Interning at Future Generali: Sanskrita’s venture in human resources
About the Author: Sanskrita Patnaik is a student of Xavier University, Bhubaneshwar. She shares her journey from Bhubaneshwar to Mumbai for an internship that introduced her to the world of human resources.
It was my second year in an undergraduate management program and interning was mandatory. Our college did not provide any opportunities for internship, so we had to arrange for it ourselves. I registered myself on all known job portals but only a few internships matched my profile. I also shared my profile with some of my contacts and got lucky with an opportunity to interview at Future Generali General Insurance.
The selection process involved a resume screening followed by a telephonic interview. It was a short interview with questions related to the courses I had covered in the previous semester and my area of interest in human resources. I was looking forward to working on recruitment and selection since I already had a fair knowledge of it and a practical exposure would have enhanced it. However, they had an upcoming project on onboarding and wanted me to work on it with other HR managers. Apart from these, they asked me how I would adjust in Mumbai and manage traveling to work. They appreciated my will to gain an exposure to the industry and offered me an internship for two months.
I packed my bags and flew from Bhubaneshwar to a relative’s place in Mumbai. Travelling daily for hours in metro, local train, and cab made it tiresome but the internship was worth it. I was assigned two projects – Implementation of a new onboarding policy and Developing a job description for off roll employees. The onboarding policy intended to make the work environment friendlier and less hectic. To do so, two additions, buddy allotment and customer-centric experience, were made to the existing policy. Under the former, new joinees were introduced to a coworker to facilitate their job, and the latter required them to work with a seasoned employee from another department and observe the working.
I worked closely with the Assistant Manager, HR, on the onboarding policy. I would confirm the joining date of new recruits and take care of their joining formalities – verification of documents, running a background check, and introducing them to their managers. This not only helped me experience the responsibilities of an HR but also made me realize the vitality of those tasks. After few weeks of their joining, I would record their onboarding experience and suggestions. I prepared job descriptions for off roll employees, who are hired through consultants, which required me to interact with respective managers to understand all job-related details along with the qualifications, key skills, and competencies that the applicants for those roles should have. Initially, I found it overwhelming to communicate with senior managers but with time I developed my communication skills. I also learnt to keep calm in every situation that might arise.
I took on a bunch of other responsibilities too such as making a presentation on employee activities carried out in the past few months and coordinating with other branches of the company in Maharashtra to organize International Blood Donor Day and International Yoga Day. Afterwards, I made a report on these activities. This helped me understand the work culture in detail and boosted my confidence. It was an amazing experience and the exposure I received was more than what I had expected, thanks to my manager! This was my first experience of working in a corporate and I will cherish it forever.
Are you amazed by Sanskrita’s story? Check out these latest human resources internships.
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