Anubhav – An Experience

Anubhav – An Experience
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Anubhav – An Experience

“Summer Internship at ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company in Mumbai as an intern with Business Intelligence team for a duration of 2 months.” This one sentence gave me manifold happiness! Firstly, I got a chance to intern with number one general insurance company of India. Secondly, I got an opportunity to work in the domain of analytics and lastly, yet most importantly, I would be spending two months of my internship at Mumbai, the place where I have been born and brought up.

Seven of us from IIM Nagpur were chosen for internship at ICICI Lombard GIC. Our internship was to start from 3rd April. ICICI Lombard had made all the travel and stay arrangements for the entire duration of two months in Mumbai which showcased not only their professionalism but also helped us realize the kind of importance ICICI Lombard had given to the summer internship program. I could readily understand their core values of humility, integrity, and passion.

On the first day of our internship, we reached the corporate office of ICICI Lombard at Lower Parel by 9 am. Along with us, there were students from various other reputed B-schools from around the country. On the very first day, I got the flavor of how well was the internship formulated with a schedule to be followed for next two months and the project allocations decided well in advance.  The first two days were designated for an induction program where we were briefed about the internship program, the expectations from us, etc. We had an excellent opportunity to interact with the top management(MD, EDs, VPs, AVPs) and understand how the different verticals operate at ICICI Lombard. These two days of induction were beneficial to give us all an essential insight of the insurance industry. Oh, also worth mentioning is the lavish lunch during induction!

My mentor, Mr Chirag Bhojani, VP Business Intelligence Unit (BIU), briefed me about my project. The project was to analyse and optimize the time required by the policy document to reach the customer once the policy is generated. He explained me the need of the project and also how important the project was for ICICI Lombard. I was also told that my recommendations will be viewed by the Top Management. Though the task sounded intimidating, Chirag Sir assured me that the BIU team would always be there to help me out if I got stuck somewhere. I, along with a fellow classmate from IIM Nagpur, was under Chirag Sir’s mentor ship. An advice that my mentor gave me that stands relevant for all of us is that we must leverage these two months of internship to understand the domain and industry and decide whether we would like to make a career in the same industry and domain.

I was introduced to the BIU team with whom I would be working with for my internship. Chirag Sir asked one of the team members to help me out with my project. All the team members warmly welcomed us.

One of the best things about the internship was the culture at ICICI Lombard. We were considered as part of the team and not as temporary interns. Working alongside, going together for lunch and snacks, celebrating birthdays, lunch parties, etc. made us feel included in the team.

For my project, I had to first understand the current process and time required for each activity. I started interacting with various stakeholders to understand the process. For this, I scheduled meetings, travelled to different ICICI Lombard offices, and had conference calls when visiting the office for meetings was not feasible. Gathering relevant and complete data is the most troublesome job for any data analyst. I, too, had to follow up many times with the stakeholders for getting the relevant data. After receiving data from company personnel, I had to contact external contractors and courier service providers for understanding their processes. Another tip for the readers is, keep asking the question ‘Why’; for understanding and optimizing an entire process, it is necessary for you to understand the perspective of different stakeholders and how one activity is linked to the other.

ICICI Lombard made sure I received regular feedback from my mentor, and they took feedback from me too to understand if I was facing any issues. The HR team made every possible effort to make us comfortable so that we could deliver our best. Even though there were formal reviews scheduled, my mentor made himself available whenever I had any difficulty.

Towards the end, I presented my analysis and recommendations to Mr Girish Nayak, Chief Customer Service, Operations & Technology. My project was well appreciated and accepted. On the last day of our internship, the HR team organised a lunch for all the interns along with our mentors. In conclusion, it was a great learning experience not only from the BIU team but also from the peers from different B-schools.

Benjamin Franklin’s quote, “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn”, echoes with me every time I recollect the time I spent at ICICI Lombard. SIP at ICICI Lombard has not been just an academic requirement, but it was more like an experience. An experience that helped me develop both professionally and personally. I guess ICICI Lombard knew this beforehand and hence named their first ever Flagship Internship Program – ANUBHAV.

Indeed A Good “Anubhav” – Saumya Ranjith’s Internship Experience At ICICI Lombard

The summer internship is usually considered by PGP1s as a 2-month break off curriculum lectures, assignments with a stringent deadline, surprise quizzes and all the similar events at a typical b-school that keep us on our toes. Happy with the same thought, I was waiting for my summer internship to start at ICICI Lombard, in one of the most happening cities in India, Mumbai, the place I had never been to. All packed bags, and a super excited me, arrived at the hotel where I had to spend my two months in Mumbai. Appreciating the warm welcome by ICICI Lombard in terms of paid accommodation in a hotel for two months, I was excited for the first day at the company (especially after almost a year break from my last corporate experience).

The orientation sessions, lined up for couple of days, were very well organised wherein we could interact with Head HR, VP & AVP of different verticals (corporate solutions group, retail solutions group, etc.) sharing their role & responsibilities and explaining what is lined up for us, indeed made for a good start. I, along with other interns, was allotted the marketing research project for corporate solutions group for different Industries. We were allotted different mentors who were AVP/VP level people, at the start of the program and thus we could understand the standard of the deliverables they were expecting out of us. The first week, I spent some time doing homework on my part, to provide a rough roadmap on how I was planning to proceed with the project. Considering, we had our weekly reviews scheduled with our mentors; we were supposed to ensure we were well on time as far as our pace is considered. The first meeting with the mentor was tough, as the thoughts I had put on the table, seemed too scattered to him. Need for streamlining was the first input. I had very conveniently assumed that this being the very first meeting with him, nothing major would be expected out of me. The first myth was broken and the first lesson learnt – once you are into the organisation, the time you have been associated with the organisation doesn’t hold much importance, you are expected to pace up with other employees. Further reviews, feedback’s & inputs from the mentor helped me to shape up my ideas and bring clarity as to where more depth in my thought was needed. Challenging and thought-provoking would be definite litotes when it comes to describing my further experience as the time passed. As the time came for the final set of reviews with the top management, feedback’s became more demanding and at many times, I felt that I have not even done 1% of what I am expected to do. But this stress and tension worked positively for me as I was ready to go that extra mile to present something that would give them a starting point to further develop their strategies. No weekends or going around in Mumbai, for the last month. All that occupied my mind was my final deliverable to the company.

Just a few days before the internship was about to end, we were informed that 6 of 17 total interns had been selected to present their project to MD of ICICI Lombard. Three of us from IIM Nagpur were amongst those selected interns, and I was one of them. I felt ecstatic but at the same time I was worried- one last deliverable, and I had to make the most of it! I was all confident for the work I did during my Internship, but the presentation to top management involving MD, VP – Wholesale & Retail & Head – HR made me nervous. Finally, it went very well, much more than what I expected. Series of questions from MD, made me realize that he is looking at how far my ideas/suggestions can go. Some recommendations and new business opportunities were very much appreciated by him. In the end, it was this appreciation that made me realize that hard work is always rewarded. My time at ICICI Lombard was nothing short of an adventure – reviews, feedback’s, deliverables, appreciation, and meeting some of the sharp minded people there.

The best thing I liked about ICICI Lombard is the seriousness by which they look at the projects allocated to Interns. Days after Summer Internship, I am still in touch with my colleagues at ICICI Lombard discussing my research work and about how things can be taken forward from where I left. I think no work can make you more contented! The way I understood what things the top management expects when it comes to meeting with them, was a great learning. My summer internship experience or “Anubhav” (Internship Programme at ICICI Lombard) as they put it, was definitely enriching and something that helped me understand or at least gave me a heads-up on what I wish to pursue in the long term.