(Courtesy: The Shardans newspaper published by the Department of Mass Communication, Sharda University)
By Sananda Mukherjee
BY the end of May 2014, when everyone else around the campus was busy packing bags to go home for the summer vacations, I was preparing myself for interviews to fix myself one step closer to my dreams. Getting an internship was never an easy task but nevertheless it was an interesting one as well. I had always wanted to be in the field of advertisements and wanted to create stories and wondered just the way how I was fascinated from the ones I saw on the television.
It was on a 24 hours notice when I was told that the next morning I had my interview at the BatesCHI & Partners, the global Shanghai-based Advertising agency in Gurgaon. I was tensed, as much as I was in awe for being shortlisted. I was tensed because it was a big organization and I was new to the environment. While I was unsure about what would happen when I faced the interview the next day at 10:00 AM, the feeling of inching closer to my dream triggered courage and confidence.
There were a set of mind boggling questions asked by one of the organization’s executives which I somehow managed to answer. The answers qualified me for my internship at the Client Servicing Department at BatesCHI & Partners within the next two days.
Within a week, I shifted to Gurgaon. Gurgaon was new in every way and it excited me a lot. I still remember the first day at office. It was different in its own way, from finding a place to sit to knowing people around me, it was a grand welcome to the organization and I was convinced that Global Business Park Tower was the place I wanted to be working at after two months.
At the department of client servicing, I was assigned to assist and supervise the studio and ensure that client demands were met every day. I happened to be servicing for Uninor, the telecom brand whose six circles were looked after namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat and UP East-West.
The working hours were not fixed and I sometimes returned home at midnight. From deciding on the dinner menu to ordering midnight pizzas to playing catch and catch, everything was a part of those two months in during work breaks.
Even though I was a part of the CS department, my aim was to get into the Creative department. There, I would be able to draft my ideas for advertisements. As a result, I always explored for opportunities to squeeze myself in.
After spending a month at the CS Department, one fine day, I got an opportunity to interact with the head of the Creative Department. I shared my interests and my desire to work with the creative team, and to my surprise, I was shifted to the very department. There, I opted to work on the Copy Desk.
After reworking for almost 15 days on my script, finally, my ad script got selected. It further heightened my confidence. The advertisement that we see on TV is more different and challenging than it looks. A lot of people put their heads, creativity and skills to reach on a successful idea to produce a successful advertisement.
I also had the opportunity to be a representative of the organization and meet a senior official of the Vigilance Department of the Delhi Police for feedback on an ad that we had done for them. Finally, upon completing my internship at BatesCHI & Partners, I was offered a job after the completion of my course.
