Making it there

JSW only goes to a few Engineering, Commerce and Law colleges and takes a total of approximately 30 students per year as their summer interns. JSW came to Roorkee around October for their presentation, where they elaborated on their selection process. The arduous process has three rounds:

1. SOP & Resume Short-listing: We were required to make an account on SIP(Summer Internship Program) website and fill a form. It consisted of general questions like “Why JSW?”, “What are your strengths and weaknesses”, “Out of the Box Thinking”,etc. We were also required to upload our resume. We were consequently shortlisted for an online test.

2. Online Test: This test consisted of only psychometric questions, which are quite easy to solve with a few hours’ practice.

3. Skype interview: It is crucial that one dons a professional attire. Within this interview there were two people who took turns to interview all the candidates: a HR representative and an official serving in a more technical capacity. I was asked very basic questions related to Chemical Engineering, but most questions had to do with my SOP. They seemed to give a certain weightage to positions of responsibility and sports. All in all, the interviewers were very friendly. They seemed to be looking for people who could balance both academic and extracurricular activities; I mentioned my position as the Joint Secretary of the Dramatics society and my stint with the Inter-IIT Basketball team.

The three rounds culminated in the selection of two candidates, of which I was one.

My Experience At JSW

The Summer Internship Program offered by JSW is adequately organized and structured. Before we landed in Mumbai, we were given a list of projects to chose from. It comprised a mix of technical , Finance and Economics intensive projects, but they were, nevertheless, consultancy projects in various fields.

To begin with, I’d like to mention that I’ve travelled a lot in my time here. First I was in Mumbai, where we had a 4 day orientation about the company and the internship. There was a freshers’ party, where we were treated to good food and introduced tot high-ranking officials of the company. We were then assigned the projects we were going to be working on (based on our resumes and the preferences we had filled in earlier). My project was under JSW Energy labelled “Exploring Boiler Operations for High Ash Indian Coal”. It was located in Jaigad Thermal Plant owned by JSW near Ratnagiri.

For the next 5 weeks a fellow intern from IIT BHU and I ventured to the beautiful shores of Ratnagiri to work on our project. Our consultancy project aimed at reducing costs incurred for JSW through research and analysis of data to optimize and reduce costs, thus providing a solution.

Here at Ratnagiri

Most of my internship was spent at the Ratnagiri plant. It was here that we met our mentor and 2 “buddies” (colleagues assigned the task of helping us out). The beauty of the township was breathtaking. There was a beach around every corner and we usually spent our holidays roaming these sandy shores. There was also a wildlife sanctuary nearby, on account of all the greenery. We were accommodated in a spacious flat, stocked with everything we needed. The mangoes, for which Ratnagiri is famous, were exquisite as well. We also observed incoming shipments of coal on the JSW-owned port, an exciting sight for a chemical engineer.

In the 5 weeks that we were there we collected data, analyzed it, made reports and a few models to predict an optimal solution to run the plant. One of the most exciting things about the project is that we were actually contributing to the company; the project dealt with real issues and would have an actual impact on the company. This was one of the most crucial considerations of the internship.

Vijaynagar Trip

Out internship also entailed a trip to the Vijaynagar Plant near Bangalore. We were shown the township, with all its facilities, and even went on a trip to Hampi, A UNESCO World Heritage Site! Hampi is an ancient city with an array of archeological sites. We also had the opportunity to listen to the wise words of the GMHR of JSW Steel, the EVP Operations and EVP Allied Services & Mines. Towards the end of our visit, we were treated to a generous party at Hyatt.

Back to Bombay!

Following our trip to Vijaynagar we went back to Ratnagiri, where we prepared presentations to summarize all that we had done; the seniors there helped us make modifications to the same. We headed back to Bombay where we presented these to the associates of JSW. Yet another party marked the end of our internship.

Summing Up

It was a wonderful experience! I learnt much about how the corporate world works, how industries and consultancies work. From parties to presentations the internship really was the whole package. The internship is not just for undergraduates of Chemical Engineering; a lot of the work also included non-core fields. A balanced resume with a blend of extracurricular activities, positions of responsibilities, a decent cgpa and good communication skills is capable of bagging the internship.

Interning here was an astounding experience, and one that I’m bound to remember.!