About Mridusmita Chowdhury:

Coming from a defence background, I did not spend my childhood jumping from one school to another. Rather I stayed in one place and met a lot of people from different background and mixed culture. I completed my B.E in Electronics and Telecommunication from GIMT, Guwahati. Currently, I am pursuing MBA in Marketing and Finance from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies. I am a senior member of Entrepreneurship Cell and a senior coordinator of Yoddhas- a Cancer awareness club at SIMS Pune. Adding to these activities, I love doodling which you will usually find in the back of my notebooks and laughing my heart out in the silliest of things somewhere in the college (if you want to find me).

About the Internship

  • Duration - 8 Weeks
  • Location - Mumbai
  • Industry - Real Estate
  • Role - Sales Intern

How was your overall experience?

To put it in words, it was fun. The timings were flexible - 10 am to 7 pm. Since we were given market research where we were not supposed to disclose our identity, it was fun to go to different developers every day and look around their flats, have tea, talk to them and come out giving them hopes that I was a potential lead. Well, I still get calls from them and it feels bad when I reject their luring discounts.

How was the selection process conducted? 

We were called to the head-office of Oberoi Realty in Goregaon, Mumbai. A total of 16 students were shortlisted for the same. Three rounds were conducted in total. The first round was taken by HR which was basically a get-to-know type. The second round was taken by the Sales Head and the final round was taken by the HR head of Oberoi Realty.

What was your project and how did you execute it?

My project was “Market Intelligence and Benchmarking” and I was working directly under the Sales Head for Eastern part. I had to benchmark Oberoi Realty in terms of pricing and quality. The area given to me was Mulund and I had to visit the competitor's site without disclosing my identity that I was an intern at Oberoi Realty. Basically, I had to collect information regarding the prices of different configurations of flats and the amenities and the scheme of payment they were providing. I also had to constantly keep a track of the sales of the competitors which were regularly updated on MAHARERA website.

How was the work culture at Oberoi Realty?

The work culture at Oberoi Realty was very good. The other departments were very cooperative and had helped me in every possible term related to work. They are very disciplined when it comes to present themselves. The sales and the CRM department had uniforms. Even the helping staff also had uniforms. (The interns had to wear formals every day).

What were the key challenges that you faced during your internship?

When a girl in her early 20’s goes to a developer to inquire about a project, most of them would think that she has just come for market research. As I was doing the same, convincing them was a little tough. The next challenge was the negotiation where I had to negotiate about the price as to see up to what extent they were ready to provide discounts.

What were the key learnings of your internship?

Before this internship, I had no idea how does a realty sector work. I have gained a lot of insight on the same. I now can say that I have experience in sales. Also, patience and bluff would be two words that I have developed in me. Bluff I had to do and patient I had to be to bluff.

Any memorable moments from the internship?

All the doodles that I made whenever I got time to kill.

Any tips you would like to share with our juniors?

If given a chance, do not miss the opportunity to be a part of Oberoi Realty (only if you think you can handle Mumbai traffic). It has got a brand name which will reflect in your CV. Working here would be fun and you would really get hands-on experience at the sales front.

For any other queries, you can reach out to Mridusmita @Linkedin and @Instagram