Internship Insights by IIM Kashipur students: Summer Internship Experience at Puma

It all started with my first interaction with the senior batch. A couple of seniors were describing their internship experiences and that is when a summer internship with Puma became my goal for the year. I had extensive discussions with the seniors who had interned with the organization last year and gained a lot of insights. They helped me prepare not only for the internship interview of the company but also taught me the true meaning of peer to peer learning.

After a few selection rounds and an interview, there it was, my name on the screen. Yes! I managed to make it through. It was all like a dream and there were a lot of expectations. A point came when everything became uncertain, whether the internship will even happen or not but then I received a mail assuring me that the company will be keeping its commitment and the internship will happen virtually.

At first, I thought that there won’t be much of a learning experience, but that thought was soon put to rest. The onboarding team assured that we got a holistic view of the organization with talks from all the vertical heads. The projects were allotted, and I was given a chance to work with the Operations team where the learning experience was incredibly different from what we learn in the classroom.

I was given the task to optimize the current e-commerce operations for the company and develop a sustainable ordering solution for their materials. I was surprised at how well integrated the entire internship experience was and I had never imagined that the largest sports apparel organization in the country would be giving this much time for the development of its interns. The mentors were always available to address any roadblock I faced with regards to the project and the HR team was always ready to support with regards to any cross-team interaction needed during the project.

One thing that the organization embodies is the path towards continuous learning and we were invited to attend a lot of learning sessions on strategy and digital marketing along with the employees. The kind of experience that I gained working with Puma has enriched my way of thinking and approaching problems. Skills like advanced usage of Power BI and applications of advanced excel were added to my skill set and all this is sure to help me in the times ahead and become corporate ready.
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Aditya Bharadwaj, Summer Intern, Puma
Class of 2021 | IIM Kashipur