Merge pull request #71 from victorphoenix3/itc

adds summer-diaries-itc

_posts/2019-07-30-sumer-diaries-itc3.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "Summer Diaries: ITC Limited"
+image: "aneja1.png"
+tags: [wona]
+author: "Mohit Aneja"
+category: summer2019
+excerpt: 'I was allotted a project in the Paperboards and Speciality Papers (PSPD) division of ITC. The projects given to the KITES interns are quite versatile, from highly technical projects related to your branch to research work in a completely different domain.' 
+---
+
+## Where & What: What I worked on during the intern? 
+
+
+I was allotted a project in the Paperboards and Speciality Papers (PSPD) division of ITC. The projects given to the KITES interns are quite versatile, from highly technical projects related to your branch to research work in a completely different domain. One of my co-interns from Mechanical Engineering was given a project on safety. My project was more on the technical side - based on heat and mass transfer, and performance assessment of cooling towers and heat exchangers. The objectives of the project were:
+
+**i)** To assess the performance of cooling towers and heat exchangers in Utilities and Soda Recovery Section and to increase the efficiency of heat exchangers by 5%.<br>
+
+**ii)** To reduce the freshwater consumption as makeup water by 20%.
+
+
+The scope of the project was a total of 6 cooling towers and 6 heat exchangers inside the plant. I had to visit all the cooling towers and observe any visual flaws during the operation and compare it with the benchmark practices. My work included talking to a lot of people to understand the operation of the cooling towers and corresponding condensers, research work to look for new technologies, analyzing the data obtained, thinking and brainstorming on new ideas to save water and increase efficiency. I was given enough freedom to take my project in whatever direction I wanted to - which I used to explore new technology in the field. I got an experimental set-up fabricated based off of a research paper with the help of engineers in the plant. The plant engineers are highly eager to implement any good idea in order to improve the operations in the plant.
+Before applying: Where/how did you get the idea of interning there?
+ITC is one of the first companies to visit the campus but I did not have any plans to seriously sit for the process. I had a decent CGPA so I thought of giving it a shot. I had an altogether different view of the interview process (assuming it to be one of the toughest technical interviews on campus) but this myth was busted only in my own interview!
+
+## Making it there:
+The process starts with a lengthy ‘Mind Over Matter’ form consisting of around 6-7 essay type questions focusing on your personality, followed by resume shortlisting. Generally, people with higher CGPA are given preference while shortlisting. Not only this, having something unique on your resume will help you getting shortlisted. It doesn’t matter if the previous work done isn’t related to what ITC does. My previous internships were based on Python development in Options trading, and basic level research work in alternative finance. 
+After this, a psychometric test is conducted to check if the values of the candidate align with that of the company. The psychometric test consists of about 35 questions, with 20 unique questions and the rest being a repetition, but in a different form/language. They want to test your consistency in answering the questions about yourself. There is no right answer to those questions. Just be consistent with your answers throughout the test.
+
+
+
+## Group Discussion:
+
+This is followed by a GD round - with groups of 9-10 people each. You are handed a case study written on a paper and given 20 minutes to discuss and arrive at a conclusion. The time limit is strict and they will ask you to leave immediately after the time is over, whether or not your group arrived at a conclusion or not. Try to make logical arguments in this round. Don’t speak just to speak. It may backfire if someone counters your statement with a good argument. Don’t keep mum during the whole round either, which will surely remove you from the process. Listen carefully when others are speaking and find the right time to speak and agree to / counter the points that other people make. It will show that you are a good listener and you’re not just waiting to blabber your own points. Initiating the discussion by quickly reading the case study is always a plus. Only 2-3 people make it to the interview rounds after the group discussion.
+
+
+## Technical round + HR:
+
+At last, two PI rounds are conducted. The first one is a lengthy round - with discussion on your favorite subject, fundamental questions on that subject. After this, you are asked a few questions based on your answers to questions in the Mind Over Matter form. Basic HR questions are also asked in this round. If you make it to the final round - which is mostly taken by people from the HR team of some division of ITC, you will be asked questions as to why you prefer ITC over other companies, your motive for joining and other HR questions. I was asked one technical question on heat exchangers in this round as well.
+
+
+Turns out, the whole procedure is not about how technically sound you are when it comes to your branch subjects but it is more about aligning with the values of the company, and your seriousness in the previous internships/projects. Basically, the company doesn’t expect you to know anything beforehand because the projects are so diverse in nature that it will require you to study the subject from scratch during the internship. Hence they want someone who can grasp things quickly, can get things done - by convincing others and by taking the lead.
+Tip: A lot of questions are asked based on your resume, so be very precise and clear about what you’re writing in your resume. It would be good if you can prepare one subject of your choice before the interviews (just be very clear with the fundamentals - don’t dive into the technicalities of the subject). Also, prepare a 30 second and 1 minute summary of yourself for the “Tell me about yourself” question thrown at you as soon as you enter the interview room.
+
+
+## About the Place:
+
+![pic](/images/posts/aneja3.png){: style="width:80%;height:auto;"}
+
+The PSPD division has 4 plants - Bhadrachalam, Kovai, Tribeni and Bollaram. Interns are generally sent to the Bhadrachalam since it is the biggest unit in terms of the size of operations. It is a remote town in Telangana, 6 hours from Hyderabad city via train. The factory consists of 7 humongous paper machines having lengths of about 300-400 metres each. This adds to the walking that you’d need to do to move from one part of the plant to the other.
+
+## Project Description: 
+
+
+The aim of the project was to assess the performance of cooling towers and to increase the efficiency of heat exchangers, and to save freshwater in the cooling towers - so work was to be done in a lot of different domains. The project required a fair bit of knowledge of heat and mass transfer principles, site visits, data analysis on Excel, chemistry of corrosion and scaling, research work to look for new technologies in the field, and management in terms of following up with a lot of people simultaneously (for data collection, process understanding, lab tests, machine visits, meetings).
+It would be good if you’re well familiar with Excel and PowerPoint. You may have to use Minitab and Statistical Quality Control techniques depending on the type of project. Learning the basics beforehand will help, although a formal workshop is conducted during the orientation session, before the internship, in the month of April.
+
+
+## Work Environment:
+
+![pic](/images/posts/aneja2.png){: style="width:80%;height:auto;"}
+
+The work hours, officially, are 8:30 AM-5:30 PM but the interns rarely adhere to the schedule. Most of the times, we went to the plant during the office hours only since we had to meet a lot of people in the plant. At some point during the intern, when my work was only restricted to researching for new methods, I worked from my room. On an average you’d work 8-10 hours per day, but it extends depending on the proximity of the reviews with your guide and mentor. (as is the case with MTEs and ETEs in college). The sad part is that you have to work 6 days a week. The one day break is not sufficient to travel to any good places nearby. Most of the Sundays were underutilized by either sleeping the whole day or by visits to the local market. This was not the case for all the divisions, though- some other interns got a lot of chances to travel to beautiful places around their locations (especially the Bangalore peeps).
+
+
+The people in the company (and the mill) are amazing to talk to, very supportive. Since a lot of help is required from the plant engineers related to your project, their supportive attitude makes them easily approachable. You may face a language barrier while communicating with some of the operators in the plant but even they know enough English for you to get your message across.
+You are allotted a guide and a mentor for the project. Both of them have some knowledge in the domain of the project and will help you to the best possible extent. You can easily approach your guide for any help on a daily basis and the mentor every week. Building a good rapport with both of them will help you tremendously.
+
+
+The interns are well taken care of. The company provides for the accommodation and the food during the whole stay. The accommodation is in a decent guest house, with a dining hall which serves majorly South Indian food, although you can get custom dishes prepared, apart from the regular menu. The weather is something to hate about the place. It is extremely humid (owing to Godavari River nearby and steam releases in the plant) and hot during the months of May and June with temperatures reaching 48 degrees.
+
+
+## Summing up and Key Takeaways:
+
+
+Overall, the two months of internship at ITC were the best two months in terms of learning. It added immensely to my pool of knowledge by enhancing my people skills, technical skills and management skills. The work culture at the company will definitely add professionalism to your work ethics. It is astonishing to see that even the simplest of decisions are taken with a lot of  brainstorming, since each and every decision ultimately impacts the company’s profits. Not only the internship, the KITES orientation session in Bangalore is one of the best experiences one can have. The stay, the food and the level at which the interactions happen at the orientation is surely going to leave you spellbound.
+
+
+Basically, the company expects the intern to look at the operations from a different perspective and suggest new and innovative solutions to the existing problems. The experience of KITES interns can vary significantly depending on which division they were allotted. The project work may be overwhelming at times but talking to your guide and mentor will surely give you a definite direction. Practicing for GDs with your batchmates will help you do better in the actual GDs. Read about the different divisions of ITC and the overall hierarchy before going to the interviews. All the best!
+
+

_posts/2019-07-30-summer-diaries-itc1.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "Summer Diaries: ITC Limited"
+image: "shivani1.png"
+tags: [wona]
+author: "Shivani Singh"
+category: summer2019
+excerpt: 'I spent my Summer’19 interning with ITC Ltd., a multi-business Indian enterprise. Having tried my hands on fields of research in chemical engineering at IISc Bangalore and management at IIM Ahmedabad, I was pretty sure that research was not something which could keep up my interest for a long enough time to pursue it as a career option.'
+---
+
+I spent my Summer’19 interning with ITC Ltd., a multi-business Indian enterprise. Having tried my hands on fields of research in chemical engineering at IISc Bangalore and management at IIM Ahmedabad, I was pretty sure that research was not something which could keep up my interest for a long enough time to pursue it as a career option.I wanted something which could be more tangible in terms of results of my efforts. Led by this motivation, I was very clear during the internship season of the companies I was going to apply for, consequently landing an internship in ITC Ltd.
+
+## Making it there:
+
+## About the program: 
+I was selected under ITC’s Summer Internship Programme- “Knowledge, Initiative & Talent Excellence Series” popularly known as KITES. The programme is specifically designed to provide the interns with a platform to learn, experience and manage real life business situations. The interns are recruited from the premier technical institutes of the country for a period of 8 weeks where their novel perspective to a business problem is utilised for extracting the best from them.
+
+## Application Process:
+The application process started in early August when ITC came on campus through TPO for hiring summer interns. Last year the branches eligible were Chemical, Electrical, ECE, Mechanical and Production & Industrial. The complete process is summarized as under:
+
+**1. Online Application**: Interested students are required to apply through an online portal where a form is required to be filled. The form essentially requires details from your resume and some essay type questions to be answered mentioning your goals and motivation to join ITC.
+
+**2. Shortlisting**: Based on the form filled, a shortlist is issued for the psychometric test. The information that you fill in this form is reassessed at various stages from your personality test to the point then you actually join one of the divisions of ITC and serves as a medium for the company (and especially your guides and mentors) to know you.
+
+**3. Psychometric Test**: This test is designed to evaluate your intelligence, personality and decision making skills through some situational questions. The aim is to check if you are a good fit for the company’s work environment or not. The rejection rate at this stage is negligible and you will pass through unless you decide to deliberately screw it up. 
+
+**4. Group Discussion**: The students selected from the psychometric test are divided in groups of 7-8 for the group discussion round. This stage of the selection procedure is designed to judge your people handling and convincing skills. The discussion revolves around solving a case which is given to you in hardcopy after you enter the room. The reading time given to you is about 5 minutes, hence, you need to be really quick in grasping the essence of the problem and coming up with logical arguments. The problems may range from discussing upcoming business strategy for a product or simply just discussing the best course of action after an accident. These case problems do not require any prior preparation but you are expected to be logically sound in your arguments and be able to convince your audience for the same. The number of students selected from a GD is not fixed and may range from 1-4 per GD.
+
+**5. Personal Interview**: From around 68 students who participated in GD rounds last year, 20 students were selected for the final personal interview round. This is the last stage of the selection procedure and in my opinion the most interesting one, the reason you’ll get to know in the following paragraphs: 
+
+**a. Technical Round:** This round is aimed to test your technical competency with respect to your engineering knowledge but does not strictly sticks to the plan, it happens often that the HR would pop up a question related to your goals and plans, so be ready to keep jumping between these two domains in your mind. It starts with the interviewers asking you questions from your favourite subjects which you are asked to mention. Hence, it is advisable to prepare at least 2 subjects from your curriculum. The questions are from the very basics of the subject, so don’t worry if you are not a master in it. I prepared for Heat Transfer and was asked to derive the formula for ‘Log Mean Temperature Difference’, those who have studied must know this concept is fairly easy. The interviewer can also go into the details of your projects or internships mentioned in the resume, so do give a read to any reports that you might have made or in general the work that you might have done. Though this round is named as the technical round but the decision of you getting the internship or not is more or less finalised here only.
+
+
+**b. HR Round:** This round is basically an interaction between the student and some senior officials from the company who are interested in knowing your interest in working with them. Again, don’t just expect HR questions in the interview. If the person is intrigued by some specific point in your resume, you can be taken into the technical realms of the business from this very moment which was the case with me. I was asked about the temperature profile of tobacco in processing and its importance in terms of the product quality. You are not expected to know everything when such questions may be thrown at you, what is important is the approach you take to understand and arrive at a solution. 
+
+
+## Mind Over Matter Orientation Program
+
+![pic2](/images/posts/shivani2.png){: style="width:80%;height:auto;"}
+
+
+Before getting us to work in some of the harsh places in the country, ITC treated us well with a 2 days 5-star stay in its luxury collection hotel ITC Windsor in Bangalore. This orientation program was a stepping stone for us to transition from theoretical knowledge to a mindset for real business problems and technical tools to handle them. These 2 days had rigorous sessions scheduled to equip us with all the skills required for pursuing and emerging successful from the upcoming 2 months long internship. The orientation also gave us the opportunity to meet the interns selected from other institutes of the country and break the ice as this 2-day long event concluded with a cocktail party hosted by ITC for all the incoming interns.
+
+![pic3](/images/posts/shivani3.png){: style="width:80%;height:auto;"}
+
+
+## Work     
+With a diversified portfolio in FMCG, Paperboards, Hotels, Packaging, Agri-business and Information Technology, ITC offers a wide range of opportunities for the interns. The allotment procedure where the interns are selected to intern in one of the divisions of ITC is purely based on our past experience, internships and projects, and unfortunately we do not have a choice here. Surely, the KITES summer internship program is a platform to learn and experience working in a corporate environment but the projects allotted to the interns have serious business significance and hence, each intern is considered as an integral part of their company during this period. This is how KITES differs from any of the projects or internships that you might have done earlier (at least in my case).
+
+The project brief was received around a month prior to the commencement of the internship. It was a detailed explanation of my project, the objectives, the deliverables expected and prior readings required. Guides and mentors were also allotted at this stage.
+My project was based on process optimisation and standardisation of encapsulated flavour used in cigarettes. It majorly involved risk assessment of product defects, analysis based on feasibility of solutions and identification of scope for improvements in the process in terms of time and money while maintaining product integrity. I was also required to design a tech-enabled traceability system for capsule manufacturing. 
+The projects can be from any domains of production, engineering, process excellence and environment, health & safety. One can even expect project in the area of machine learning and artificial intelligence depending upon the requirements in the divisions. 
+
+The work culture at ITC was very different than what I had experienced in my past interns. Here I had the liberty to experiment anything new to solve the problems and deliver results. While I had the factory workers to help me throughout the project, I also had to take care that the production line is not getting affected in any way. 
+It has been a characteristic of the KITES projects that they are a bit vague in their definition for the sake that the intern can find his/her own way forward without getting affected by the opinions or the work that has already been done in the area. This makes it challenging and interesting at the same time. The entire internship period was a bit bumpy for me where I had my lows when I was completely aimless as to where should I proceed, and my highs where I validated solutions and got results. This was also complemented with the pressure to complete the deliverables within the stipulated 8 weeks. Since, ITC has factories at various locations in India, you may also be required to travel to different plants to get insights from various technologies used there. In entirety, KITES internship is drafted to evaluate the intern in terms of his/her approach to solve a problem, technical intellect, people handling skills, professionalism and the extent to which the person is ready to go for getting resources relevant to your project. Though it may get frustrating at times, but the experience is truly worth it.
+
+The locations that ITC offers are not quite pleasant, one can expect locations like Munger, Bhadrachalam, Kapurthala (which even I wasn’t aware of) where the only human interaction you have is with the people in the plant. Fortunately, my location was ITD (Indian Tobacco Division) Bangalore. Though, the factory was around 30 km from the main city (Koramangala to be precise) but I was able to spend my weekends in the city. The accommodation provided to us compensated the stress we brought back from work. It was a beautiful villa with a canopy of shady trees and serene open space. 
+
+![pic4](/images/posts/shivani4.png){: style="width:80%;height:auto;"}
+
+## Summing it up
+KITES summer internship is all about extracting the best from the best! Your hard work, innovative viewpoint and unique technical solutions to business problems are the factors deciding your success in this endeavor. To say the least, you are groomed to become industry ready in these 2 months with all sorts of challenges thrown at you, be it dealing with vendors for negotiations or a particular technical glitch in the machine. 
+Important to mention, if you are expecting a 9-5 desk job with no jerks and jolts, ITC is not a place for you. For the students aiming for ITC:
+
+**1.** Be clear about your motivation to join ITC, this is what matters the most.<br>
+**2.** Glance through your core subjects a bit to prepare for the technical round.<br>
+**3.** Though not strictly required,but you can go through some problems asked in case interviews just to create a pace for solving them. (Do this only if you have time)<br>
+**4.** It’s better to read about some initiatives of ITC for the HR round, it’s always appreciable if you can back your motivation with some examples.<br>
+**5.** Through each and every stage of the selection procedure, be extremely confident!
+
+That’s all you require to go through :)
+
+
+

_posts/2019-07-30-summer-diaries-itc2.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "Summer Diaries: ITC Limited"
+image: "bagla1.png"
+tags: [wona]
+author: "Anirudh Bagla"
+category: summer2019
+excerpt: 'The best thing about ITC is that you work on a real problem faced by the company, you suggest changes and they are implemented immediately and you are given freedom to explore the problem as much as you can'
+---
+
+## FEW TIPS FOR ITC
+* ITC repeats its GD problems, don’t be overconfident, do practice this with your friends
+* Have a good and interesting introduction prepared
+* Know how to explain at least 2 projects in your resume and be aware of the slightest technical thing that is involved in those projects. And if you make it technical enough, you might get rid of questions from your course. By this you become the person driving the conversation.
+* Make sure that you have a convincing reason to join ITC even after the intern
+
+## LOCATION AND DIVISION
+
+ITC has around 100+ factories spread over 60 locations in India. Sadly these locations are not something one admires to work at. They are mostly tier 3 cities and if not they are located in the outskirts of big cities. If you are lucky enough you can find non factory locations in head offices, but I personally believe if you want to make the most from this intern, work in a factory. 
+
+I was allotted FBD (Foods Business Division) and to be very clear each division at ITC works differently, it's like working in a different company all together. As far as FBD is concerned it is still in expansion phase and has new factories coming almost every year. In foods my location was at the dairy plant of munger district of Bihar.
+
+Before you feel pity for me I visited Patna, Kolkata, Bangalore (twice) and even travelled in Business class and no matter how poor the infrastructure of the city is ITC makes sure that you have stay of life in that city. My stay was arranged at ITC park and it had all the facilities from swimming pool to club and as far as Dry state is concerned there is nothing stopping an IITian (wink wink)
+
+## PROJECT
+
+The best thing about ITC is that you work on a real problem faced by the company, you suggest changes and they are implemented immediately and you are given freedom to explore the problem as much as you can (I will come to this one later).
+
+Around 2 months prior to  joining in May, ITC arranges a 3 days program to help us with how to approach and work during the internship. They teach us basic data analysis tools and all the non- technical stuff we might need during our project. Apart from this we are not expected to know any software or other things, but we might have to learn it during the internship (not in detail but to the point you can understand someone else's work on it).
+
+Coming to my project, ITC entered in pouch milk packing last year only. My project was to reduce market complaints in pouch milk packets. This included improving machine’s performance, inspection techniques and even out of the box ideas of how to prevent fake complaints. I was given this project about a week before joining and it was made very clear that the only criteria of success is actual reduction in complaints (since this data goes directly 
+to head office, tempering results was also not possible). Currently there was about 0.2% complaints which i had to reduce further.
+
+## WORK CULTURE
+
+I was given individual project (this means I had absolute freedom on how I want to proceed) and assigned a guide who was my contact point during the internship and a buddy (for any informal help, mostly newly joined managers from IITs). It is a 24/7 running factory and working hours are 9am to 6pm, 6 days a week (so i got one day to enjoy the astonishing night life at munger). But since I was on a project this timeline didn’t matter at all, in fact after the first week, I hardly worked according to this. Sometimes I had to go to at night shift to observe/implement changes, sometimes early morning and sometimes on Sundays as well. To compensate i took leaves during weekdays whenever i found workload was less.
+
+My guide was the production manager of the factory, and he was responsible for any help that I need for my project. Most interns found their guides to be their boss and have limited interaction with them, but mine case was a bit different. He used to call me for dinner (He’s a great chef), organized parties at his home and even at the office. At the same time he gave me free hand on whatever I wanted to implement (considering the risks though). Since he was the production manager he was quite busy and sometimes wasn’t able to give time to my project, in such situations we met post work and discuss (benefits of small town).
+
+Since I didn't have any knowledge of the dairy industry and the technology used, I requested to visit other factories of ITC and even managed to arrange a visit factories of some more established players in the market. This is the freedom that I mentioned earlier. I just had to give a valid reason and ITC arranges rest. Whether it is visiting a vendor in Kolkata, or visit the original manufacturers of the machine in Pune.
+
+Since they provide you with such facilities they expect work from you, to check the progress I had a mid review separately with Divisional Head and the CEO. Finally in the end my progress was reviewed by each level for which I had to make a presentation and one only get a chance to present further if he gets recommended. I got the recommendation to present in front of DMC (Decision Making Committee) at the Bangalore Head Office.
+
+![pic](/images/posts/bagla2.png){: style="width:80%;height:auto;"}
+
+## SUMMING UP
+
+You will have friends who go to wonderful places for interns and you are stuck in a tier 3 city of a dry state. Frankly this makes it a bit difficult. But this is an experience of life, most of us will end up working in a corporate and for me it was too big a gamble to make this decision without having a taste of life here.
+
+At the same time this project not only tested my technical skills but almost everything I learnt in my life. I dealt with people from Blue collar workers (aasan nhi tha) to Factory manager, I followed a truck secretly to investigate drivers activity, I even worked till 5 in the morning and sometimes on Sundays as well. It was a hell of a task. 
+All this plus the hefty stipend makes it worth interning at ITC !
+