Let’s rewind the clock and go back to October 2022. Right when I started this rollercoaster journey and my application process. Like everyone, it all started with a LinkedIn profile building up my professional portfolio, networking and trying to find potential jobs (I didn’t really know what I was doing). Being such an open-minded person and having no previous working experience I was willing to do anything and everything. And that’s how it all began.
I still remember my first few zoom interviews where I would set up my desk an hour prior and have post-it notes stuck in my wall acting as probes to answer the dreaded question: What are your strengths and weaknesses? Ugghhh how I hate that question. All whilst siting very formally put together on top and pijama trousers below my desk.
To be completely honest, I went into this whole application process a little hesitant, nailing and preparing almost every interview but getting rejected in the majority of them due to lack of experience or me being only a second year university student. I got frustrated and time was most definitively running out, my stress levels and anxiety were skyrocketing. That’s when the miracle occurred mid December just before the application deadline.
After having the most disastrous interview I was decided to give up and pursue another elective, when that same day I got an email inviting me to have a physical interview in the Habs & Louis office (my first interview in person!). My morale was low but I didn’t want any doors or opportunities closing, I went and to my surprise it was the best interview to date, I remember laughing being calm and just being myself without the need of post-its or reminders. To my surprise I got hired on the spot! And after a week of hesitation and in the verge of the winter break, I accepted the offer and with that my first job.
Fast forward to February and we begin my first week of work: a rollercoaster of emotions (and not knowing what I’m doing most of the time). Adapting to the office, the people and work-ethic was a treat. The girls where so nice and friendly it didn’t even feel like a real job, although being honest the dutch aesthetic got a little getting used to, especially in the beginning. Regardless, the first few days went on pretty smoothly having not too much workload and getting to know the inner workings of the influencer agency. I was a bit out of my comfort zone to start of with. My trusty Spanish humor and mannerism didn’t work in this context, so I needed to reinvent myself.
Skipping to my second, nearly third month in the internship and I couldn’t be happier, the weeks are packed with fun events as well as meetings and emails. As a talent manager I am in charge of the mailbox of 13 influencers from my agency which means talking a lot with the influencers as well as the clients and especially lots and lots of Google Translate. Let’s see what the next months await but for now i think i have everything under “control”, I get along with my influencers and am quick on my email game. I’m starting to feel integrated little by little into the dutch culture. My role in agency is very open and I get to do lots of things, so that’s great!
Skipping to the fifth month and in the last stretch of the internship. In three weeks im done with my internship, it seams impossible that 5 months flew by like that. Already June of 2023! I can admit there has been better and worse days, faster and slower paced days and I definitively learned a lot of things both about the professional environments but also about myself. I learned how to unfold in different environments that I was not accustomed to before and can confidently say I got plunged into the dutch niche (not speaking a single word of dutch). I sometimes felt out of place, which was hard, but this made me much stronger both as a professional and as a person. I really enjoyed this whole experience and loved the working environment. As a first job experience I couldn’t have asked for a funner and more enjoyable job. My bosses and co-workers were amazing and these couple of months are some that I will never forget, this opens a new chapter of growth and opportunities.
And with that the end of my first job ever.
Hope you enjoyed getting to know my journey!
All the best,
Rocio Vaquero