Sunaina Das (MS1)
Interned at GroupM
Domain: Digital Marketing
Always Remember: While applying on LinkedIn or any other sources, never apply to companies that have come through OCS for internships and placements.
Introduction
My name is Sunaina Das. I am a third-year undergraduate in the material science department at IIT Delhi. The things I like the most are reading books and solving abstract problems. I recently interned at GroupM, where my role was related to digital marketing.
Motivation
Before coming to IIT, I was primarily involved in academics, so I wanted to gain industry experience. I didn’t pursue a research internship because I wanted to gain in-depth knowledge in a subject first. I knew many seniors and peers in DevClub who pursued internships in their second year, so it was a familiar idea for me.
Preparations
I messaged many industry leaders via LinkedIn, including GroupM. Subsequently, I was selected after an interview process. My role in GroupM was to create digital media based on clients' needs. Before this GroupM internship, I had already done internships at Cargill in data analytics. As I was involved in DevClub, I knew ML/AI, which is helpful in data analytics roles. Before entering my 2nd year, I had plans to explore the tech side more, which I did by doing a lot of work in DevClub. Still, as I wanted to explore other domains before deciding on the third-year internship, I tried digital marketing, which I liked and did for two months.
If you want a data analytics role, you should know ML, how to solve puzzles, have a thing with data, etc. But for a role like mine at GroupM, which was on the digital marketing side, they were more interested in knowing my personality, problem-solving skills, and involvement in various clubs and extracurricular activities.
Experience
This internship was my first time in any marketing role, and also, this was my first offline internship. I liked it and learnt a lot. Digital marketing includes search engine marketing, display advertisements, and video. Agencies like GroupM help clients navigate the digital landscape and create strategies for them. Most of the problems I solved at GroupM were abstract problems like -
What is the impact of privacy laws and third-party cookie deprecation on digital media?
How can first-party data processing (acquisition, enrichment, personalisation) be used to create a marketing solution deck for clients? How can we create a standardised framework to target clients based on their priorities, digital maturity, and industry?
I got the experience of corporate life in Gurgaon, which was very exciting.
Advice
The whole process of the second-year internship is very tiring and frustrating because you get few positive responses compared to the number of emails/messages you send. Don't get disheartened by this, and always keep a positive mindset. Try to maintain a decent CGPA because you might miss many opportunities if you don't. For a second-year intern, they would not test you much on your technical skills; instead, they will gauge your dedication and sincerity. Reading about the company helps. Keep faith in yourself, don't overthink about failure, and be open to try new things and learn from them. Because this is the age where you can learn the most and gain as many skills as you want, so always keep learning. :)
Future Plans
I have another internship next year, which is at American Express in analytics. The role will involve translating business insights into business strategies or machine learning models. I am especially interested in driving automation and refinement of analytical frameworks. After working with GroupM in a marketing role, I would be more interested in working in more computational roles. Other than this, I am also thinking of doing research under some professor in my branch as well.