“An intern is not just an interim resource”, Mr. Srinivas Chunduru, President – HR, Piramal Enterprises
The Piramal Enterprises, with operations in more than 30 countries, is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in India. Internshala got in touch with Mr. Srinivas Chunduru, President HR and Strategy, to know about their internship program. Excerpts –
Hello Mr. Srinivas. Thank you for doing this. Could you please provide us an overview of the internship programs at Piramal?
Hi! Happy to help. The internship program at Piramal is built to give the interns a first-hand exposure to the roles and responsibilities in the organization. We have a summer internship program which runs from the month of April till June. We also hire winter interns on the basis of requirements for specific projects.
The functions in which we mainly hire are Strategic Marketing for Pharma Solutions and Piramal Critical Care business, Human Resources function and Secretarial function.
What do you look for in an intern and what methods do you use to hire them?
An intern at Piramal is considered as an equal contributor to work, and not just as an interim resource. We look for interns who display integrity & humility in their attitude, and entrepreneurial spirit & creativity in their work.
We hire interns through the regular campus recruitment process where we shortlist students on basis of certain set criteria. The shortlisted students go through a Group Discussion or a Case Study round and finally personal interviews with the HR team and HODs.
What kind of roles/projects are interns given and what should they expect to learn from it?
Most of the roles offered to interns at Piramal are high impact, live business projects. The interns are assigned dedicated project mentors who are subject matter experts. This helps them in getting an exposure to real business scenarios, ensuring a very steep learning curve along the way.
Do you remember any particular project where interns played a critical role?
Many of our interns have played critical roles in setting up important processes. For example, we had a summer intern in the Human Resources function who took up the project of setting up the Shared Services model for the recruitment team across the group. The project that he worked on and the model he suggested was eventually adopted (with minor modifications).
How has the company benefited from the internship program?
Interns bring a fresh perspective to the work. Besides that, they are also our ambassadors to the campuses as they share their experience at Piramal with their college peers. It helps build our brand on the campus. Internships are also a way to get tried and tested talent for recruitment.
Finally, what are the 3 things about Piramal that would make an internship experience of a candidate unforgettable?
Those would be –
1. The learning offered by being a part of a live high-impact project with actual business outcomes.
2. The work culture at Piramal and the approachable attitude of all senior management.
3. The interns are allowed to own up the project and experience the value of entrepreneurship.
Thank you Mr. Srinivas for giving insights on the very well-implemented Piramal internship program. We’re sure students on our platform will find this very useful.
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