What happens when one takes up a market research project they aren't sure about? -By Chitrangda Jain from SSCBS Delhi

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Like many others who take up an internship after much deliberation, I took up one as well during the first semester of college. I am still undecided on the quality of my decision. Although, I am really thankful for the people who allowed me to witness a true working environment. Getting admission in one of the best undergraduate management schools in India and even in Asia, didn’t come easy to me. So when I finally entered the campus, I promised myself to justify each and every day here. Consumed by this pursuit, I took every opportunity that I came across all at once!

A market research project, an internship or a live project?

The same was the story for my first internship. Though I am calling it an internship. It falls in the category of a live project. A senior from my society introduced me to the project. It was a market research project with a startup Rivi and Co Pvt. Ltd. Since the project came through a senior, I couldn’t possibly question its credibility. However, there was a certain conflict of interest in my mind. I questioned myself, Do I really need to do this? The eagerness to enter the corporate world from the root level was so strong, that I gave in.

Though it was a work from home thing we had to meet every weekend for training and follow-ups. And the office was located in Kailash Colony. The connectivity of metro is really good, for someone living in Pitampura to travel to Kailash Colony. However, after changing 3 metros at 8:30 am every weekend, it got quite hectic. So, it was the ultimate day of the internship where we also had to sign an NDA, known as the Non-Disclosure Agreement. Quite professional, isn’t it?

When a long day gets longer!

I was busy in the thought of working well while the rest of the mates were fooling around. I didn’t pay any attention to the training session and it was quite hard to do the job after that. I left the office quite late and calls began coming from the home. Unfortunately, I boarded the wrong metro and I got late. Well, it was quite a long day.

I didn’t feel like I was working on a project

The internship lasted almost 5 months, contrary to the pre-decided period of 3 months. Throughout the internship, it didn’t feel like I was working on a “project”. We met and discussed things. All the interns had to complete weekly targets. In fact, even when we were at home, we were on Skype and Slack.

It would be wrong to say that I don’t miss those days. I needed something to keep myself occupied with and this internship did the job. In addition, I learnt time management because we had to give 2 hours on a daily basis. Having to achieve daily targets helped me organise my days and time. I noticed myself getting more efficient. I learnt to complete things faster in time to complete the targets given to us. I learnt to interact in a formal work environment. The most important skill I feel I learnt was to extract useful facts from a bulk of abstract information.

According to what I have observed and heard from a few seniors, the internships they did didn’t relate to their area of study or interest. However, I found mine, quite fulfilling. The lesson I learnt during all that time was that the best thing would come to you in the oddest situations. It is only natural to be hesitant about it but those who take it, are the ones who choose success.