Lessons from my internship at Pepper Content
While the excitement and merriment of college life are slowly fading away, my professional journey designates an origin. Internships, online courses, and workshops become baby steps towards a skillful mission.
Gratefully, I’ve had the chance to do a bunch of internships. But the one at Pepper, I cherish. The reasons for it are numerous. My fascination with Pepper dates back to the time when I was naive to Linkedin. Their quirky and consistent presence on the platform rose my affinity towards the firm.
The opening for a business intern here immediately grabbed my attention. Fortuitously, after three rounds of interview, I went to the office (which happened to be 5 minutes walking distance from my house) for a chat with Kishan-Head of Business At Pepper. He appeared to be a humble, fun-loving, and hardworking individual. Apart from work, we discussed Jhunjhunu, our ethnicity, and the heterogeneity in college life at BITs and MIT.
Owing to the dynamic team and work culture, my personal as well professional growth has been immense. The two weeks spent working from the office seemed nothing less than two years. Major takeaways are obliged by the interactions I’ve had with my co-workers.
Despite having a bag full of memories and learnings, the seven stated below are the crucial lessons I have learned at Pepper:
1. EVERY COMPANY IS GOING TO BE A CONTENT COMPANY
Pepper has a firm belief in the above statement and thus has it as its tagline. Content is consumed in various verticals such as text, design, audio, and video. Due to the wide range of deliverables and itself being a service as a whole, content has proved that it is the KING.
The number of professionals I connected with daily came as a surprise to me. This owes to the fact that a huge demand for content as a service and Pepper meets this need rightfully.
2. AGE IS JUST A NUMBER. DETERMINATION TAKES YOU A LONG WAY.
My final round of interviews was taken by Kishan, Head of business at Pepper. I was stumbled upon the fact that he is two years younger than me. His determination and knowledge left me in awe. Also, reminded me of how age is just a fancy term.
3. A SUCCESSFUL SALESPERSON IS THE ONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIS PRODUCT
Being a salesperson needs you to be on your toes. Having said that, the individual growth of a person in sales immense. But a successful salesman is the one who has the power to communicate and manipulate the client.
This is only possible when he wholeheartedly believes in his product. Shantnu, my friend enlightened me about this approach and I improved drastically. I am really grateful to have him as a go to person professionally and personally
4. CALLING WILL GET YOU THE CLIENT BUT FOLLOW UPS WILL CLOSE THE DEAL
This was a lesson I learned the hard way. The most effective way to get a sales deal close is to follow up. My manager, Madhusha, got on our nerves and made sure the pipeline was strong to get the desired revenue.
5. EMAIL WRITING IS AN UNDERRATED ART
A human spends around 5 hours reading an email. To make their investment worthwhile, the mail should be very well off.
The art of writing a professional email was introduced to me by my manager, Madhusha- Mainly because I was poor at it. On having a conversation with her about this skill, she said that writing decent professional emails is a skill that can be acquired. This gave me hope XD
6. DOING MENIAL TASKS WON’T ALTER YOUR WORTH.
I very well remember on the second day of internship, I was handed over Excel work which had mere copy and pasting. It was boring and to some extent annoying as well. But later on, I learnt this lesson a hard way. Also, Kishans’ post says it all.
7. STARTUPS ARE SUBJECT TO MARKET RISK
Of the umpteen startups which commence, only a few sustain the hardships. Keeping in mind the average lifetime of startups ie 2 years, Pepper has come a long way. The behind-scenes of a startup are often ugly and ill-fated but once surpassed, then there are just milestones to be achieved.
My internship at Pepper abruptly came to an end but not my learning. I genuinely wish that Pepper and the team grow continuously while setting benchmarks. Proud to have brewed content at the largest content marketplace.
If you want know more about my professional experiences with a personal tinge, lets connect on LinkedIn.
