Name: Hem Chander

Internship Company: CBS Interactive

Role: MBA Intern, Business Development and Strategy

What did you do before Stern?
Consultant at BCG, India

What was your role over the summer?
Primary role: To develop business strategies for CBSi to enter into new markets of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, eSports, etc. Secondary responsibilities: Support the Business Intelligence team and develop new features for College sports gameday live app.

What were your responsibilities?
Building a business case for new ventures, building dashboards, and testing efficacy of new app features.

What was a typical day like?
A typical day started with a meeting with a different team to gather their perspective on the business case I was working on. From there on, I built PowerPoint slides incorporating their viewpoints and built financial models based on our discussions.

What drew you to this company and role?
I had met my boss several times before my interview. I loved his energy and knowledge. The work was in line with what I wanted to do post-MBA. Also, CBS is a big brand name that would have given credibility to my resume.

What experiences helped prepare you for this internship?
A spring internship and preparing thoroughly for the behaviourals helped me get the job. Also, just reading up on the latest media and tech trends really helped me hit the ground running.

What was the best advice you received during the recruiting process?
Have a strong story for why entertainment (mind you, it should be an actual story rather than a practised pitch), having a 360 degree view of the industry (why is the firm in news, how has the latest trend affected them, what is Wall St’s reaction to the decision made by the company), being personable (no one likes to work with a stiff).

How did you spend your time preparing for recruiting and interviews?
I spent 15 minutes every day reading Variety, and practised my pitch again and again.

Did you find anything surprising during recruiting or the internship?
Yes. Entertainment industry is casual in its demeanour but really serious about their business

What was your most memorable experience over the summer?
Getting tickets to watch The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as a reward for the internship!

What do you look forward to as an MBA2?
Spending more time with my classmates and experiencing new hobbies!