Team IGNITE 2022 poses as Upamanyu takes a selfie

Forty-two young graduates from India’s top B-schools have begun their summer internship with Samsung India at its corporate headquarters in Gurugram.

After two years of almost everything online, they had bright smiles on their faces when they walked into the office, glad that they will be able to experience their workspaces, bond with colleagues, and sit in for “meetings”.

The two-month-long summer internship program – Samsung IGNITE (Inspiring Growth & Nurturing Interns Towards Excellence) started with a fun-filled two-day induction which involved interacting with the senior leadership at Samsung India.

Leaders from across Samsung India will help these interns from IIM-Lucknow, IIM-Kozhikode, IIM-Bangalore, IIM-Ahmedabad, XLRI-Jamshedpur, MDI-Gurgaon and FMS-Delhi to work on real-time projects within various verticals of the company.

“IGNITE is all about generating that spark, awakening that eagerness and nurturing raw talent to produce magnificent results,” said Sameer Wadhawan, Head, Human Resources at Samsung India.

All smiles for Ankita Mohanty, Nikhil Mathew, Abhishek Kumbhalkar, Rishabh Kumar, Yutika Chandrashekhar Kulwe, Arwinderveer Singh, Ankita Mahesh Purkar, Avijit Mridha, Hem Singh Boro, Monisha Das, Tarun Kumar Meena, Vivek Oraon, Mudit Singh Banyal, Lucky Wamankar, Riya Dhan, Ekansh Agarwal, Mukeshwaran Madhu Kumari, Gaye Krishnanjali Ishika Rajaram Meena, Tangella Veera Venkata Surya Satish, Komal Keshav Meshram, Bagya Rekha Runkani Shaili Soni, Athul Murali L, Nikhil Singh Gangwar, Mihir Mahesh Tupe, Vankudothu Shravya, Tanvi Patodia Upamanyu Chatterjee, Thacker Maulik Kalpesh, Shwetal Rakesh Patel, Gopal Sethi, Jatin Goel, Nalin Nehra, Piya Dutta Chandan Gupta, Ankita Anand, Shivam Pandey, Sarthak Yadav, Abhinay Shrivastav and Ravi Kumar

“We are delighted to once again conduct this internship at our Samsung India headquarters in Gurugram, and these two months will give this very cool bunch an opportunity to contribute to some interesting business properties and hone their skills with some of the best in business,” he added.

One of the interns, Madhu Kumari, a student of IIM-Ahmedabad, who is from Varanasi, said she has always dreamt of an opportunity like this and is super excited about the internship.

“We have literally lived a virtual life these last two years. I am so glad I am getting to attend a physical office and it is going to be a lot of fun,” she said.

Team IGNITE 2022 right before they begin their journey as interns

During the induction, Madhu and the 41 other interns got a deep insight into Samsung and its journey from a Noodle exporter in 1938 to a technology giant today. They were excited to meet interns from last year and connect with Samsung leaders even as they explored growth opportunities for themselves in the company.

“I was a little nervous at first but right now this internship is turning out to be way more exciting than I expected. It’s amazing how 42 of us have been made to interact with each other,” said Piya Dutta, who hails from Delhi and studies at XLRI, Jamshedpur.

“This is so inspiring and fun. I also suddenly feel so responsible,” she said.

The interns are looking forward to an exciting and fruitful two months at Samsung.

At Samsung, ‘people’ is one of our core values. We believe a company is its people and we are dedicated to giving our people a wealth of opportunities to reach their full potential.

Yashjeet Varshney, a first year student at MDI Gurgaon has spent the last few days toggling between managing affairs at home and attending virtual meetings with business leaders at Samsung India, where he is doing his summer internship.

“I learn new things here every day and many new perspectives that a business school can never provide. Frankly, even though this internship is virtual and I may not be as fortunate as some of my seniors to get an in-office experience, the last two weeks have been absolutely exciting and I don’t know how I’d ever go back to routine college life,” he says.

Yashjeet is among 34 interns from India’s top B-Schools who got selected for the prestigious IGNITE (Inspiring Growth & Nurturing Interns Towards Excellence) internship program – a springboard for many young B-school grads aspiring for a coveted corporate career.

It’s a motley group of students from IIM-Ahmedabad, IIMs – Lucknow, Calcutta, Bangalore and Kozhikode, XLRI Jamshedpur, MDI Gurgaon and FMS Delhi. As the offices are shut for safety of employees as per Covid protocols, the young students are leaving no stone unturned to make the two-month long summer internship program ignite their spirits.

“Our spirits are high. Unfortunately we are not able to raise a toast together because of this program going virtual this year too,” says Sameer Wadhawan, Senior Vice President and Head of Human Resources at Samsung India. “At Samsung, we believe that young talent, like in this lot will be Powering Digital India – Samsung’s vision for India,” he adds.

The people managers at Samsung have been working from home too, and it has been quite a challenge to keep the flock together but they have ensured the interns go back as empowered or more as any of their seniors. There are some misses for them surely, but the gains will outshine them.

First, let’s see what they have been missing: their first stride and warm welcome into Samsung’s plush Corporate Office on the 24th Floor of Two Horizon Center in Gurugram, the in-person meetings with Samsung leaders, a tête-à-tête with them over coffee, the first office pal, the visits to the exciting break out areas, the gym and cafeteria where ideas abound as much as the delicious spread of food. And of course, the after office parties.

But there are plenty of firsts in a virtual office as well: The first cloud meeting, with patchy connection issues at times, first virtual catch-up, the first virtual brainstorming session, virtual meetings and ideation sessions. And it seems our bunch is enjoying it too.

Sejal Sinha: Amazing how the virtual internship has been so intriguing that I don’t miss the offline version of it

“I was really hoping to have an in-person internship experience. I have always been passionate about new places, people, and culture so would have loved to see the Samsung office and meet colleagues,” says Sejal Sinha from IIM Kozhikode. “But the virtual mode has been just as intriguing. I absolutely love how the Samsung culture has kept it all so alive even through the current situation and its challenges.”

Anushka Dhawan: I am yet to fully believe that I am interning for a brand that is so omnipresent

Anushka Dhawan from XLRI Jamshedpur says the best part about this internship for her is that even the senior most leaders are so readily available, “when we need any inputs from them.”

“Everyone has been keen on sharing their experience and insights with us making all the learning so much more fun. I am yet to fully believe that I am interning for a brand that is so omnipresent. Samsung is a part of almost every Indian home,” she says.

There is more coming up. Stay tuned.