My Summer Internship experience @ ITC, Treasury

Its been long that I posted on my blog. Wasn't coming accross an idea worth writing about. So thought of sharing one of my most recent experiences with you all.....that of my summer internship..

I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to intern at the Corporate Treasury of ITC Ltd. I being a fresher, this was my first experience in the "Corporate World". And.... well, it ALMOST everything I ever thought it would be.

ITC as we know is one of the most professionally managed companies of India. A strict hierarchy was followed wihtin the department which we all needed to respect. But at the same time the employees were given their space to work in. The work culture was extremely professional. But people did seem to have a life beyond work :-)

The tihing which almost everyone in the department looked forward to was the lunch hour. Not because its gives a break from work, but because the employees have the priviledge of ordering their lunch and which is on the company!! And the best part is the same menu is followed for EVERYONE in the office, be it an intern of the department head. And another thing was the snacks hour, where a "3-course meal" (the term framed by us interns) was served, which was also, obviously Free!

One thing which was evitable was that ITC treats all its employees really really well. It is said to be one of those companies which does not pay well. But hey, if you consider the other benefits it offers (in the from of FREE on call car service, lunches, evening snacks, stationery, bingo, sunfeast, etc. etc.) again, alike for everyone, it is far far ahead of many other companies.

Another thing worth mentioning is that ITC as a company is very pro-active insofar as training/learning new things is concerned. The company gave me the chance to goto Mumbai for a couple of days and meet several broking houses, bank treasury and fund managers (which do not have their base in Calcutta). Apart from helping me in my project, these meetings were a great learning opportunity and helped me do a bit of networking. Also, since I was from ITC, these professionals made sure that they were at their best while dealing with me!

One thing I learned during this short stint was, no matter how much one dislikes or is uncomfortble working with a certain someone, he has no options, but to work with everyone, AND with a smile on his face. So we always dont have a choice in life.

Also, one should learn the art of getting things done through people, without stooping low. Relationship management is of supreme importance, coz' u never know when you might need someone.

All in all, it was a very enriching experience and I got a good feel of the big bad corporate world!