On the 8th of April, this year my experiential journey commenced with the pharmaceutical giant, Cipla. Even in the times of global disdain, we, the summer interns were welcome wholeheartedly through the ALIVE program at Cipla. We attended a 3-day induction program under which we got the opportunity to interact with the major heads of the company on a first-hand basis.
My experience at Cipla
I had it with EHS division of Cipla’s Sikkim manufacturing units. During my first 3 days in the Corporate World, I was made to analyze almost everything that went into doing a project, from understanding the prerequisites, to prepare a project charter, to infer the end result, everything. I was assisted by my concerned superiors at every junction during my time at Cipla.
The HR team also set up engaging activities for us like the game “Guess Who?”, quizzes, etc. and included all the interns and guides to keep the virtual engagement lively and exciting.
The people I met
The best thing that I felt while working at Cipla was that right from day one, I developed a sense of belongingness for the company and that encouraged me to consider all the projects as my own. The working hours were very flexible and the projects were very appealing. I am most thankful to my mentor,
- Amol Hardikar (Associate Director – Corporate EHS) as he was the person who always gave me the true feedback of my performance. As we started working more rigorously and sometimes
- I found myself at a standstill, Mr.Sharad Kalghatgi (Global Vice President & Group Head EHS at Cipla) and Mr.Atul Sant(Site Head, Cipla Sikkim) were always there to rescue me and helped get through the tasks.
- I really appreciate my proactive team members who were based out of multiple manufacturing units for their honest work like delivering data promptly and for always having clarity in sharing the needed information.
The outcome of my project
Adding to that, I would say, my experience as the Ops head of SPIC MACAY IIML chapter assisted me in connecting with the product vendors and to come through successful during the negotiations. I did what I could best with my time here and always tried to go the extra mile. For a person who has just entered the Corporate World, I would say interning at such a company should be a prerequisite for everyone wanting to work in this sphere.
If I was to describe my experience in one word, It would be the word “BEST”. I have lost count of the memories that I would be taking back with me, as I realised that good teamwork assisted me in managing the resources well which added the quality to the project. It was the perfect fusion of all these factors, which helped me to get a place in the top 10 projects.
Final words
The tender effort put in by Cipla in executing various CSR policies is one of the emphasizing factors. As of now, Cipla has set up a fund of INR 25 crore, ‘Caring for Life’ for the support of COVID-19 patients and the healthcare ecosystem and communities and I am nothing but proud to say I have been a part of this company.
This article has been submitted by Rudra Prasad Sahu, a current batch student of IIM Lucknow.
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