Hi! My name is Advait, I'm a thirdie from the Chemical Engineering department. A little about myself, I love playing sports, mainly football and basketball. I am a finance enthusiast and have a knack for data-driven projects.

What was your motivation for the internship and what was the recruitment process like? Why did you chose to do an internship instead of other options, such as projects or bootcamp? How did you prep for this role?
At some point in my IITB journey, I realized that rather than pursuing core or tech, it was the non-tech domain that I wanted to explore. I had an introductory call and then an interview which consisted mostly of HR based questions. I had done a number of tech projects in my second year, which is why I knew that I wasn’t particularly inclined towards that direction. The bootcamp was mainly for core enthusiasts. Hence the best option that remained was an internship. Through my experience, I got a good flavour of corporate life, which had been something that motivated me to take up this internship.

Did you get this internship via apping? If yes, highlight the apping process.
Indeed, I got it through apping. I targeted the big 4 (PwC, E&Y, KPMG and Deloitte) for consulting internships. There is no secret recipe: throughout my second year, I sent many mails and many more follow-ups. I used LinkedIn and Apollo.io to get access to the contact details of the executives in these companies.

Can you explain your role in the internship? What jobs were you expected to perform and what projects were you involved with?
I worked in the ESG and sustainability sector. ESG stands for ‘environmental, social and governance’. It is a framework used to determine the performance of a company, from an ethical and sustainable perspective. I helped in research, benchmarking ESG metrics of companies according to certified frameworks. I also conducted climate risk assessments. I got a good exposure to what sustainability is and how it is monetised.

What were the most exciting aspects of the internship? What were the most challenging aspects?
The exciting part, like in any other consulting role, was mainly the interaction. I met all sorts of people in the internship. My team was fabulous; it took no time for my teammates to become my friends. I learnt a lot from the people around me. I had heard that the best part about working at any company is the people in the company, and the stories that they share: this internship has genuinely made me believe in this. As for the challenging part, there was nothing more frustrating than the commute!

What was the culture like in your office? How did the company treat the interns and what were you provided with?
My team was super interactive and welcoming. The Initial work allotted to me seemed pretty basic, given my technical background. Having said this, I wasn’t hesitant to ask for more challenging work. The company is very welcoming towards its interns but has its eyes open towards talent. I kept striving to prove my worth by taking up more and more challenging tasks.

What were your key learnings from the internship and any tips you would like to give to your juniors?
I learned quite a bit about the ESG domain. As I said before, I also got a pretty good taste of corporate life, which is something I believe was invaluable. If you are clear about getting into the corporate world eventually, it’s a pretty good idea to dip your feet into it by the end of the second year:) Pro tip: Don’t wait for the last moment! January is the perfect time to start with apping. The process may seem intimidating at first, but you’ll get the hang of it eventually.