IFMR GSB MBA-Internship Stories | Vishakha Rustagi

IFMR GSB MBA-Internship Stories are a series of interviews with the students of IFMR GSB, who have recently completed their Summer Internships. Here, Vishakha Rustagi, MBA 2021 shares his internship experience and learnings at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Could you tell us about the organization you have completed/are doing your internship from?

JPMorgan Chase & Co is an investment bank with its headquarters in New York. It is one of the largest banks in the United States. In India it operates in 6 cities and offers careers in the areas of finance, FinOps, risk and various other domains. It is a well trusted organization and places high value in clients as well as employees.

Did you focus on a specific domain while participating in summer placements? How did you approach the whole process? 

I was sure that I wanted to get placed with one of the best finance recruiters that comes to the campus. I did my preparations accordingly. I made sure that I was ready and clear with all my basics from the very beginning. In my selection process with the firm, I just made sure I was very confident with my answers and truthfully accepted the places where I wasn’t very thorough. This helped me sail through the process very smoothly.

Now that the internship has successfully concluded, could you reflect on your experience through the same?

This internship was indeed very enriching. Initially I was sceptical because of the current crisis, but the organization conducted the whole process very well. Apart from the daily project work, there were various sessions with the senior leaders of the firm, fun sessions with the HR to connect with other interns and all of these duly helped with much needed cooperation and motivation, to keep me going for the entire duration of 2 months. 

How was the environment of the company, the resources, employees and work culture?

Even though we were in a virtual internship, the organization made sure we get a flavour of the work culture. We could approach anyone for help, may it be it the HR, the manager or other team members and everyone was helpful and encouraging. They helped me in getting resources where I could look for information for my project. It is a flat organisation and I could experience the work culture very well in these 2 months.

What were the key challenges you faced during your internship and how did you overcome them?

The main challenge was to get good resources and information for the project. However, this was easily managed when I approached my manager. Thankfully, we also got access to the Krea online library where I got numerous articles and research papers to make my project much more informative.

How about the learnings you garnered from this internship? Are there any milestones you would like to share?

This internship helped me study two very important world economies –

1. The US economy through my project

2. The European economy through the case study we were given to solve

And it was really interesting. To make my work informative I had to study these economies in great detail, and I have to acknowledge there is so much to learn from world over.

Do you think it’s important for an MBA student to do an internship? What values/skills can a student gain from a summer placement?

Yes, it is very important for an MBA student to do an internship, and it’s more important to do it diligently. These internships help understand, learn and train for future challenges while also bringing clarity and focus to our own plans.

During your internship, how were you connected with your academic mentor(s) at the institute?

My academic mentor and I were constantly connected through emails. He was always very prompt in responding to all my correspondence. He also aided me with resource links which helped with my project and case study.

Would you prefer to return to the organization for a job opportunity in the future?

Yes, without any doubt I would love to go back to the organisation for a full time opportunity. It is a great place to work, because the organisation believes in learning, growing and providing ample opportunities to explore one’s talent and dreams.

With due consideration to COVID-19, all internships were moved to the virtual mode- how was that navigating through this new experience?

The firm made this virtual internship experience worth remembering. They took care of everything. We were kept involved all the time. It was very easy to connect with everyone in the organisation. The experience was packed with work, fun, interactions, building connections and learning so much, and so easily.

Could you tell us how the remote working experience was, with respect to building team rapport, internal communication and work as a whole?

My manager made everything very easy and approachable. I could contact him anytime I needed help. Apart from him I could connect with any team member for the same. Not just for work,  we also connected for interactions to better understand the organisation.

Could you share a memorable incident from your internship days?

We had a series of team activities conducted by the HR where we had to share pictures of the tasks performed by us. My team stood first in two tasks, and for one we even received a special mention in the mail. That was really memorable.