Nishant Kumar Singh is from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. Presently he is pursuing MBA from NITIE, Mumbai. Before joining NITIE Mumbai, Nishant worked in the Operations Domain for JSW Steel. He has done his graduation in Chemical Engineering from NIT Rourkela. Presently, he is interning at Johnson & Johnson and is placed at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. Nishant states that this internship is a great opportunity for him to learn and explore the company and the corporate culture altogether. He also mentions that he got this internship through the process of Campus Placement.
What is the selection process for this internship at Johnson & Johnson?
During the selection process, first of all, we had a Group Discussion round on the topic "Should India Invest in the Space Technology or should it look for the philanthropic activities first?". I cleared the Group Discussion round. After that, in the interview, the panel included two officials. One was a technical official and the other was an HR person. In this interview round, I was to answer certain HR questions as well as certain technical questions which were centric on my previous work experience. After clearing the interview round, I was hired to intern at Johnson & Johnson.
What is your title and responsibility in this internship?
Since I'm interning with Johnson and Johnson, the title of my project is to understand the Operational Expenditure of the company and to find ways or opportunities to variabilize the fixed cost structure of the company. It is related to the Cost Structure of the Company.
My responsibilities include talking with people belonging to the various departments of the company at the site and understanding how they are procuring the material or how they are investing their budget on the resources which are available to them. I also have to understand the contract models. And after getting an idea about all the expenditures my main task is to identify a source of variabilization of the fixed cost structure of the company.
What is your overall experience during the internship?
Till now, I've only completed one month of working at this company and one more month is remaining for the completion of my internship tenure. During this one month, the other employees that I've encountered have behaved pretty well with me. They are welcoming and helpful. They have helped me whenever I was stuck in certain places. Since I've done only the analysis part of the internship till now, my overall experience has been pretty encouraging. It has helped me learn how the company is functioning and how and where they are spending their cost presently. The latter half of the internship would include my work to find out the solution to this entire process. Thus, my overall experience as of now at this company has been very good.
Did you face any challenges to get this internship?
To get this internship, in particular, the preparation for the selection process of the company was of primal importance. Apart from being difficult, the whole process was a great learning experience for everyone on the campus as well. For this whole selection process at this company as well as other companies, the preparation began about 1.5 months before the actual selection period. It was a very hectic schedule for the entire batch of students. Communication abilities and knowledge played a very important role during this selection process as well. We were also helped by our seniors during this process. It was they who groomed us and made us better prepared for this entire process.
What kind of skills/characteristics are needed to gain this internship?
During this hectic process, our seniors made sure that we built confidence within ourselves to face the interviewer. Knowledge about the company and its functioning too helped me in getting selected for this internship at Johnson & Johnson. Another skill that played a key role in getting this internship was my communication skills and how I presented myself in front of the interviewer. Certain soft skills were required to be developed too to get this internship. Also, certain certifications helped me in getting this internship too.
What are the certificates and achievements that came in handy for you to get this internship?
When I was in NIT Rourkela, I was a part of many Extra-Curricular Activities. I had the certificates from these Extra-Curricular Activities which helped me to get into this college. These certificates as well might have helped me to gain the interviewer's attention too. Plus, the other certifications that I did during my MBA included certificates related to the Business and Operations Analytics Course, a trending course in the data analytic field. I did certain certifications in Advanced Microsoft Excel as well. Companies particularly look for those skills when they are hiring interns.
Your stipend/ salary range during this internship? What kind of benefits do you get?
My stipend during this internship is around 1.5 lakhs/month. Along with the same, the company looks after my travel from my accommodation to the plant. The meal during the working hours is free for its employees too. So, these are the extra benefits that I receive along with my stipend at Johnson & Johnson.
What do you think is a decent salary range during the internship which would interest students?
According to me, a student should not look at the stipend while looking for an internship. They should look at the project for which they will be working. Even if the stipend is zero but the project is worth working for and would thereafter add to the weightage of their CV and add value to their knowledge, the students should go for it.
How do you think this internship would help you in getting your future job?
I think two things come into play while interning at a particular company. First is the brand name of the company. If someone is interning at a company that excels at having a brand value, it will add up a lot of weightage to the intern's CV. The second stands to be the project title that the student is interning for. A good project title too can add a lot of value to one's CV.
Why do you think an internship is important for students?
In my perspective, an internship is the most crucial part of a student's life. Before getting completely into a corporate world, working as an intern helps the students get a glimpse of the corporate world and corporate culture. Getting a good project for one or two months during an internship can help the students very well reflect on their understanding of the corporate world. It helps them improve and nurture their qualities to fit better into the corporate world during their academic life itself. I've done internships both during my B. Tech and my MBA days. These internships have helped me a lot to grow my knowledge about the corporate world. Thus, internships play a very crucial part in shaping the students' ability to work in the corporate world.
What suggestions can you give to fresh grads/students who want to apply for internships?
My suggestion to the students would be that they should not optimize for the money. They should not be completely motivated due to the stipend that they will be receiving during the internship period. Rather, they should optimize for the value of knowledge. Because, if they learn at the expense of money, they'll learn a lot more in the future than they can imagine. But, the same thing is done at the expense of learning, the student will have to keep learning and earning for the rest of their life. So, instead of running after the money factor, the students should always give importance to what they want from their life and always try to locate the project they're interested in and look for the value that it will add to their personality.