&B and FMCG companies with a GLOCAL approach.

Learning things backward and forwards!

My mentor at Nestlé India was a nutritionist drawn to CSR. Whether it was doubt about the project or panicked queries about photograph indentation in slides, she was always my go-to guide for advice. It has been a privilege to have a chance to learn from her, not only in terms of your great business knowledge but also the ability to make sense all the time and not lose sanity even in extreme work pressures. Reaching her level of patience and vibrance, especially in this WFH scenario will always be a stake for me.

Speaking of WFH, it has its own set of challenges, I couldn’t interact with other members from the team. However, I was really touched by the sweet gesture of the Head of Corporate Affairs to himself take final presentations and read intern reports. He not only patiently listened to interns’ findings but also gave further suggestions on putting the research to use and possibly publish it if possible.

An exceptional and positive work culture

I found everyone at Nestlé very passionate about work and humbled by nature. The Chief Managing Director, Head HR, and Head Talent Acquisition themselves took time out for induction sessions for interns.

The projects were not only meant to get work done but there was also intuitive learning planned behind every project for all the interns. More than just projects, excellent mentoring, and great work culture, Nestlé also cared to organize the much-needed sessions on Corporate Citizenship and CV writing.

Right from CMD to the NGO partners associated with Nestlé, everyone I had a chance to interact with carried exceptional work ethics and intrinsic value of concern about people and society.

Garnering valuable takeaways from my internship at Nestlé

My learnings from this internship were immense. As the role was not only confined to sitting in front of the screen but involved a lot of discussions and deliberations with key stakeholders, it helped me hone my professional communication and networking skills. In the process of documenting and navigating for the project, I learnt effective presentation and qualitative research methodologies and chronologies. It also gave me a broad understanding of Corporate Affairs as a hidden and interesting career option. 

Although it was supposed to be a short sweet one-month internship, my engagement is extended to put my final report in the form of articles that can possibly be taken up for publications. It is great exposure, especially at an intern role level.

In the nutshell, my internship experience at Nestlé was an experience of its kind. Given the domain of my role, I got a chance to deep dive into the soft power of companies. Interning at Nestlé was a great opportunity and one of the best decisions of my life.