9. Internship Experiences

INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE

Akshat Maheshwari

PGP06 IIM Amritsar

Financial Analyst Inter n - Synergy Consulting

My internship as Financial Analyst Intern at Synergy Consulting has allowed me to see so much more about the project finance domain than I can learn in the classroom. Getting a chance to work on the live project was the best part of my internship. It showed me a glimpse of a typical day in Synergy Associate's life.

Speaking about work, as interns, we got to work on live projects and not dummy assignments, and during the internship, I got the chance to see my work has gone to the clients, which feels great, as not many companies do that. The training and development sessions, organized into various modules, helped me get an in-depth understanding and hands-on experience of the fundamentals behind the work done by Synergy, like Valuation of the project, Various Risk Allocation and Mitigation strategies, Tariff Structure analysis, and Financial Models. Both the theoretical and practical applications are thoroughly incorporated into the modules, which in turn helped me directly get started with the real-time projects like designing Information Memorandum, Teasers and pitch book for both Government (Offtakers) and Bidders for construction or Maintenance Contracts, analyzing all Bidders Financial Models and comparing them with the help of different ratios like DSCR, LLCR, Cash Ratios, etc. I focused on the fundamentals of financial disciplines, including Corporate Finance, Financial Accounting, and Business Computing (Excel), when preparing for the interview. While studying financial subjects, attempt to understand why you're studying the concepts and how you may apply what you've learned in the classroom to real-life situations. Pick a firm at random from the list and review its financial statements, annual reports, and other documents. Apart from that, read the Job Description and business information thoroughly before filling out the form, and then mold your CV to match their wants and specifications. You can also include academic projects if you believe they will provide you an advantage throughout the Resume screening process.

INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE

Rishabh Nair

PGP06 IIM Amritsar

Treasur y Inter n — Kotak Mahindra Bank

Getting to work for Kotak Mahindra bank that too in the treasury department had been a very surreal experience for the finance enthusiast in me. The one aspect that I had grasped on right from the beginning was to be as inquisitive as possible trying to grasp each and every nuance of the treasury department as this was the golden opportunity I was waiting for and as conveyed by many seniors, that summer internships gives you the real flavor of the industry which you won’t be able to get in the confines of your classroom. Trying to advance in your project at a good pace can be advantageous as the more you accomplish within the project the more you will be able to learn. Going past the deadlines should be the motto. At Kotak, each and every superior under whom I worked with were very helpful in terms of clearing my doubts and they also kept a regular track of my progress throughout the tenure of my internship be it weekly progress meeting with the senior vice president of treasury, or month end presentations with my mentors who used to give me constructive feedbacks and then used to decide the course of my following project work. I worked in the international banking unit of Kotak Mahindra bank in the IFSC of GIFT City which is the first of its kind branch operating in a SEZ (Special Economic Zone). My project work revolved around the proprietary currency trading which Kotak does as a part of its daily operations. I was exposed to how the real time currency trading happens using the Bloomberg terminals and got to know its working. This project mainly used the concepts of risk management, derivatives, hedging, financial markets, macroeconomics etc. Thus being able to correlate the concepts learnt in the class with your projects is one of the key aspects of learning in an internship. Lastly finishing off the project on a high note was the cherry on the top. I was able to generate profits worth 10 lakhs within the 2 months of my internship with my formulated trading techniques which ultimately helped me to gain a letter of recommendation from the Senior Vice President at Kotak. So leaving a long lasting impression at the organization at which you do your internship should be a top priority and the success would follow.