Hi everyone!
Today I will share a short introduction of the beginning of my internship at Oatly; how I found Oatly, why I wanted to join Oatly, what my tasks will be and what my expectations are.
How I found Oatly
As I am vegan, I know a lot of brands that produce vegan drinks or food. Oatly, the Swedish food company that produces plant-based products from oats to switch from animal-based to plant-based, is one that lies close to my heart. Oatly stands out by their creative packaging and fearlessness, which also really appealed to me. Everyone who knows Oatly, knows that they make use of different (playful) ways to design their packaging in order to stand out and linger in everyone’s mind, which I fell for 😉 Little side note: I moved to Malmö, Sweden for this internship as Oatly’s headquarters is located here. AND: it was extremely hard to get in. It took me 3 months of calling, emailing and texting on a weekly basis, but I did it! So, my advice: stay persistent with what you want and make your dreams come true!
Why I wanted to join Oatly
It is probably as clear as day why I wanted to join Oatly; I am vegan and love their products & way of presenting themselves. I felt that joining Oatly would bring me a step closer to my goal of changing the world into a better place for all of us, but especially for the animals. Now that I have experienced a workweek at Oatly, I can only be amazed by everyone’s kindness and how Oatly is such a mindful company. With the team, we do yoga sessions each Friday morning and talk about what we are grateful for. To me this is very special and I have never experienced such a work sphere before.
What my tasks will be
My tasks will be evolving around community management and communication. I will be managing their social media accounts and answering emails in order to support the Community Managers. In addition to this, I will be setting up the ‘Daily Oats’ which is a daily email on how news about Oatly is progressing around the world, in order for my colleagues to know which subjects should be prioritised. And, of course, on top of this I am going to perform research for Oatly on how they can communicate in global social media channels, in a global context, while still maintaining high awareness of local, country specific differences in culture and prerequisites, and being mindful of meeting people on a human, local level without it being misunderstood by others in a global context.
What my expectations are
I always try to keep my expectations low, so I can be surprised with all the fun things I am going to experience. I have been in the office 3 days now and my experience is very positive as everyone is very welcoming and helpful. I am looking forward to learning a great deal about community management and to working in a stimulating and open work environment with all of my international colleagues whilst I get the experience of a lifetime. In return, they will get new insights following my research topic.
I hope reading this blog gave you some food for thought, but also insights. Good luck during your search for an internship, maybe at Oatly 😃