Hi everyone, hope you are well.
Yesterday I handed in my strategy project and I can officially start holidays!!
Today I am going to write about my life time experience, when studying at UCN.
Every programme that you are going to study in UCN has an obligatory internship requirement. But what is that actually? I need to admit, that when I came for my studies here, every teacher was saying from the first day something about internships. I was just listening and did not know what do they mean :)
Internship is a study programme but in practice. You are learning theory in school, but UCN takes care of the fact that theory is not that important. In order to know the industry that you are going to work for, you need to have some practice. That is why you can choose the place all over the world, go there and test your theory in a real world.
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| Hotel I had my internship in |
As you propably know, I am studying International Hospitality Management, and the internships for different programmes, start in a different periods of time, but mine was just after the second semester.
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| Being a cashier, learning a financial management :D |
I remember writing hundreds of emails, making hundreds of phone calls, and nothing! I was really desperate, because I started in december and I didn't see any results until april!
And finally, I got 3 emails back and one phone call from a 5 star hotel chain in Malta. I was really excited and happy for that. I had my interview through the phone call and I was really stressed, but then I got an email that they accepted me and they are looking forward to meet me in St. George's Bay in july.
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| Wedding assistance (wedding in Malta are for over 500 guests!:) |
As a fisrt internship it is imporant that you find something, connected to your industry. In my case it was hotels, but many of my collegues had it also in tourism agencies or event companies. I got my first internship in food and beverage department, I was working as a waitress, barteneder, cashier and learned a bit about events management. Eventhough it was really hard work, daily and in the night shifts, I believe that I gained lots of knoweledge from it. I learned a lot about different culture and different negotiation techniques between malteese companies. Studying management of the hotels, allowed me to see many, many and once again many disadvantages and mistakes, even of the 5 star hotel.
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| Dinner time with collegues from work |
Obviously, it was not just a working time. I learned to live in a small district between all malteese people, needed to learn basics of a language, needed to shop and cook myself. You can say - 'the same as you were doing in Denmark', but no - it's totally different. Every day is over 40 degrees, people have different mentality and routines and you need to experience it in order to learn something. I was going to work every day at 7 in the morning and during 20 minutes walk I was already sun burned.
Besides that, I was working 4 months, every week over 42 hours, I found the time for a parties, sightseeing, sunbathing and enjoying this beautiful island. Livng in Malta gave me another insgiht to a different culture, than Poland and Denmark and is a rich advantage in my CV. I am going to remember that experience for all my life.
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| Did I mention that in Malta is a similar street like Jomfru Ane Gade? |
Most of the times internships are not paid. Bearing in mind hotels, they want as many interns as possible to get an assistance, so it is really imoportant for you to know that, do not expect millions out of 3 months internship. Sometimes companies offer acommodation, food and transport - many of my friends went to Greece in those conditions. You can get around 400euros a month but you don't even have time to spend it, because you have to work all the time. My conditions were totally different. I came to Malta for my own money, and I had to register myself in Valletta - capital of Malta for a work and residental permition. (I have a malteese ID til now, so I can come back and work til 2014) I was employeed as a usual worker, but from abroad, so I needed to find acommodation myself, and I got minimum malteese salary that I could pay for my rent, food, parties and sightseeing.
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| My mum came to visit me! Well, its perfect holidays! |
Do not give up! You have to believe that you are going to find your dream work placement and you will find it. I wish you good luck and go for a best memories in your life!
Guys, write me how is in your countries? Do you have obligatory internships during your studies? When you will come to Denmark, are you excited to put your theory in practice and try yourself in a different country? And for all second semester students - how is your internship searching going? Let me know!!
Aleksandra
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