Great start to NYC summer

New York has always been among the top cities I wanted to live in. It's full of life and color, a tremendous variety of restaurants and the most vibrant art and culture platform that I have seen anywhere. Finally my dream comes true for the summer as I start my internship with IBM. As I absorb my first week of experiencing this fascinating city, I am surprised how quickly it flew by.

My internship at IBM started with a three day onboarding class in Washington D.C. with other MBA interns from Kellogg, Booth, Wharton and Columbia. While the class itself was to familiarize us with the company and the administrative processes, the three days together in D.C. were a great way for the intern batch to bond and build an instant support network in the company.

The first week flew by in a blur as I absorbed training materials and research, and networked with consultants and partners in the Strategy & Transformation practice. The need to network with people cannot be overemphasized in a large consulting organization. Since you do not have a strict reporting heirarchy, finding ways to advance your career is in your own hands. Building a network of peers and mentors can help solve problems on an assignment and help land the engagements you're looking to work on and open opportunities in the company over a longer term.

My project starts in Atlanta next week, and it's expected have a typical Monday through Thursday on-site travel schedule. My work will be focused on organizational alignment and change management at a large multinational corporation. I hope to get exposure to my client's senior leadership and be able to identify additional strategic and operational challenges facing their business. My metric for success in the project would be to creatively solve a significant problem for my client that would result in measurable value to the client. On the weekends, of course, I will be exploring the city and making some good friends.