I worked in the corporate communication team at the Amsterdam office of Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. Yamaha is a world-renowned company that is famous for producing, selling, marketing, and distributing high-quality motorbikes, scooters, motorboats, and snowmobiles consistently since its creation in 1968. It is also one of the most prominent and successful manufacturers involved in motorbike racing competitions.
I am a huge Yamaha racing fan. I attend multiple races a year and watch almost every event. I know all the riders and teams, and I know plenty about Yamaha bikes, and some other products, such as motorboats etc. All in all, I consider myself a big fan of Yamaha.
Naturally, my passion for Yamaha made me giddy with excitement to just apply for an internship at the company. When I signed the internship contract, I could not believe my luck, and I approached the internship hoping it will lead to future work opportunities.
However, soon after starting work as an intern in the corporate communication team at the Amsterdam office of Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. I realised that not everything that shines will be gold.
From the onset, I felt secluded and unimportant to the team. When it came to the tasks I was given, there was never enough time for anyone to give me a detailed explanation of what I had to do, leaving me in the dark and working on assumptions. Funnily enough, whenever I asked for any clearer explanations or help, I was simply told to “figure it out yourself”, which just led to more confusion and uncertainty on my part.
Here is a moment that I will never be able to forget from my first week of work. The team’s boss asked me and the other team members to give feedback on her piece of writing. Sounds simple, right? Since this was my first-time giving feedback within the team, I asked a team member – the only team member in the office on that day – if how I wrote the feedback (bullet points in an email response) is sufficient and how they usually give each other feedback within the team. To which she responded with “Yes, that’s great”, and I even asked her twice to be sure. So, imagine my surprise, when after handing in my feedback, in a response to my email the same team member labelled my method of providing feedback unprofessional and inadequate, whilst of course cc’ing my internship supervisor and boss.
So, although I was unhappy with my internship experience, here are some things that I learned when it comes to selecting the company for an internship. First, do not let yourself be tempted by a company that you like, because following a company and their actions or successes is not always a reflection of the work culture within the brand. Second, try to speak to someone, ideally an intern, who previously worked in the team. Lastly, search for websites like Glassdoor, which let you read previous employee’s reviews of the work environment in the company.
I recommend the corporate communication internship at Yamaha Motor Europe to those who:
- Are incredibly skilled in event planning and have plenty of experience in communicating in multiple different languages in a concise manner.
- Have a strong interest in website programming.
- Have a strong personality, are open to criticism, and are not afraid to speak their mind on topics with little prior explanation.
- Want to see a stunning collection of legendary racing and leisure Yamaha motorbikes with their own two eyes.
