yearbook

Alexandra GalvizA Former Serial Intern’sguide to internshipsAlexandra Galviz took part inthe 2009 City of London BusinessTraineeship Programme, winningthe Trainee of the Year awardafter interning at MAPFRE asan E-Commerce and BusinessDevelopment Assistant. She isnow Global Head of Trainingat Currencies Direct.Now more than ever, in a workmarket saturated with millennials,it is vital to gain work experience,learn new skills and start building a network of contacts beforegraduating. Unlike most of my generation, it was never compulsory tocomplete an internship for credit or as part of my degree. I’ve alwaysbeen a bit of a self-proclaimed workaholic, from the moment I turnedsixteen I got a part time job in retail whilst at school and worked full timethrough the summer all the way up to my college years. When I finishedcollege, I happened to stumble upon a posterby the Brokerage Citylink that advertised internships in the City and Ijumped at the opportunity to do something different during my summer.After having completed my first internship, I realised how invaluable theexperience was. Four internships later and having been awarded Cityof London Business Trainee of the Year, here are the most important thingsI have learnt.Eenie meenie miney mo, for which internship shall I go?I’ve always had an exact idea of what I wanted to do but I always knewthat I wasn’t particularly keen on going down the conventional path ofstudying economics, business management or finance. That’s why Idecided to study what I was passionate about – French – and make sureby the end of graduating I’d have at least one year of combined workexperience to be able to find a job within the sector I wanted to work.Make sure you are picking jobs relevant to what you think you mightwant to pursue after graduation. Although most of my experiences werein varying fields of business, they always had a common theme, ‘clientrelationships’. I personally always enjoyed interning in SMEs, becauseit gave me the opportunity to get more involved and there was usuallya larger amount of work available therefore allowing me to interactmore often with senior members of staff.Your internship is what YOU make of it:Great, you’ve landed your internship, now this is your time to shine andshow what skills you can bring to the table. In my first ever internship Iwas employed to do data entry, after completing a cost forecasting fora new outsourcing partner, (which I found out later was for the CEO).They soon realised I was capable of much more. It wasn’t long beforethey employed someone to do data entry and before I knew it I wascontributing like any other member of staff. My new found role had merevamping their sales brochures, attending sales pitches with high levelexecutives whilst also project managing on a deal which was estimatedat over £1 million. Most of the really great experiences I had in myinternships had come from me either requesting more work oridentifying where I could use my skills to help and suggesting ideason how I could contribute.Building your network:The amazing thing about internships is that you get to meet such awide range of people from different cultures, religions and countriesand, believe it or not, all these people will enhance your experienceand teach you something along the way. It’s important that you findone person that can help you navigate your way around the companyand lead you through your internship, be it your manager or a workcolleague. There will be times when you need a second opinion orjust someone wiser to give you general advice for the future. Make surethat these relationships last longer than the last day of your internshipas these are the relationships that will count once you graduate.Be fearless:We all make mistakes, but it’s so much better to make them earlier onin your career rather than later and guess what, you learn from them!There is no better time to push yourself and try to get the most out ofeach opportunity. I remember after completing my first internship Ithought, “how can I progress further next year and get out of my comfortzone?”. Not long after I was living and working abroad in Paris for thesummer at the age of 18, which at the time was a really dauntingprospect having never lived abroad let alone on my own. Luckily I hadmanaged to secure an internship before moving there but that wasn’t tosay it was going to be an easy ride. Yes you are young, yes you haveno experience, yes you are nervous but the truth is that everyone hashad to go through the same thing and if they all survived, so will you.Never forget it’s all part of the challenge!The world is in fact your oyster:Not only do you now have a degree but you have a new set of skills,actual practical experience and a network of contacts, so make sure youutilise them to their highest potential. I strongly believe that no internshipis a bad internship and in each one of them you will pick something upthat will help you somewhere along your career. You’ll learn things like:what you enjoy and would rather pass, what career path you want totake and which one you’d think twice about and what industry you wantto go into and those you’d rather avoid, all things that without actualpractical experience can be quite difficult to learn. Combine all of theseexperiences and not only will you be one step ahead of your peers butthey’ll also help you make important decisions in your early career.These are therelationships thatwill count onceyou graduate6