Aarushi Mittal (ME2) Domain: Consulting
Interned at Benori Knowledge Limited, Gurugram
Mode: Offline
Interviewed by: Hemang Mathur
Introduction
Hi, I’m Aarushi Mittal. I’m a third-year student pursuing a degree in Production and Industrial Engineering. As far as my college experience goes, I have been extremely active in the Literary Club, having been a representative in my second year and a director currently. I was also a convenor in the Debating Society and a journalist at the Board for Student Publications last year. Apart from this, I’m a coordinator for the Business and Consulting Club.
So, at the beginning of second year, I had three PORs and one additional responsibility- four societies I was already somewhat committed to. On top of that, being in the Mechanical Department, I had been warned of difficult grading.
All things considered, I’d say second year was on the hectic side for me. Nonetheless, I was mostly going with the flow, not thinking too much about what I was doing.
Motivation
During the second semester, I had this long conversation with my mentor about the sort of things I should keep in mind, given the ‘traditional’ road people take- intern in second year, intern in third year.
I started looking for internships actively in January, primarily research oriented. I had been told that research interns in the second years, especially in a different country, grant great exposure. I was looking for business projects surrounding operations research and optimisation. However, most of the projects I was getting did not match my interests. So, I started moving on to other options. It was about March, when I started considering a corporate intern.
Application Process
Well, it started off with cold mailing professors for research internships; and I got replies from quite a few of them, really. But, like I said, they were not matching my interests. By March, I knew I needed an intern in consulting.
Back then, the ‘application process’ simply involved going on to LinkedIn and cold mailing companies instead of professors. I knew perfectly well that most major consulting firms wouldn’t hire a second-year student, but I wasn’t after a big stipend- I was in it for the exposure and experience of working in a corporate environment. And I did get rejected quite a lot, but by the end of May I had two positive responses, one of which was from this firm.
Internship Experience
The company I worked at is called Benori Knowledge Limited. It was actually founded by an IIT Delhi alumni.
Now, I’ve signed an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), so I am not allowed to take names, but our direct client was a policy consulting company in Saudi Arabia working with the government there to ensure industrial safety and security. I worked with that client to analyse the current standards of safety in Saudi Arabia, occupational hazards involved and measures to combat said hazards. We had to do a strategy gap assessment and provide recommendations.
So what exactly was my work? It was leaning towards secondary research- secondary research meaning simply pouring over the internet and looking for pre-existing data to help you make insights on whatever the problem statement is. I worked with a few other analysts to scout through a lot of documents- financial reports, labour organisation studies, and the like.
Part of our goal was also to benchmark and compare the situation in Saudi Arabia with a number of other countries to set the standard and decide where the client had to improve.
There was a lot of PowerPoint. That’s another thing I learnt, how to make more aesthetic slides. Jokes aside, I got to learn about all sorts of technology I had no idea existed, as well as areas like AI, IOT, and so on. We gained insights into how such technologies are actually employed in the supermarket and how things work at the grassroot level. So, the research aspect was enjoyable in that sense.
As for my colleagues, I was somewhat disappointed, for lack of a better word. They weren’t exactly enthusiastic about networking and talking to each other. One of them was very shy; the others were helpful from the work side of things, but still lacking that human element I would have appreciated. They would often forget I was a second-year college student. Other than that, though, our relationships were fine- they were cordial.
The working hours were irksome- they did get me to work on holidays every now and then. It would start off with, say, an hour’s work on a Saturday, and gradually turn into me working entire days.
Takeaways
The biggest takeaway is definitely that I learnt how to manage relationships in a corporate environment- being diplomatic with people, learning to handle unfairness- stuff like that. Workplace politics is complicated. It’s not very blatant. Someone taking credit for your work, being pushed over- things like this happen very subtly and I got some valuable exposure in this regard.
One of my most pleasant memories would be occasionally meeting up with two of my friends that were also interning in Gurgaon- going out for dinner after long hours, exploring more of the city- it felt great!
For me, at least, I realised that consulting is not as glamorous as people make it out to be. There aren’t as many job opportunities as I used to think, it’s not as high paying, and it does get a bit boring.
Advice for Juniors
First thing I’ll say is- I know a lot of people who did not have second year interns, and they’re doing fine. Don’t worry too much about it- the second-year intern process, in my opinion, is not meant to be stressed out over. You’ll probably do decently by just going with the flow and consistently sending mails.
Secondly, if you’re absolutely determined that you want to get into consulting- yes, a second-year intern does help. I’ve seen that the combination of one research and one corporate internship tends to play out pretty well for people. Brand value matters in both, though it’s not the end of the world if you’re lacking in that aspect.
Do remember, though, that the decision to go into consulting is as simple as, say, doing it because you never learnt to code, or because you aren’t interested in your core field. With the working hours and the effort that it requires, you’ll only be able to do well in consulting if you’re actually interested in the work.
On a final note- learn to code. My life would have been a lot easier if I had learnt how to code during college, it helps in all sorts of ways even if you’re not inclined towards tech.
Other than that, try not to worry too much about the second-year intern- it’s definitely not the end of the world if you don’t get one, and it’ll probably be vastly different from your expectations anyway (just like most things). So, simply take it easy and you’ll do well.
Comentarios